Trapper TJ

Time has sped by and we are already nearing the end of summer. Lately we’ve had slightly cooler temperatures which hints that it won’t be long before we switch from wearing t-shirts to sweatshirts.

In some ways, this has been a difficult summer because EJ has struggled with various health issues, including increased back pain. He suffers from chronic back pain as a result of slipping down two flights of stairs at work years ago, but this summer the pain has been so excruciating that he’s missed several days of work, which isn’t good for our finances. To be honest, I’m not sure how we are making it because we were counting pennies before the medical bills and vehicle repairs we’ve had over the last year. I can only attribute it to God’s provision. I feel a bit like the widow in the Bible (1 Kings 17:8-16) whose oil and flour never ran out.

Usually I only feed the wild birds in winter because they can easily find their own food in the summer. Also, bears are awake in the summer and they like birdseed. Or so I’ve heard. However, this year I’ve continued feeding the birds throughout the summer. It’s good for our mental health. We get different types of birds in the summer–those who spend winters in the south and summers in the north: Indigo Buntings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, Robins, and so on. When I go out in the mornings to put seed in the feeders, the birds excitedly swoop over my head and the chipmunks poke their heads out of their hiding places. We always say to the chipmunks, “I see you!”

I’ve been enjoying my trail camera, which I put in our little apple orchard. The camera usually captures footage of deer, raccoons, and opossums. I also sometimes see a mouse, a few times I’ve seen a skunk, and once a coyote came through. In recent weeks, I’ve captured Does with their fawns. Frequent visitors are a Doe with two fawns and a group of two Does with three fawns. I also often see a Raccoon Mama with her three little ones. I’m still hoping to see an opossum with babies. I upload my favorite videos to my Rumble trail camera channel, which you can see here: TJ’s Critter Cam.

Oh, and we’ve had new arrivals in our neighborhood: For several weeks we heard constant bird cries–often one called and another answered. At first I assumed they were Blue Jays but one day I realized that Blue Jays don’t “caw” for hours at a time. So I looked for the birds I was hearing whenever I went outside and finally spotted one: It was some sort of hawk. EJ tried to identify it but even using binoculars we couldn’t see enough details to identify it. So then I got on a bird identification site and listened to audio of the different types of hawks in Michigan. As far as we can figure out, our new visitors are Red-Shouldered Hawks. The description of their preferred habitat and behavior seems to fit as well.

Here is one of my trail camera videos of the Doe with two fawns. In the background, you can hear the cry of the hawks:

I’ve noticed that there was an increased number of mice in the chicken coop. Mice can cause problems, including nibbling on the chickens while they sleep. So I cleaned out the coop, tried my best to make sure there was no leftover feed in the chicken dish, and set several mouse traps each night. I put the traps inside the doghouses which are inside the shed that we use as our coop. The doghouses have doors which I keep slightly ajar so that the chickens can’t get into them but the mice can. The chickens like to roost on top of the doghouses. I started with three traps and every morning they had a dead mouse in them. We found three more traps so I was able to set six every night until one broke, leaving me with five. Every morning the traps have a dead mouse in them. So far I’ve caught 42 mice. EJ is very impressed with my trapping skills.

I assume some mice are coming from outside. Over the years, the chickens have pecked holes into the side of the coop. We need to find and plug those holes, but we are also dealing with EJ’s health issues so…I keep catching mice. I’m assuming that eventually there will be no more mice to catch. Although I set the traps, I can’t make myself remove the dead mice so EJ does it for me. He throws the bodies into the forest.

This morning one trap got two mice. I told EJ that I thought I should get a double score for that one.