A couple of weeks ago it got really hot around here, like 100 degrees hot, which is rare, and an 80-degree dew point, which is even rarer. One of my coworkers remarked: "No need to go to Florida, because Florida came to us." During one of those days I looked out the window and saw 3 little birds standing in the empty bird bath in our backyard.
"Okay, okay," I said. "I get the hint." I went outside and filled the bath with water. The next day, also a hot one, I looked out the window and saw 4 little birds splashing away in the bath. I was pleased for having done a good deed. Later, Wendy and I both saw a chipmunk on the bird bath getting a drink.
Chipmunks and birds weren't the only animals interested in water, though. A few days later, the bird bath was knocked over during the night, and there were some clear paw prints left on the surface:
After some online searching, I decided they were raccoon prints. The trail cam didn't have anything on it, but it faces away from the bird bath. Anyway, a few minutes after taking the above picture, I looked out the window and saw 2 birds standing on the deck railing, looking down at the empty bird bath. "Okay, but give me a minute!" I said.
A few days later, the bird bath was knocked over again during the night. The trail cam did show a raccoon in the yard, likely confirming my suspicion. This time, I re-positioned the trail cam so it shows the bird feeder and the bird bath in the same shot. The bath has not been knocked over since.
Then, in the early hours of Saturday morning, Wendy and I were awoken by a terrible screeching sound from one of our cats. We got up and hurried downstairs. The thought that ran through my very groggy head was that somehow an animal had gotten in the house and was attacking the cats. When I got downstairs, I could see the cats on the floor, warily looking up at the basement window. When I flipped on the light, I saw the faint shape of a small animal just outside the window run away. The cats seemed fine, but both had very puffy tails. If I hadn't turned on the light immediately, my eyes might have adjusted to the darkness and I may have gotten a better look at the animal.
It took a while to fall back asleep after that excitement. The next morning there was nothing on the trail cam. I'm guessing they were scared by another cat wandering through our yard, just outside the window. It might have even been the same cat that showed up on the trail cam in May (see this post).
Anyway, all of this excitement has reminded me of other backyard events that I've written about over the years, most notably:
Our backyard has been the source of a number of interesting events -- and blog posts!