Joan Ambu Archives – Page 60 of 96 – Strength Of The Small

Animals Ground Squirrel Gardening High Desert

Life of a Busy Squirrel

By JM PerezJune 8, 20132 min read873 views

I had planned on tending to my plants today, but my attention got drawn to one particular Squirrel.

From my bedroom window, I caught the squirrel on the first picture (left) climbing on the planter and eating some of the Clarkia Amoena. As I ran outside to chase it off, it ran straight to its burrow, which is located at the next door neighbor’s backyard. When we built the Primitive 3 Legged Plant Stand early this year to raise it from the ground and prevent the Rabbits from eating the plants, I didn’t foresee Squirrels in the big picture. Just a few minutes later, I spotted the same squirrel next to our storage shed, wondering if it was safe to get into the basement, after damaging some of my Horsetail plants (picture on the right).

Either this Squirrel is starving or it just loves coming into our property. On the picture below (left), it found a nut somewhere in the backyard and it’s busy eating it. From he picture on the right, it’s just relaxing in the front yard underneath the Raywood Ash Tree. Life must be good or something for this little creature.

Squirrel Eating & Relaxing. — *Squirrel enjoying a nut & Relaxing.*

As I went to close the gate leading to the backyard, I spotted the little creature underneath the Sweet Almond Tree, enjoying a few Almonds. This Squirrel is fearless. I can’t believe how close I got to it before it ran off.

I guess after eating so many Almonds, it’s time to take a break and relax. Prior to that, it damaged and ravaged most of the plants in search of my Tulip and Crocus bulbs, seeds and digging up new sprouts. There was nothing funny about watching this varmint go through my garden the way it did. All the money spent on the plants and the energy spent in getting everything looking the way I wanted seemed to have vanished in an instant. I will be using an underground bulb cage for my next Fall bulb planting (click here for a tutorial in building yours).

So far, all attempts to get these Squirrels from our property have failed. For one we are thinking about removing all the Oleanders along the chain link fence in the backyard and installing wood fencing or Slats (none of these will prevent them from coming over; but it might slow them down as they will have to work harder).
For now, we set up a trap in one of their favorite locations. If it works, I will share the information with those of you dealing with sneaky Squirrels as well as other rodents in your yards.

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By JM Perez

Ground Squirrel Weather Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Gladiolus Bulbs & Squirrels

By JM PerezJune 6, 20132 min read2.6K views

As the weather gets warmer (hotter, for those of us living in the High Desert), every one scrambles to the stores to stock up on cool drinks, snacks and others items to stay at home. The same scenario applies to animals as they search for their stores of stashed seeds, nuts and whatever they can find. I have seen Squirrels running in my neighbors backyard and just a couple ran across ours to get to the other side. There are just too many of them this year and they are starting to dig around. From the single squirrel I’ve seen on our property, they are now two.

Ground Squirrels. — *Ground Squirrels digging and playing.*

This morning, I found a bunch of holes in my children’s raised garden beds. I was saddened to see some of the Gladiolus bulbs pulled out, lying on the ground, partially eaten and the stems cut off. We had stunning Gladiolus blooms (Fiorentina, Pears, Star, Yellow and Orange) the last couple of years and I can’t say the same for this year. We have two more larger raised garden beds (not pictured) next to the ones below. One of which has Pink Tulips bulbs and the other Onions; both sustained damages as well.

To give me some peace of mind and to prevent further damages until we find a permanent solution, my husband decided to wrap some chicken wire around the top of the garden beds.

How Can You Fight Back?

Build Raised Garden Bed Fencing
Use Chicken Wire on your Garden Beds
Mulch with dried out Pine Needle
Sprinkle Coffee Ground around bulbs/base of your plants

The first two options are the best as a hungry squirrel will take high risks to get to its food source.

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By JM Perez

Vintage Home Decor

Vintage Crystal 3 Tiered Server

By JM PerezJune 3, 20131 min read754 views

Since school is over and having promised our Son that we would do something fun last weekend, we took a drive to Downtown Pomona. My kids were all smiles when I told them that we were going Vintage and Antique shopping. They love Downtown Pomona and they enjoy visiting the little shops.

