Welcome to Colehaus in Autumn! We had a fairly comfortable summer without many scorching days which allowed us to enjoy the many flowering plants growing here. This Pineapple Sage is one of our last flowering perennials and continues feeding those hummingbirds who have been criss-crossing our yard all summer long.
Right on cue, there’s one enjoying our Cardinal Flower, another perennial, right now. Here’s what that flower looks like up close:
It’s pretty and is that screaming RED color the hummers like. Sorry we couldn’t get a close up on that hummingbird. Rumor has it they’re not a fan of paparazzi, and yet, they often wear flashy, fashion show colors. Go figure!
When not chasing off that other Cardinal Flower-lovin’ hummer, this hummingbird prefers a neighbor’s Honeysuckle vine that drapes over our fence. Back and forth, all day long, 2-3 hummingbirds whiz from flower to flower. One takes their life in their hands walking out there with those flying darts zipping about. But they’re so much fun to watch!
Because we were very, very fortunate not to have a hot, late summer, the crepe myrtles that started blooming at the end of August survived all of September and into October; a first for them! They’ll probably be all wrapped up by late October because if a late hot day doesn’t get them, a first frost will.
Another first: This sedum, variety Autumn Joy, usually has pink flowers and is covered with bees. This past spring, a neighbor accidently sprayed our big burning bush with weed killer which, as you might expect, killed it. We may have mentioned that Mom really, really liked that burning bush but its demise was a mixed blessing – it turned beautiful red in the fall but it was very messy, it was almost too tall for Mom to keep pruned and it had started sprouting from root runners everywhere, almost as if it knew its days were numbered.
On the other side of that burning bush was a big clump of the sedum above. That burning bush protected the sedum from the hot sun, wild wind and created a nice little micro-climate. When Mom removed the dead burning bush, she replanted the sedum a little farther from where it had been and whose roots were mixed with sprouting burning bush-lettes. The sedum is now out in the open, unprotected, and we expect it’ll survive and be even stronger, thanks to this summer’s cooler weather. Mom thinks this is why the flowers are mostly not pink. It’s adapting. She says it’ll be fine.
Neighborhood visitor Zerbe isn’t worried about that sedum adjusting to its new location but he is concerned about the lack of Chicken Catnip treats in the feeding station,
What’s up with that, lady?? I’m starving here!
Zerbe’s known to visit at least 4 other houses up and down the street, none of which are his own, and we can assure you, Zerbe is not starving.
Well, we got through the summer, the feral shelter warming mats have been turned on and we’re still enjoying flowers, so what time does that mean? It means it’s time for our fountain to stop working! Long time Colehaus Cats readers know this is a thing every so many years. This time, Mom thinks the GFCI outlet has reached the end of its life and an electrician is coming out to look at it next week. At worst case, the pump died, we have a spare in the garage and it’ll be a big fat bill to fix. At best case, the outlet will be replaced and we, meaning the fountain and our wallets, will merrily go into the end of the year and through many more years with barely a hiccup. Let’s hope. It’s been an expensive year, for everyone.
Elsewhere and apparently, the next street over has been inundated with chicken lovers. Now that our fountain isn’t gurgling away masking the noise, we hear a rooster or two crowing at all times during the day. How . . . farm-like. Don’t get us wrong; we like all animals, chickens included. But what comes with chickens and chicken feed? Chicken poop, and sometimes, rodents who like a little chicken poop dessert with their late night dinners.
Some boring history: We’ve been attracting and intentionally feeding birds here for 26 years of the 27 years we’ve lived here and never had any rodent visits other than an occasional field mouse someone left outside our garage door. We also clean up extra seed bits that drop from our 2 feeders on a fairly regular basis. Still, no rodents, daytime squirrels not included.
So, it was a bit alarming to notice our suet feeder wildly swinging back and forth the other night, at 2 a.m. when Mom gets up to prepare for work, and when she got out the binoculars, she saw the culprit – a black rat with big pink ears.
Well, okay then. Do we really like all animals? Do we really want to intentionally feed rats – notice how in our minds 1 rat became rats, as in multiple rats? Yeah, we don’t want neighbors suddenly noticing rats running all willy-nilly here, and maybe getting the wrong impression that our feeding birds is attracting rats. Yet we want to keep feeding the generations of bushtits, the chickadees and all the woodpeckers and Northern Flickers that visit and enjoy the suet. Hmm, a quandary.
Mom’s temporary solution is to cover the top section of the suet, where it was open and more easily accessible, with some wooden shim material and gorilla tape, and wedging the ends of the shims between the suet cage bars making it harder to get at the suet feast inside. It’s not perfect but seems to be holding that rat off for the moment while Mom thinks of a more permanent fix that won’t fall apart when our rainy season arrives. Maybe some plastic cut from something and some spring hooks? We hope we don’t have to take the feeder down permanently, but like that sedum mentioned way above, we and our visiting birds might have to adapt.
And what happened to all those wandering, nighttime feral and semi-feral cats our neighborhood used to have? Those sweethearts used to be our best rodent exterminators, and the original reason we got feral shelters and feeding stations. We find it hard to believe all of those cats are gone. Strange.
We hope things are going and growing well at your place. Any ideas and suggestions for our suet versus rat issue will be most welcome. Thanks for visiting us today!
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A Colehaus Cats flashback:
2025 – No post
2024 – Three Word Wednesday
2023 – Catching Up with Olivia
2022 – No post
2021 – No post
2020 – Finally Friday
2019 – Wordless Wednesday
2018 – No post
2017 – No post
2016 – No post
2015 – Zuzu’s Snuggle Bunny
2014 – No post
2013 – Pia Counters. And Niblet Names.
2012 – No post
