We
had a mild frost last week and many of my plants were affected so
since it was warm today I spent the afternoon in the garden. Today
the temperature was 64 degrees Fahrenheit, a perfect temperature for
gardening in late fall.
My
main objective today was to cut back the daylilies, the four O’clock
s, and the zinnia flowers to the ground. I was also gathering any
remaining seeds from the flower heads. In addition to manicuring
of the gardens, I was hoping that I had time to prune the rose
bushes.
When
all the garden maintenance work was done I would apply the mulch my
husband made for me with his wood chipper. He gathered fallen
branches from our meadow and used the small chipper that we bought at
lowes.com to create organic garden mulch.
So
I started gardening in the back garden close to the woods entrance.
My husband was relaxing on the patio, he was 46 feet from me. It was
comforting he was in the yard, if I need him he was there. I was
busy working when I heard my husband laugh and I thought he had read
something funny. I smiled and waved, then turned to go back to work.
There was a patch of stubborn grasses that needed to be dug out so I
turned to grab my garden tool belt and found my hand shovel was
missing.
I
looked for it in the garden shed, in the greenhouse, and even in the
mud room. My hand shovel was gone and my husband was laughing. So I
asked him "did you take my shovel" and he shook his head
no.
I
swore I brought my garden hand tools out of the shed before I started
my work. But since I could not find my hand tools I went to get the
shovel. Before I went to search for my full-size garden shovel in
the tool shed I took off my work gloves and laid them on top of the
wheelbarrow. I got the shovel, went to put on my gloves and they
were gone. My husband laughing so I assumed he had been sneaking up
on me and taking my garden supplies. Right?
My husband says "it wasn't me" Then pointed up at the maple tree that is
closest to me and there I see the garden tool thief. Up the tree is
the raccoon Lucy that we rescued in the spring after her mom was
poached by hunters. Lucy came out of the woods and was sneaking up
on me, she took all of my garden supplies and was hiding them at the
base of the oak tree.
I had a good laugh, and it is hard to be mad at a junior raccoon especially when these orphans don't know to stay out of sight during daylight hours. This little girl was sneaking up on me and taking my things and that was funny
It is safe to say that I could care
about raccoons in my yard, but if you find that they are a nuisance
and want to keep them out of your yard, then read my article on how
to get
rid of raccoons without hurting the,
