I have never seen a squirrel live. One day I will.

Glen,
While cute, they are a gardener's worst nightmare! They eat bulbs, all your bird seed (no such thing as a "squirrel proof" feeder), birds eggs...... And they are extremely smart and clever, you can't fool them

I'm talking about the regular gray squirrels. The Shermans have never done any of the above

Gleni said:I have never seen a squirrel live. One day I will.

No kidding???!!!!??? I never would have thought there are no squirrels in Au.! We call them tree rats. Pests they are! They will chew on the opening of bird houses & make the holes larger. They will chew through screens to get on porches if they *think* there is anything to eat on the porch. Real pita's is what squirrels are.

We have red squirrels and though they are cute they can indeed be a pest, they dig in my flower pots, harass the birds, tore up a Robins nest a few years ago, I have even seen one grab a Junco, kill it and take it away to its nest in the woodpile.
This one was giving me a lot of lip.

@rvird01...yes I took the picture. That little guy was in the plant when I moved it into the GH...did not realize it until I was watering one day spent all winter there and stayed for awhile once I moved it back outside. Then I reckon it went off to do it's froggie thing. I them, but don't get to see them much here in Fountain. When I lived on St. George Island one lived in my bathroom...always made for an interesting shower

Frogs are one of God's excellent animals. 10 out of 10.

Ginger,
He sure is a cutie I love the frogs and lizards in Florida. Last summer I was in town loading up my car with groceries and the tiniest little frog was on the shopping cart. He hopped into the back of my car so he rode back home with me. He stayed on my front porch in a wicker basket during the day and on my front door glass at night....every day and night all summer long. Wasn't more than a week after he came home with me that he had a buddy hanging out with him. I like to think he found his sweetie

Got a shot of this one yesterday. A mere baby compared to several others living here. It's been awfully wet & you can certainly tell by the green goo on it's shell. For perspective, I wear a sz. 7.5 shoe.

Ooh! Yeah, it looks moldy! Nice shot.

My dogs were barking alarmingly just a bit ago...I went out to investigate, and found this guy in my neighbors backyard.
Surrounded by a chain link fence, so I don't know how he got in, but I hope he can get out before she lets her dog out. Think I'll give her a call.

We saw him yesterday too. I think DH said he was a painted(?) turtle. I'm not sure.

Speaking of the wonderful Gopher Tortoises...( and sorry for going off subject with this little painted one, Ann)

A very disturbing, sickening incident has happened here in Clay County... http://www.news4jax.com/news/t...

No problem Tara! I love all the turtles.


I did not watch the video. I can't. I know I'm going to see & hear awful things & I just can't watch it. Reading about it when it didn't even describe the particular torture they were doing to it was bad enough. And then reading what the other juveniles have done at the end of the article just turns my stomach inside out. What is going on in our society today that these things are so common?

I totally know what you mean! I wasn't able to watch the video either. Reading what they had done was enough/more than my stomach could handle.

The only up side to this is that since this story broke, the State Attorneys office has finally charged these kids! And all of the outrage definitely tells me that there are more of US out there, than them. Makes me really question the upbringing that a lot of young people are, or, are not getting these days. Very, very sad!

I agree. I agree. And it's scary. these are the people who will be taking care of us when we are in a nursing home. it makes me very frightened.

gingin said:@rvird01... When I lived on St. George Island one lived in my bathroom...always made for an interesting shower

Hi - I too had the fun experience of sharing my bathroom with a frog for several months. I think he liked the acoustics for his middle of the night singing Once the summer heat arrived he moved on, but I hope he will come back in the winter and serenade us again


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rvird01 said:Ann,

Thanks for sharing your pic. Like you, I have gopher tortoises on my property and love that they're here. I named the larger ones Tommy and Tilly. I've seen several small ones over the years too. We are in a long leaf pine sandhill area, perfect for their burrows. As you can tell from the landscape in my pics, I leave a lot of the area as nature created it.

Rhonda
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I feel better knowing I am not the only one who names their resident wildlife We call ours Herbert and Gertrude - that is Herbert in my profile picture. They are so entertaining with their stodgy gait, and I love to watch them eating - like tiny dinosaurs

I just posted a pictorial essay of the tortoise that came to my back door and entertained my cats. Short video included.
http://gardens-in-the-sand.blo...

I couldn't figure out how to combine snippets of video at YouTube. I have some close-up of the turtle's mouth as it seems to eat sand, that I'd like to include... Once I figure out how to edit and combine...