Wildlife Spotting

So the other day I was puttering around in my room, and I heard Megan shut the back door. A few minutes later she let out this absolute scream. Horrible thoughts rushed through my mind as I hurried outside to see what in the world was going on. "Mom, there's a TURTLE in our pond!" she said. Now, we've had ducks many times, and a lot of snakes, too, but this was our first turtle. He/she was trying to hide, but I spied him out, and it looks like it is a red eared slider turtle -- not originally native to Utah, but now found here due to release of pets. Our turtle may move on at some point, but for now...we have a turtle.

When Bumblebees Attack . . .

So today I got up at 5:30 AM and thought I would move the rest of the compost pile. I'm getting so close to being done out there!!!

Anyway, as I sunk my shovel into the back of the compost, a good size swarm of bumblebees rose up out of the pile. Apparently they had made some kind of hive/nest in it. There were lots of big bumblebees and even little ones who couldn't fly and just lay on the ground making a buzzzz noise. Of course they went straight for me, so I was running and swinging the shovel like crazy. After a bit they settled down, and I went back for a few more shovelfuls until they ran me off again. It continued like that until I took a break at 8:00 to run. Poor little bumblebees.

The Ducks are Back in Town

For the second year in a row, a pair of ducks has decided to take up residence in our very small pond, quacking and waddling off whenever we disturb them. The nice thing about them is that they have done a a very capable job of eating all the string algae that was left over from the winter. The bad thing is that when they are done with the string algae, they will start digging in the yard. Usually by then, I am outside so much that I scare them away. I wonder if they are the same ones from last year?