The enchanted places tucked in here and there where nature rules and life unfolds without the "help of mankind.
Little streams that run off on their own, high (well as high as one can get in Florida) and dry spots where the blackberry bushes live amongst their lesser known plant friends.
Sometimes you pick a topic and other times it chooses you. "Wild things" is on my mind lately. I have been losing chickens to a certain "wild thing" that I have only seen at night and from afar with the aid of a high bean flashlight. Whatever it is, it is not "big". It is probably a fox. A young fox is rather small and it doesn't run like a possum or coon. They tend to "scuttle" along comically and call it running. A fox will dart off and being very intelligent, it will also pause and look behind to gauge the enemy. That is what my midnight marauder did.
So, the chicken house has been moved to a location where I can light it up. The remaining chickens are being put away and locked up at night while free ranging only during the day. We will see if this takes care of our nocturnal visitor.
In the meantime, since it is highly unlikely I will get a picture of a fox during the day, I am going to take pictures of other wild things. The kind that grow and stand still!~
Some I know the name of and most I do not, but I will preserve their images here for future examination.
To begin, I will focus on one beautiful plant many people think of as a pest...
This is a thistle. It is in the same family as the artichoke only not nearly as sought out for food. Around here, people pull them out of grazing pastures as a "weed" or pest. Fortunately, they are hearty and they survive attempts to remove them quite well!
I thought that was a thistle. I'm pretty sure in MO, it is illegal to let them flower and thrive because they take over fields. But that's all I know about them.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I was always told to stay out of the chigger weeds. As adult I find out that the 'chigger weed' has a name and it's Queen Anne's Lace. I now think it's very pretty. But I don't touch it fearing I will get chggers. :) I'm wondering if that is true.
That's a pretty picture of the thistle.