Verna and Bob's Weblog

Critters

A Decade of Feeding the Birds

Actually, we’ve been feeding the birds for longer than a decade. We used to have feeders in our California home for years before we moved to Arizona. It’s more like two and a half decades we’ve fed the birds.

We took these two images ten years apart to the day in our Arizona back yard. Above is a cardinal snacking on a seed bell, the image taken on 10/24/2012. Below is a cactus wren pecking at a seed block, the image was taken the afternoon of 10/24/2022.

I took he top image with my old Canon A710 IS compact camera which I still have and use regularly. I took the image of the cactus wren with my Canon EOS Rebel SL1. I took the cardinal photo early afternoon and the cactus wren late afternoon when the sun was behind the mesquite tree so the lighting is not as good. Click on either image to enlarge.

October 24, 2022 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Photo Update


I thought that I posted these last April when these photos were taken, but I couldn’t find them when I looked for them earlier today. Anyhow, these were posed to send to our friend Patty who is retired and living in North Carolina. We have been friends for a very long time and now that Patty is living alone, we try to correspond with her on a regular basis. Verna sent these in a letter to her just a week or so ago.

Top photo: Verna and Tucker. Bottom photo: Bob and Cabela.

Click on either photo to enlarge.

October 11, 2022 by Arizona Critters Family Home & Garden Photography

Tucker’s Cuteness

I decided to try and upload a video to YouTube as an experiment to replace the videos I used to upload to the blog using Flash™ animations which have no more support from most browsers. So this is a video I captured in my Android Phone a couple of weeks ago. It is now embedded in this post.

Tucker, our little Chihuahua mix pup begs to get up into Verna’s lap in this 30 second video.

UPDATE: A close-up of the little guy (click to enlarge):

June 2, 2022 by Critters Family

Photo Status Update

 

It’s been a while since we posted photos of us and our dogs. Life goes on and things change, people get older and pets come and go. So this shows our current configuration of us and our pups – me, holding Cabela and Verna, holding young Tucker. Click on either image to enlarge.

The photos were taken in our courtyard with each of us posing with the big saguaro and ocotillo just outside the gate. In a few weeks, the courtyard will be nearly overtaken with the red bird of paradise (a.k.a. Pride of Barbados) shrubs and their beautiful flowers.

So, that’s our Spring 2022 status update. I don’t plan on doing status updates like this on a scheduled basis, but will probably get to them now and then. Enjoy the rest of Spring and the Summer, too.

May 1, 2022 by Arizona Critters Retirement

A Friendly Antelope Ground Squirrel

Lately, when I go up the little hill behind the RV Drive to refresh the bird feeders, this little white tailed antelope ground squirrel runs out and begs for me to toss some of the birdseed her way. Yes, I figure this is a female since it is obvious from this photo that she is nursing some young ones back in the burrow.

I say “friendly” in the title because these little squirrels are cautious, but show more interest in being fed than any of the other critters in the area, although Verna’s cottontails will come out when she brings food scraps to the wash west of the house. This particular squirrel will come to within a couple of feet to beg. Of course, as soon as I toss out something, she whisks it away to begin consuming it at a safer distance.

More about Ammospermophilus leucurus:

The White-tailed antelope squirrel is a species of ground squirrel. They have a brown to gray fur with two white stripes running from the shoulder to the hind end. Their bellies and the underside of their tails are white in color and there is a black stripe on the tail.

April 13, 2022 by Arizona Critters

Meet Tucker

As we mentioned in our comments from last month’s post about losing Bay Bay, we were going to look for another dog to rescue. Well, today the Humane Society of Wickenburg had an adoption event at our local Tractor Supply store and just like that, we adopted Mr. Tuxedo whom we will call Tuck Tuck for short. He is a long haired Chihuahua with mostly black fur and a bit of white here and there. He is about a year old and was found wandering around in Wittman, about 20 miles southeast of Wickenburg.

He has only been “home” for a couple of hours, but is fitting in nicely with our activities and with the other dog. He is a very affectionate little guy and seems to demand a little attention which we happily have given. He has a good appetite, can be frisky at times, is leash trained and mostly housebroken. We are looking forward to taking care of him for a long time. In the (clickable) image above, Verna posed with him in the courtyard. Just now, as I was typing in the story, he came into the office jumped into my lap and is resting as I finish this. I think we’re all happy about our new mutual relationship.

UPDATE 03-16-22: Since the adoption last week, we decided to dump the “Tuxedo” name and just call him “Tucker.” He is already recognizing and answering to the new moniker.

March 11, 2022 by Critters Family

Avalon 1998

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