Category: Wildlife

We Are Primates, Too: World Chimpanzee Day

~ Carrie
Photo by Jiří Mikoláš from Pexels

When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I had the opportunity to visit a special sanctuary in the small central Washington town of Cle Elum. Cle Elum is a quaint town that is probably best known for being in close proximity to Roslyn…the actual town where “Northern Exposure” was filmed in the 1990s. One day, while at a brewpub, I noticed a small flyer on the wall that advertised an event to benefit Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. I went home and looked up the organization. I was amazed that I had not heard of it prior, and incredibly impressed by the facility and the the expertise and caring of those involved. Read about how Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest was founded in this Seattle Times article.

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Around The Farm: An Opportune Observation Of Orgyia

~ Carrie
What, pray tell, is that?

Sometimes, you just have to be at the right place at the right time to witness the amazing. For me, it was a recent experience of seeing a mysterious insect on the goose coop as I was preparing to perform daily maintenance. I’m now familiar with many of the bugs and insects that live here on the farm, but this one was strange…and I like the strange because it means an opportunity to learn. And I am, if nothing else, a voracious learner.

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Around the Farm: Who’s Looking at Whom?

~ Carrie
It happened in a bucket just like this one…

One morning, as I filled one of several five gallon buckets for the geese, I noticed a sunflower seed spinning around and around in the eddy created by the water. We feed black oil sunflower seeds as treats to the poultry, so seeing one in a bucket is not usually cause for alarm. Until you realize that it’s not a seed at all.

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Daily Wonder: A Perplexing Pod

~ Carrie
A seed pod?

The universe – or Mother Nature? – has an incredible way of snapping us out of our own self-absorbed reveries and grounding us in the present. Today, as I finished the morning chores and was hosing off my boots, I looked down and noticed that there was some kind of pod nestled in the grass. It was the same color as the grass, but the oblong shape drew my attention. I needed to find out more about this strange object.

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Farm Fowl: Beatrix The Hunter **Warning: Graphic Photos**

~ Carrie

You may already know that chickens are omnivorous opportunists and, given the chance, they’ll devour a variety of protein sources: I’ve seen chickens chase down and eat small frogs (wince), along with a variety of insects. Recently, we were very surprised to see one of our hens running around with an unusual “treat” in her beak.

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Daily Wonder: Fairy Fly-By

~ Carrie

The natural world is full of wonders. If you’re like me, you can’t help but notice – and revel – in these amazing moments that demand your full attention. One hot summer morning, as I was loading up my Gorilla Cart with 5-gallon buckets of fermented feed to begin the animal chores outside (there are “inside” animal chores, too, of course), something caught my eye. It looked like a floating bit of cottony matter. I watched it for a bit, soon realizing that it wasn’t merely drifting on the breeze – it was flying. It invited a closer look.

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