Laura

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troutbend
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Laura
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Estes Park, CO
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Hotel - Hospitality

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This Oughta Be Good

Home & Garden > Dog Days of Fall
 

Dog Days of Fall

We are experiencing the hottest days of the summer but gets dark early and our hummingbirds are leaving, so we know fall is upon us.



Mr. Troutbend is winding up his summer of hard work. Today he was draining the water system in the little red cabin. It involves using a portable air compressor to blow out the pipes. I went over there to look like I would help if there was anything I could do, and he had the surge tank taken apart.

Last year we had a pipe break where it came apart at the joint. It didn't appear to have frozen and burst (because it had been drained and blown out) so we wondered if too much air pressure from the blowing out had caused the break. But we were concerned because the pressure gauge on the system showed the pressure was running high, so he tried to adjust the pump to provide less pressure.

Well, when he got started today, he realized there was hardly any water in the system, and the pressure gauge was wrong - even disconnected it shows 20 psi (pounds per square inch). This means we had the pump adjusted too low. It explains why the water coming into the washing machine was so low the other day. I'm going to refund the money back to the last people who stayed there, it must have been miserable.

We haven't seen the fox for a couple of days. We always worry when he disappears like this. We are saying he is busy teaching the young foxes how to hunt. There are a lot of tree squirrels around this year. They climb the spruce trees and throw cones down onto the roof or the ground, and then carry them to a hiding place one at a time. It keeps them very busy.

While the fox is away the ground squirrels are having a great time. I'm feeding them lots so they will get fat and slow and easy for the fox to catch.


posted on Aug 27, 2011 7:38 PM ()

Comments:

Ah, our friend the fox -- looking like he's waiting for dinner to be served. You must check out the video on YouTube called "Foxes Jumping on my Trampoline."
comment by drmaus on Aug 29, 2011 12:27 AM ()
Yes, I will check out that video. He has been AWOL for five days now, so I'm trying to get used to never seeing him again. He could have moved to a different area now that the babies are out of the den.
reply by troutbend on Aug 30, 2011 9:17 PM ()
awe... lucky squirrels and poor squirrels all at once! Great pic of the fox tho!
comment by kristilyn3 on Aug 28, 2011 1:19 PM ()
We country folk don't like those cute little rodents because they will get under the hood of the car and eat through the hoses to get to the antifreeze and get into attic and crawl space of the houses and eat through the electrical wire insulation, sometimes causing fires. They're cute to watch, but cute is as cute does.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:25 PM ()
Mr. Fox always looks so forlorn without his winter coat.
comment by redimpala on Aug 28, 2011 1:17 PM ()
You should see him when he's wet after a rainstorm, his coat is all flattened, and we can see his little tiny body. He gives us these sad eyes then, as if somehow we wished this upon him.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:26 PM ()
what do you guys do for fun.It seemed that your always working and doing something.Enjoy the rest of the Summer,we still have another month or so.
The hell with the wildlife let them roam where the Buffalo roam.(kidding)trying to make you
comment by fredo on Aug 28, 2011 9:26 AM ()
Mr. Tbend smokes his cigars for fun when he's here. After working on a project, he sits out on the back patio on a lounge chair and smokes. Today he left for Las Vegas, so now he's going to be gambling for fun.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:28 PM ()
Foxes, squirrels (they nest in my garage). Keep Mr. T hopping. It won't be long before he'll be heading west.
comment by solitaire on Aug 28, 2011 6:03 AM ()
Left at 3 a.m. today, with the cat.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:29 PM ()
Squirrels are so destructive. They pull all the pecans off the pecan trees in
the back yard, take one bite and never ever pick them up. Just think of them
as rats with tails and have no mercy on them.
comment by elderjane on Aug 28, 2011 5:09 AM ()
I was watching one taking a dirt bath just now and thinking they are just a tiny step up from a snake on my list of unwelcomes, especially since one of them got inside the chicken wire protection and ate all the petunia blossoms.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:31 PM ()
What beautiful pictures and stories!
comment by jerms on Aug 28, 2011 4:46 AM ()
Thanks! You know how it is when you have a house to fix up and maintain, there are so many things to learn about, and it's always an adventure to see what comes next.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:32 PM ()
Love your fox -- hope he's okay. Like greatmartin says, don't interfere too much with the natural order of things -- squirrels are people too (or something like that).
comment by tealstar on Aug 28, 2011 4:28 AM ()
This is a bumper year for squirrels, so maybe some extra foxes will move in to balance things out. We'll never have another fox as tame as this one, which is probably a good thing for all involved. I don't know where he learned this behavior.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 1:34 PM ()
You have me wondering just how big the fox's home range is. He probably has to check on what's going on.... And maybe he's keeping company with a lady fox. Do you know if he has a mate?
comment by marta on Aug 27, 2011 10:38 PM ()
There is another fox that I saw briefly in the yard earlier this summer - she was very skittish. He carries food up the mountain to the family - there is a ritual where he eats the scraps, then he goes to another part of the yard and waits for dog biscuits to be thrown to him. He hides them around the yard, and then we throw him something big - a piece of bread or a dinner roll, or large dog biscuits - and he carries that up the mountain. One time he 'came right back' about 20 minutes later, so the family must have been about 10 minutes away.

Over the past couple of weeks he has sometimes carried the bread item across the bridge, and we wondered if the family had moved over there.

It's a good thing they are at a distance because usually the male hangs around in the female's range until the babies are out of the den (August) and then returns to his range. If her range is up the mountain somewhere that means he can keep his range here.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 2:50 AM ()
I saw a beautiful fox with a thick coat of red fur in Nova Scotia. I was surprised his coat was so thick but they've had a cold, wet summer.
comment by nittineedles on Aug 27, 2011 9:32 PM ()
Foxes in other places, judging from pictures I've seen, sometimes have shorter legs than mine. They look funny to me in the pictures, so close to the ground. That's interesting that those other foxes so far away are also running late on the winter coat cycle.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 2:42 AM ()
Stop rushing our lives away---weeks and weeks before Fall arrives!

'I'm feeding them lots so they will get fat and slow and easy for the fox to catch. ' MURDERER!!!!!! Wild life is based on survival of the fittest and you are interfering with the planet! (Send the fox here--we have a few annoying squirrels for him!)
comment by greatmartin on Aug 27, 2011 8:43 PM ()
I know what you mean, I don't know what happened to the month of August. Seems like just yesterday was the first day, and I haven't even opened my birthday cards from the second yet.

I am seriously thinking of getting out the hand gun and trying to help a few of these ground squirrels meet their maker. The only thing holding me back is that the bullets might end up going through a window or some other important thing, not to mention ricochet off one of the many rocks. There is a shotgun, but I'm afraid of the recoil. Once I'm good at it, I'll be like Paladin and travel the country - have gun, will travel - taking out annoying squirrels for a price.
reply by troutbend on Aug 28, 2011 2:33 AM ()

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