Month: September 2018

When you’re eating outside, you never know who or what might decide to join you. Such was the case while at Disney’s Magic Kingdom last week. I was sitting at a sidewalk table with my one year old granddaughter, watching the ducks wander around beneath the tables, looking to snatch up anything anyone might drop in the way of food, accidentally or on purpose. Aurora was fascinated, and it kept her occupied while Mariah, Dusty, and Kim went to order and collect our supper.

Though Aurora is a fabulous eater, she is not greedy, and is known to share what is on her plate with Cleo, her dog. Since Cleo wasn’t with us, she spread around a few crumbs of her hotdog and french fries to eagerly awaiting ducks. Mariah looked up from her meal and calmly said, “Uh oh!” I turned in my chair to see that a Great Egret had come to join the party. Because he was on the other side of a low fence, I didn’t give it much thought. I don’t, however, know why. That fence was of no consequence to it.

A Great Egret stands 3 ft tall and has a wingspan of roughly 67 inches. It’s a beautiful bird, but its most impressive feature, when up close and personal, is its large dagger-like beak, that is very fast and deadly when it comes to spearing fish.

Mariah’s eyes suddenly grew large and she managed to croak out, “Mom! Mom! It’s trying to reach under your chair!” I turned to see white plumage right next to me! Not near me, but exactly next to me! I am roughly 5 ft tall, so when seated this bird and I are  eye to eye, and the next thing I know that’s exactly what I’m looking at! Well, that’s a bit creepy, but what really got my attention was that dagger he calls a beak!!!

The seating arrangements are now me, Mr. Egret, Aurora, and then Mariah. Aurora is in her stroller. She is fascinated with our new dinner guest, and curiously looking up at him. All I could see were my sweet granddaughter’s beautiful blue eyes, and this bird’s dagger-like beak. Though the bird was only interested in the piece of hotdog under my chair, there was no way for us to know that. Instinct took over in both Mariah and myself. She rose to try to shoo it away. I stuck my arm in front of the bird to cover Aurora’s face with my hand in an effort to protect her. I thought for sure my swift movement would scare it, causing it to strike out in fear. Every fiber in my body was waiting for that egret to stab my arm with its beak! I knew it was long enough and powerful enough to go clear through my arm. Thank goodness Dusty is a paramedic, because I was sure at any moment I was going to need one! Mariah’s efforts to scare it off went ignored, and it wasn’t until the egret had claimed his prized hotdog that he had enough of us, and hopped away, leaving everyone unharmed.

Wow! Just wow! I’m not sure if the experience was a treat, or a terrifying experience. Perhaps both, as my heart was pounding, but it was good to know when faced with danger, whether real or perceived,  I am still my family’s Secret Service detail.

 

You may remember that late last year I published a blog titled, “House of Horrors”, about the rats who had turned the crawl space under our house into their personal Romper Room. Well, this time there’s an added twist. No rats, but something much bigger!

Monday was trash day. Right after Kim left for work I went outside to take the trash and recycle cans to the curb when the sight of dirt, having been flung onto the carport parking pad, caught my eye. Oh what fresh hell is this!? For some unknown reason there is a small section between the lanai and the parking pad that is asphalt, rather than cement, which makes this a particularly vulnerable place for a home invasion of wildlife.

Right there before me was a fairly large hole that had been dug by a serious digger! I could see claw marks, but no real tracks, however there was a very clear tail drag! There are only so many critters that have the ability to dig ferociously, have a tail that could leave such a mark, and that live here in south Florida. After doing a lot of research, here are my choices.

An armadillo. It is a superior digger and has a long tail that it drags behind him. The hole is large enough, and though I haven’t seen one in my neighborhood, my daughter’s neighbor has one in his yard, so they’re around. The good thing about one being under the house is they eat bugs. I can get behind that. Feel free to clean up the area. The bad thing is they are powerful earth movers and a lot of times will go through things, rather than around, including pipes and wires. We live in a mobile home, so the only pipes connecting us to the ground are water and sewer. That could be a problem. As for wiring, that’s all self-contained, except where we hook into Florida Power & Light, but that’s not buried. At some point we could find ourselves without water, but at least we’ll have air conditioning. There is no bait for an armadillo and the only way to remove them is with a trap. Not easy to trap something you can’t bait and who can easily dig his way out of any prison. If it is an armadillo and he remains a quiet downstairs neighbor, we won’t bother him.

It could be a possum. The tail drag fits. They are not too cute, but they are good neighbors. They eat insects, fallen fruit, and most importantly, mice. Perfect! However, my research shows they do not have the hands required to dig a hole of this nature, unless the soil were really loose. Kim found claw marks that swallowed his house key, so we can probably rule out a possum.

Perhaps a gopher tortoise. They live here and are protected. You have to have a permit to even have them removed from your property. They can dig large burrows, but unless this is a juvenile, I’m not sure this hole is big enough. They have a tail, but not a long one, which this critter appears to have, so though a possibility, not a probability. I’m scratching his name off the list.

A python was quickly ruled out, because I wanted it to be! Though technically their entire body is a long tail, they are not equipped either to dig a hole such as this. Believe me, I checked! Besides, the tail drag wasn’t thick enough. In case you need to know, snakes don’t dig holes. They commandeer holes dug by others, if they enter a hole at all. Mostly they bury themselves under leaves, in crevasses of rocks, or in trees. Be mindful of that on your next stroll.

My last thought is an iguana. They do dig burrows, they have very long sharp claws, and though once again, I haven’t seen one in my neighborhood, they have been spotted in the area. They eat a large amount of plant material, and we have plenty in our yard. I actually wouldn’t mind the prospect if they would consider taking on some of the weeds. However, I haven’t seen any evidence that my huge hibiscus trees, or my giant bird of paradise has been bothered by anyone snacking on them.

I would love to set up a trail cam to capture an image of what it is. For now we appear to be living symbiotically. If I stumble over it in a dark hallway in the middle of the night, it’s getting an immediate eviction notice, by whatever means is deemed necessary.