Wednesday, April 01, 2009

OUR LITTLE FRIEND...

He's been with us for probably a year now. I kind of hoped he'd move on when Hurricane Ike came through, but he rode out the storm in the comfort of his home beneath our deck. In the past, my husband would occasionally run into him when he took the dog out first thing in the morning.

I've always believed that we should make an effort to coexist with the creatures that claimed this land long before we were here. I did have to draw the line with the rats that were feeding at our bird feeder when one decided to come inside. Because of him we no longer put out bird seed for the backyard wildlife. I just can't coexist with rats.

However, I was willing to coexist with our nocturnal friend. I knew he was there, but I didn't have to see him. In the last couple of weeks he's begun to violate the nocturnal rule. It seems he's decided on a snack before bed in the morning and I've been running into him in the backyard between 8:30 and 9:30 AM. We've had some rain and the ground is soft. He's been digging holes all over the yard. We've tried having a regular lawn with St. Augustine grass, but because of all the shade the warm weather grass doesn't grow and it's too hot for something like Fescue. So, I've been letting the monkey grass, violets, and weeds fill in the yard. Unfortunately, our little friend must spend the entire night digging everything up.

I think he's kind of cute and I've named him Tex.

It must be getting terribly crowded under our deck. Our feral cat and a couple of the neighborhood cats like to hang out under there. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's a possum or two under there too. Here's MaMa peeking out.


Of course, poor Sophie is going crazy. She knows Tex is under there. She's chased him back under a couple of times. He'll run under the deck and then he sticks his head out to see if she's still there. She wouldn't hurt him. She just enjoys the chase.

I've gone online and read all about humane trapping, discouraging him with moth balls, putting down something to kill the bugs that he eats, etc. The problem is that I don't want to do anything that would harm MaMa or drive her away. So, we've decided to welcome Tex to the family and try not to break an ankle in the backyard.

5 comments:

  1. Betty, that's just hilarious! Is Tex and armadillo? He's sooooo cute, but I don't know if I'd put up with him digging up my "lawn". You have a lot of patience for the critters!

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  2. I didn't know they dug holes. What do they plan to do with the tunnels? He probably thinks you will appreciate them. Betty, I don't see MaMa in that picture, are you sure she's there :-) ? So much wildlife. It's just worrisome that MaMa will feel like her territory is being invaded.

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  3. Karen...they dig holes looking for bugs. That's what they eat, so they're not all bad. MaMa is there...in the middle, right under the ivy that's hanging down. Look closely and you can see her eyes shining.

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  4. He IS rather cute. I've never seen one before! You are a very kind lady, Betty.

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  5. Tex is so cute! I'm glad you've accepted him as part of the family!

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