Things That Go Bump...

...in the night! So there I was, late last night, working away at my previous post. And I heard loud thumping
& bumping. The Max cat was outside. Had he captured the neighborhood skunk? Had a wandering coyote tried to grab the precious Max cat?

Opening the door, I shouted for Max -- and heard heavy clumping footsteps making time uphill. Plus the telltale "huff huff". One of the local pack of pigs.

Excuse me, javelina. Got to keep the species straight.

It happens that, tho I live less than a mile from the Courthouse, my house is apparently located on an old javelina trail. The pack shows up every so often, looking for goodies.

These include the staples: grape hyacinths, the roots of any wild white evening primrose that I have managed to tame, and a handful of surviving tulip bulbs left over from more optimistic gardening days. Dessert? Try pansy blossoms, for starters. And, occasionally, the roots of a red California poppy I've been nursing along.

Last night, the beasts had found out my secret: that I had transferred most of my hyacinths to pots, in the belief that the pigs sniffed the ground out first. Worked for several years. But I've been found out. I'll have to work up a new strategy!

Like the little electric fence a tulip-loving, tulip-planting neighbor installed when I first mentioned the pig problem. It worked for a long time, even after he had planted literally hundreds of bulbs a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, early this spring, after the blossoms had opened, the javelina discovered that the fence was in disarray.

That was one Tulip Massacree!!!

But then I have another friend who loves wildlife. As you can see, below. Great picture, but I'm glad it wasn't taken here.