Outdoor Spring Footage: Snake Following - Cat-n-Mouse Playing - Turkey Flock Cat Scattering - and More - Back Acres
Today feels a lot like summer. My little guy wanted to go for a bike ride down to the lake - that brought back memories from last summer. You can see in the picture below that my Son felt it was a good day to test the waters.
In the picture below you can see the marina beach front that we frequent. It is surrounded by cottages - permanent residents and cabin renting vacationers. Very quiet this time of year, they haven't opened the convenience store yet. We got to know the owners very well last summer and gave them lots of business - they said we were welcome to use the beach front anytime.
They also said we were welcome to fish off their docks. To dock a boat there all summer is only $150, I might have to get a little aluminum boat to putt around with this summer. The picture below is my Son's first Catch from last summer.
The marina is a great location, just a bike ride down the big double hill from the school bus stop.
Check out that awesome wood fence in the picture above - the sun bleach makes it look like drift wood.
Snake Following
There's always something wild going on at the property. Today my son said - I see a snake. Like any Steemit blogger would do, I grabbed my camera phone.
A harmless, and not very good at slithering away - Garter Snake. The video below is actually of two separate times today that my Son came to tell me about a snake being spotted. The first half of the video the snake is on the rocks near the rocket stove boiler. In the second half of the video, another snake, or maybe the same one was spotted relaxing on the hot rocks in front of the cabin.
Cat Stalking Turkey Flock
This next video is fun - Run Gobblers Run. I was sitting on the patio relaxing after dropping my son off at the school bus stop a few days ago. I heard some turkey gobbling, but it sounded a lot closer then normal. I looked up and saw them coming up the hill to the cabin.
I grabbed my camera and started walking over while setting it to video mode. The saw me and started heading back down the hill to the bottom of the valley, then away from the woods. I finally saw what was going on, my cat Leroy was slowly walking towards them - it was like he was herding them, too funny. Click below to watch the video.
Cat-n-Mouse Playing
A week ago I was taking pictures of the valley hillside beside the cabin. I'm adding a cabin garden terrace and was taking the before pictures when my cat came out from beside the cabin and photo bombed.
I'm used to this cat J.J. photo bombing, but this time he had an ulterior motive. He was bringing his new found mouse friend out into the open. Watch the video below.
I have to say that mouse was a goner as soon as the cat got his hooks in him. It wasn't this cat that ended up finishing him, Leroy the cat snuck up and ran away with the mouse later when my Son was distracting J.J.
Enjoy this picture of the first wild flowers I've noticed this spring - while we take a moment of silence for the squeaky mouse - he was a walking deadmaus.
With this warmer weather the Cabin's Wood Stove hasn't been used for days. Check out the before and after picture below of the cord of wood I received three months ago (Off-grid: Keeping the Cabin Warm with a Wood Burning Stove, a Full Cord of Wood just Delivered.).
Campfires and Sparklers
Winter feels like a fading memory - we've had a few outdoor campfires and many rocket stove boils already. The picture below as a fun memory of sparkler play on a warm summer night.
The Smile of a Red Rider
A definite perk of living out in the country - BB Gun Fun. We hang empty plastic bottles in a set of trees down the hill - off the back from the cabin terrace we practice our aim. At least once a day in the summer, usually around dinner time, I get a request for some Red Rider BB Gun target practice. Checkout the pride in that genuine smile - in the picture below.
I don't think I've ever properly introduced the off-grid cabin. I just moved that bench there after some recent outdoor spring cleaning, that's our favorite place to relax at the end of the day as the sun sets.
The tamed wild strawberry bed in front of the cabin is looking nice and green - ready for summer.
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Awesome great photos and fun. Turkeys are all over our neighborhood. I think they could take your cat haha. They get so aggressive sometimes its hard to get them to move out of the way of a car.
Yeah they dont seem to mind cars much here either - a few guests have had to wait for them to cross the road on the way over to visit. They're scared of the humans though, one step in their direction and they scatter just like with the cat. I agree the cat couldn't take one down, but it would be quite a sight to see kitty dragging one home lol
Lovely photos. Nice lake nearby to enjoy. Your son was beaming with his fish.
Eeks I didn’t like seeing that snake even if it is harmless. Crazy phobia!
I think the snake fear is a part of our instincts. Even with the cats if they would see a hose or other snake type shape they would give it their full attention - even without it moving - this was before they ever saw a real snake. They just knew that shape was something they should pay attention to. My Son was real happy to catch that one - at first we used a fake worm that came with the kit with no luck, then we put a real work on there and got a bite right away :)
Your photos brought back a lot of good memories for me doing those exact same things more than 50 years ago, thanks for the memory stimulation. Where about would this area be that you have this cabin? Looks pretty peaceful, at least at this time of year.
Ontario Canada, just east of Toronto - in cottage country where the cottages are on the lake. We live just over the hill from the lake, on one side of a small valley, 3.5 acres, the cabin is in the center. Between the hills and the trees, most of the property is secluded. We have a raccoon, a skunk, and a few feral cats that come around, I've seen them interact together and they seem to have an understanding. In the winter the snow will drive the coyotes down around us, you can hear them howling in the other valleys most nights, but only once I've heard them passing through the bottom of the valley - luckily they usually keep far from human sounds and lights :)
Okay, looks really nice. Might be a little colder climate than what I would care for, at least in the winter time. Thanks for the reply. I think your boy really enjoys the time he spends there and the Red Rider, my wife still has her's and the kids even use it now.
Leroy is having way too much fun! lol
Great share!
They were indoor cats the first 6 months of their lives (brothers) - they were so excited when we first let them out on the property, everything was a toy to them, even the blades of grass. They started with grasshoppers, then worked their way up to mice - and now Leroy with the turkeys lol
He has high aspirations :)
So, entertain guests often? I wanna come and visit, go fishing, do cool stuff.
Lots of guests in the summer - I saw more family than I did the 4 years prior - not so many visitors in the winter though lol. Any time Fracas, let me know when you'll be in the Ontario area :)
It great to see that you can tell the difference between a venomous snake and a harmless one. I am terrified by snakes, found myself face to face with a cobra, a boa and a rattle snake and that did not help with my snake phobia.
It's amazing that you pulled yourself out of the bubble and live off the grid. Nine years back I was thinking of doing the same, but then I got Lyme disease and had to change my plans.
Great post and beautiful photos!
Thanks @lymepoet - luckily we dont have venomous snakes in this area, we're too far north - they dont like the winters :) A cobra, a boa, and a rattle snakes - yikes - we would definitley be in a different mindset if we had any of those snakes around here - I'd be carrying a walking stick with me everywhere :) I know someone that had lyme disease from a tick, the medicine he had to get from the states was very expensive. I always give my cats a good checking whenever they vome inside for the night - I've pulled five ticks collectively off of them so far.
I used to love catching those snakes when i was a kid.
They arent very good at getting away, I was suprised how long I was able to film the for, the second one I ended up getting bored with and just let him be - mouse control snakes :)