Peanuts! Get Your Peanuts Here!

The wildlife here at the cottage is not always that wild..Three chipmunks live on our little island, and they are like family to us. They eat out of our hands, wait for us at the door in case of treats, and climb up into our lap when we are sitting in the deck chairs, which can be somewhat disconcerting for visitors! 

I am not sure when this all began, but when my parents were here, they used to "adopt" some of the local "wildlife".  Dad had a fox who would come to visit him - but not to eat out of his hand as far as I can remember - He named him Reddy. Mom had a gull named Jonathan Livingston she used to feed, and he too became a fixture. He used to come up and tap on the window with his beak to remind her to get out some treats. The hand-feeding of the chipmunks has been a tradition as long as I can remember. So far, we have not named these chipmunks, but my daughter seems to be able to tell them apart...so names may follow! 

Other than those "adoptees", the rest of the local wildlife remains wild..and wild it can be. Our favourite visitors - if they stay on their own turf across our little back bay - are bears. I was not here last week when my daughter, her husband and my sister got the first sighting of the season. A mama bear and her cub were  hanging out on the back shore. The only way they were alerted to the bears' presence was the sound of the beavers frantically slapping their tails to warn their kin! Seems we have our own Beaver Warning System for incoming danger!  Despite being at a distance from them and in a moving boat, my sister CalicoCat managed to get some photos and posted them on her Blipfoto site.  I anxiously await my turn at getting the chance to observe those magnificent creatures too..but from afar...meanwhile, I am keeping the peanuts handy for our less than wild rodents.