Critters........

When you live on the top of a mountain with nobody close by, you can expect critters. I would love to put up a night cam on the property and just see what is lurking close by! (I think anyways...) So here is the critter watch on my mountain.....

1. Deer coming and going thru the property. Sometimes it's only two and sometimes there are 20. They are beautiful and I wish they would just live at my house all of the time.

2. Resident animals - Moki, Chaska, Toots, Rio, Bear, and Moose. There is nothing quite like sitting up in bed every morning, looking out the windows and seeing my horses! There is nothing quite like letting Moki and Chaska out every morning - they are so genuinely happy to say good morning. Toots - we'll just leave her out of the beautiful morning...............

3. Hawks flying and hovering over the house - LOVE IT!

4. Yesterday Alli and I were driving up the mountain and there were two bald eagles just soaring overhead. We stopped and watched them for quite some time. It never ever gets old to see a bald eagle in the wild. For those of you who don't know, Klamath Falls is one of the biggest nesting grounds for bald eagles. We see them all of the time. Two soaring overhead was just picture perfect.

5. Cougars and Bobcats. I have not seen the cougar or the bobcats this year. That is probably a good thing. I did have a run in with a bobcat a few years ago. He walked across the road about 25 feet in front of me as I was returning from the mailbox. AMAZING!

6. Coyotes - we have a few that come thru our yard on occasion. They are a little frightening looking sometimes but mostly they are just jogging thru the back of the property minding their own business.

7. Jack rabbits. These are not your ordinary rabbits. They are the size of small horses - I swear it! They are so fun to watch chasing and hopping. And those ears...........

8. Squirrels - we have some resident squirrels that live in the rocks. They run out on occasion and take a peek at the world - steal some oats from the horses - and run back to their rocks. Too cute.

9. Magpies - not such a fan. They eat the dog food and it drives Moki crazy - crazy enough to bark at them but not crazy enough to chase them. This would take way too much energy.

10. Bluejays. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a wooded jay. So big and blue.

11. Mice. These are definitely on the bad list of critters. If you recall I had quite the time with some of them last year. I had a bin with a door on it full of horse oats. I went out one day to open it up and about 25 mice came pouring out. It was totally the grossest thing ever. However, there was one that had just overeaten and he was hanging on the door - swinging with the door. He was too fat to do much of anything. He just looked at me like 'Have some pitty.' I know that feeeling after Thanksgiving dinner so I just let him hang. We've had a few in the house but Paul is the expert trapper. You would think he was hunting big game!

12. Pack rats/wood rats - Now we had a cat that loved to bring his treasures to us each morning. (This cat has since been the bottom of the food chain for a coyote!) He would bring them to us in many different parts. There were inside parts laid out for us sometimes. And sometimes it was just the head. Lovely cat - he made us proud! However, we have one (we think) in our walls as of a few days ago. Paul went a-hunting for it under the house last night but can't quite figure out where it has gotten in. I know this sounds so horrible to all of you but it's just part of living on a mountain. He will be caught in a few days and this will bring great pleasure to Paul.

I love mountain living. I love that I have fresh air every morning. I love my critters - all of them. I love watching the storms come across the lake. And most importantly - I love the human critters that live with me!