We started by visiting one of our favorite shops, the Pomona Antique Mart. With it’s three levels, we always make sure to spend at least an hour to an hour and a half there. Yesterday, while at the basement level, I found a gorgeous Vintage Crystal 3 Tiered Server. I have been wanting to buy one, and this find is better than any I have seen so far. The crystal plates have Fleur de Lis, stars, and an unknown symbol as its pattern.

It is a beautiful piece, which will make a lovely centerpiece for serving an assortment of delicacies such as cupcakes, fruits, cookies, caviar appetizers, cheese, chocolates, candies, Devils on Horseback and so much more. The Vintage Crystal 3 Tiered Server could also be used to display my precious little collectibles.

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By JM Perez

Gratitude People High Desert

Handmade Southwestern Lamps

By JM PerezJune 1, 20132 min read565 views

Two weeks ago, we inherited this gorgeous pair of Southwestern Lamps from our neighbor across the street (the same individuals who gave us the Vintage Sea Shell Hanging Planter and the Vintage Wood Folding TV Tray). The lamps have cutouts in the center, showing a depiction of a beautiful Southwestern sunrise/sunset. The shades have a cactus, skull and cowboy hat for its pattern (cactus, skull, cactus, cowboy hat all the way around).

Usually they would ask if we are interested in anything before offering. This time they didn’t ask, they said they are passing it along to us because they know we will love and cherish the set. Those words were enough to make a grown woman cry. The neighbor told us that the set was a project by him and his wife, handmade, back when they both were into Pottery. The shades on the other hand, were purchased. What makes it even special for us, is that both lamps have been signed by the couple.

I really love the lamp shades, but their large size hide the top part of the lamp and it’s a little too big. I am planning on getting either Square, Barrel or drum shaped shades that will allow for the design to show thru.

The Lamps have two light bulbs on it, one on the top of the lamp and one that is on the bottom of the fixture which lights up the lamp cutout on the inside of it. This is a wonderful piece, which we will definitely cherish and which we are truly grateful to have received.

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”― Anne Frank

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By JM Perez

Camel Spider Invertebrates Insects High Desert

Fascinating Creatures

By JM PerezMay 31, 20132 min read718 views

It’s a gorgeous day here today and the weather is bearable than the previous days. There will be no gardening for me today. Instead, I am making myself comfortable on one of my outdoors swings and sharing a few photos of fascinating creatures I spotted and photographed the last couple of days.

Yesterday on my way to check the mail, I spotted a Seaside Grasshopper next to the entry door. It stood still as I walked my way to the mail box. On my way back, the little creature was still there. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a photo. Usually they hop away when someone gets close, but this one didn’t move an inch (it probably didn’t feel threaten). As soon as I was done taking the photographs, it hoped away. As much as I enjoy looking at this picture, I am not fond of grasshopper as they often damage my beautiful plants.

Last Friday, after watering a few plants in the backyard and proceeding to move the trash cans out of the way and rake some dead leaves which has piled behind them, I saw a weird looking creature coming underneath one of the trash cans and moving really fast. Just by taking a quick look of it, I guessed it could be a spider perhaps? However, after seeing its large mouth and mouthparts, I had to research it.
It turns out that it is a Camel Spider also known as wind scorpions, sun spiders or solifuges. These little creatures have eight legs, move really fast and are carnivorous, eating insects and bugs such as: grasshoppers, spiders, crickets, lizards, small rodents and reptiles. Click here, here and here for more information.

A couple of days later, I spotted a Megachile, Brown Bee, twitching and spinning in circles on the ground. According to the website PesticideResearch.com, this is one of the symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning in bees. After a while of twitching and spinning around, it flew off.

I found a Soil Centipede hiding underneath a Garden Statue while hand weeding around my Daffodils. I found out that it can move both backwards and forwards and they will feed on pretty much anything that is soft-bodied and smaller than themselves such as larvae and worms.

According to WikiPedia, the centipede’s venom causes pain and swelling in the area of the bite, and may cause other reactions throughout the body. The majority of bites are not life-threatening to humans and present the greatest risk to children and those who develop allergic reactions.

Now back inside for some sweet tea and a quiet moment watching Les Misérables. I could watch it all day, every day without ever getting bored. It is beautiful, moving and features some of my favorite actors.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and enjoy the rest of your day.

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By JM Perez