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BRRRR, It’s Cold Outside

January 14th, 2009

It’s been a little chilly here at Chiot’s Run, single digits during the day, negatives at night (tonight it’s supposed to be -4, now that’s cold). I don’t mind since I am able to stay inside my toasty warm home, but this weather is tough on all the wildlife.

On days like today we make sure the bird feeder and heated bird bath are filled so our little feathered friends have enough food to stay warm and water to drink. We also see deer rummaging through the flower beds looking for something to eat. Here’s a video we made last winter when we had a cold snap. It includes the wildlife we see frequently in the winter gardens here at Chiot’s Run (as well as shots of Lucy back when she was still mobile). It’s only 2 minutes long, enjoy!

[flv:/video/a_moment_of_zen.flv 480 270]

What kinds of wildlife frequent your gardens?

10 Comments to “BRRRR, It’s Cold Outside”
  1. Judy on January 14, 2009 at 6:44 pm

    Beautiful video. We’re supposed to have -19 air temp here tonight (before you count in the wind chill!) We live pretty close to downtown in a University town so we don’t get a lot of wildlife (except drunken students) We do have squirrels (black and gray) and lots of birds at the feeders in the backyard and ground squirrels in warmer weather. We have very infrequent visits from deer and opossums but we enjoy them all.

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  2. N. on January 14, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    Occasionally we will get birds but our most frequent visitors are the semi feral cats. That’s probably why we don’t see birds that often…

    At the local park there are a lot of squirrels. Our dog gets such joy from chasing them and of course the squirrels always manage to get away.

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  3. Allie on January 14, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    We have tons and tons of bunnies. I see them all the time.

    We’re getting negative temps too. This is when I start to get cabin fever. :)

    Reply to Allie's comment

  4. lee on January 15, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    Wow, -4 has to be cold. It’s very warm over here, it’s been in the 80s lately. Apparently we are having the warmest January in a long time.

    I get hummingbirds, lots of other birds I can’t identify, squirrels, cats, opossums, raccoons, skunks and some animal that lives underground digging holes. I don’t know what they are called. It ate all the roots of a young papaya tree I had last year and killed it. I have noticed the raccoons are very destructive. They can wreck havoc in the backyard and in the greenhouse. I used to blame the opossums till I caught the raccoons in fraganti. I’m not too fond of the skunks either, getting sprayed once is enough.

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  5. Susy on January 15, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Yeah, raccoons can be destructive here as well, as are the groundhogs. The deer decimate a lot of stuff here as well, including my tulips, carrots, cabbage and lettuce. GRRRR, makes me enjoy eating all that venison.

    We have squirrels as well, it’s hard to keep them out of the bird feeder.

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  6. Kelly on January 15, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    What a great video – makes me almost not hate all of this snow….almost! I love the footage of Lucy – she is such a beautiful dog – I hope she is obeying doctors orders and staying off her feet. I am sure that makes for one sad puppy :( give her a hug for me!

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  7. Frugal Trenches on January 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    May I please move to your house? That was lovely.

    In my garden no wildlife but the odd bird, but I sure do get a lot of cats ;0)

    Reply to Frugal Trenches's comment

  8. Jesse on January 15, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    A heated bird bath?? I’ve never heard of such a thing – you’re so good to your birds! Currently our only wildlife is a little tabby kitten who digs tiny little holes in my garden. I’m sure I’d be annoyed if she wasn’t so damn cute!

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  9. Krista on January 15, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    thanks for the great video susy, tell Brian we said hello. we have not seen him since he married mick and I at Glenmoor! Really enjoy your blog!

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  10. Susy on January 15, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    Yeah, we keep a heated bird bath out for our little feathered friends. They have trouble finding drinkable water in the winter (especially when it’s this cold!).

    We don’t get too many cats around (well, the one we adopted and brought in, he’s loving the domesticated life by the way!)

    Reply to Susy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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