Tigers, Bigfoot and bears, oh my!

We bought this unique place September of 2014. I've wanted to start a blog about it all this time but just kept putting it off.

Originally I was going to title it a Real Housewife of Weeki Wachee, but was afraid of trademark infringement.  Plus I didn't want Andy Cohen to be mad at me, I like him.

So here it finally is, ta-da.  So many cool things have happened I don't know where to begin.  Our dome is actually 4 domes hooked together with tunnels. Sort of like a habitrail only for people. It is on over 4 wooded acres, and even has a built in pool.  Our "neighbors" are woodland critters like owls, raccoons, armadillos, and flying squirrels, etc! I didn't even know flying squirrels were living around here until Rocket J. Squirrel moved his little family in our barn!  We went in there to get something and all of a sudden 7 little furballs with coal black eyes were staring at us! Too cute!

They move back in the barn every winter and are there now and we love it!

Rocket J. Squirrel

I understand that many folks, especially ranchers, hate armadillos but we were so excited to see ours!  He was the size of a dollar bill and we thought he was a hoot and a half.  He would burrow deep for bugs or worms and sometimes all that would be sticking out would be his feet.  Jim and I argued a little on the name. He wanted "Matt Dillo" and I wanted "Armand Dillo". He won and I'm sure Matt Dillon would be honored. Yeah, probably not.

We having been running a Queen Butterfly breeding program. They look similar to the Monarchs, with slight differences.  Even their cocoons are similar but the Queens have tiny beads of silver around the tops of theirs.  They are big fans of Milk Weed as are the Monarchs.  My mother has only Monarchs come to her Milk Weeds and she is but a few miles away. In order to protect them she has been taking in the fattened caterpillars, set them up in an aquarium with loads of Milk weed and let them cocoon in safety. Then when they are fully hatched and their wings are dry she releases them. We found out the hard way that the numerous lizards love fat caterpillars and unprotected cocoons!   I don't know how many she's raised but we are way into double digits. I would like to think that she has been partly responsible for the slight comeback in the Monarch populations!

Queen cocoon 

Almost ready to hatch

Letting wings dry

First stop to freedom

Kermet the pond frog

Last spring Jim had two tiny baby squirrels try to adopt him.  They came walking slowly up to him as if to say "are you my mommie"? They were precious but didn't really want the responsibility of taking care of orphaned infants and took they to a wild animal rescue center where they got lots of loving care and were eventually released into a protected area.  Now here it is spring once again and we are on the lookout.  

The bird species around here are varied and awesome!  We have had everything from hummingbirds to huge Barred Owls and a Bald Eagle.  The bald eagle's wings were so big that when it took off it broke branches as it sailed through the forest.

  Yeah, birds of prey know they're cool!

We are in bear country, there are signs everywhere. I have yet to see one but may have heard one as I have no other explanation.  I was awake with one of my many nights of insomnia when I heard a frightening noise! At the same time neighbor Ray's dogs were going bat crap crazy barking!  Obviously they knew something was up.  Frozen in panic I was afraid to look, or grab my phone and tape the LOUD whoop noises! I did find a similar noise in a web site:    http://bfro.net/avevid/sierrasounds/Whoop.mp3
With the caption congratulations it's a Bigfoot! Although that would be exciting, I'm sure there is a logical explanation.  First of all down south here they are called "Skunk apes" and are supposed to smell to high heaven!  I didn't smell anything and since it was walking outside my bedroom door and the whoops sounded incredibly loud and close I think I would have noticed an odor. And no it wasn't a Whip-or-will, unless there are two hundred pound angry Whip-or-wills roaming around at 3 am.   There is a rumor that a family on this street owns tigers, that may be so, and many have exotic animals that sometimes escape.  Another explanation perhaps?

The second time ( and hopefully last) I heard the loud whoop was when I was relaxing at night in the screen dome anxious to catch the sight of shooting stars that we frequently see. My daughter's cat, Mr. Fluffy, was peacefully sleeping on my lap. Then the loud WHOOP!  With that poor Mr. Fluffy shot straight up off my lap and  hightailed it into the house!  I was afraid to follow, afraid to move. It sounded like what ever it was was two feet away yet I didn't see anything.  So I don't know what's going on out here in the wilds of Weeki Wachee, your guess is as good as mine!