How have you been doing during quarantine?

We have lots of skunks here. You can tell when they are about. :sick: Our hound, Pepper, got sprayed because she is a bit of a doofus. The little guy... the Jack Russell/Dachshund mix... is usually fearless... but he's also smarter than her. He just hauled ass out of there. I went online and looked up the best treatment from vet sites and then my wife went out and bought the products and gave her a couple of baths. Like you, the house stank for several days.

I almost got sprayed myself once. I was walking to the side door of the house with the dog we had at the time, Guenevere. I saw some critter moving in the shadows and luckily pulled Gwennie back on the leash. I thought it was a Raccoon as we had lots of them around... and then I realized it was a skunk. I yelled out "Skunk!" Grabbed Gwennie and ran back to the car... only to find my wife had locked the doors. I yelled "What the hell are you thinking?! Was the skunk going to open the car door?" :LOL:
 
I still think bears and raccoons are wonderfully exotic though.

Well... Raccoons aren't all that exotic around here... and I live in the city limits. They love going through the trash. At the apartment unit I lived at some 10 or 12 years ago they used to find them in the big trash dumpsters all the time. We'd just put a 2x4 board in the dumpsters so they could use this to get out. Our older daughter in New Jersey frequently sees Black Bear. They also love to dig through the trash.

I wonder if Brian would find this native critter also "exotic". My dogs certainly didn't when they met one last year.:LOL:

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We have tons of them... along with deer, rabbits, and squirrels...

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None of them have any natural predators here to keep their numbers down... except for speeding cars.

We have out own version of the skunk here, known as a striped polecat. It looks very similar, and even sprays foul smelling liquid. But I have never seen one; they are common but shy and will not venture into urban areas. Same thing with squirrels: we have local species, but mostly not in urban areas.

These guys are not entirely unheard of in urban areas though:

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Like the raccoons, cute or not, they can become a serious annoyance. :)

As for all the green, only in summer. Our winter are bone dry - even you might be tempted into painting a landscape. :)
 
He looks an awful lot like a large spider monkey! Or something along that sort of thing. Yes cute, but if sprays stink at you, that's no fun. 😬
 
We've had more visits from bears this summer than in the previous four combined. Juniors so far.

As for raccoons, this is Shake, one of two moms this year. We haven't seen her kits yet. First time we've had two females here. They keep to different schedules. Shake usually shows up mid-afternoon, Ash early evening.

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Raccoons have very distinctive personalities.

Shake is good sized, very personable, dignified, gentle in her movements, and not at all skittish, especially with me. She's always well groomed and never drags her tail on the deck. Usually she eats on her feet, except on the rail.

Ash, of whom we have no pics yet, is Shake's polar opposite. Small. Her tail is half the diameter of Shake's. Her fur looks like somebody just ran a Dustbuster over it. She's a total bum. She prefers to eat lying down even on the deck. She doesn't care if she gets covered in peanut shells. She's more skittish, though less so around my sweetie than me.

Last night we saw Ash's kits for the first time, crossing the brook at the bottom of the ravine. Ash, who was on the deck at the time, was not at all pleased that her kids had busted out of jail and promptly left to round them up.

This year we've discovered that raccoons are crazy for grapes. Shake is very calm around me and would take one right out of my palm if I let her, but of course I won't. These are wild animals, not pets. Raccoons are by far the most intelligent mammals in North America that go on four legs. They are considerable smarter than a lot of North American mammals that go on two.

We haven't seen a skunk in five years here. Apparently they like open spaces; we're surrounded by woods. Too bad, we like them.
 
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Shake and Ash both love them.

If I appear at the glass door while Shake is feasting on peanuts and birdseed, she'll drop everything because she assumes I've got grapes. If she could, she'd step right through the open door to get them. Ash loves them too. If I over roll one and it looks like it's going to fall off the deck, both will move like lightning (they can move very fast when they want to) to make sure it doesn't happen.

Of course they pick them up with their hands for a brief inspection before snarfing them down. Raccoons live by their sense of touch. They don't go for raspberries, possibly because the little stickies in the berries offend their tactile sensitivity. But in general they will eat almost anything; it's one reason why they're such a successful species, along with high intelligence and adaptability.
 
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Still going for walks, the natural world here is slowly getting back to it's state before lockdown. The pollution is on the rise back to the levels before.

Here's a pic of an Egret at the local lake, having his or her breakfast.
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Late evening walks with shadows from the setting sun, these are my favourite times, early morning, late evening.
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Ian, the way the egret's feathers are hanging in the water on its breast, it makes it look like it was a 4 legged bird. :LOL:
 
We get lovely blue skies as well. Or so I’ve been told; it‘s said they’re on the other side of the fog...
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Reminds me of Asterix in Britain, where the they get caught in a dense fog.

Asterix: Do you often get fogs like this?
Briton: Oh, no, only when it's not raining.

:)

Hey, check it out - actual frost:

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Let no one claim we don't have winter here. :)
 
I liked the lockdown for a while but I'm over it now. I want to go to the cinema or eat out when I feel like it. It has been super strict where I live with the police chasing down folk on the beaches and only allowing some vehicles road access on certain days. We have also had curfews for like 7pm in the evening.

Positive note - I got creative in the kitchen and produced a couple of new and interesting meals and when I'm out and about I don't feel self conscious anymore wearing a mask because now every one else is!

So, I have been doing what everyone is now doing for years...keeping my distance and wearing a mask, and so not that much has changed for me.
 
Went on an Italian food binge with Gina on YouTube, then made bread everyday for two weeks, now into Indian dals. Fasted two weeks. Painted 3 fairly large canvas.
These are my latest rabbits on the boat, re-touched and varnished.
I am tired and a bit depressed. No museums, no cinémas, no dinners on a terrace. Starting a new project.

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Confined, the litter box is clean. Started working on a fourth painting. It is a small 9x12.
Studied hare’s footprints to be more accurate.
They are dreaming and floating rabbits.
Anything can happen along the way.
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Very good Desforges. Do rabbits come in herds, flocks, gaggles, bunches, colonies, or warrens? In any case, that's a bunch of bunnies. :giggle:
 
Yeah! They come in a bunch. The male a buck, female a doe and the little ones kits.
I was looking at the shape of their pads. My cat is not a good model. He won’t do anything you ask him to. He is uncooperative and a lousy helper.
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Yes, I know bunnies come in bunches, we used to raise them. When a doe has 20 in one litter and she only has 10 faucets, you are scrambling for another doe who can take them. :giggle:
 
wild bunnies (cottontails) and jackrabbits abound around here.

Beautiful painting Desforges! I love it. I love all your work.
 
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