[snowdrops]

It doesn't stink, to be a skink!

Do you see the skink in the photo? Close to the bend in the big root, and right next to my courgette planters.

No I can’t see it & I don’t know what a “skink” is but I know what a skunk is

A skink is a type of lizard.  It is hard to see in the photo because I was taking the photo as close as I could without scaring it away, which was not close enough really.  Also, my current phone insists on turning photos taken in portrait mode 90 degrees to make them landscape mode (I haven't found a way to consistently correct this). So, apologies for the photo.

To see the skink, look to the left side of the big root. There are 3 ivy leaves close together.  The blue tail of the skink lies along the edge of the root, near those leaves.  The striped black and pale brown body of the skink is oriented vertically in the photo, above the root, head pointed up.  This is a five-lined skink, better pictures can be found here: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=skink+georgia

Yes I can see it now ! Thanks for the detailed chat

[Subversive_plot]

Last baby fawn update.

We read that after a week or two, Mother deer will move the fawn to a different bedding-down area. So, night before last, we left the garden gate open.  Happy day, the mother apparently took the opportunity to move her baby.  It was fun having our "guest" for a week though!

Well, apparently I was wrong!  Fawn is back in our back yard again, so he must have been hiding and staying quiet. He's quite loud when he wants to call mom, sort of a short goat-like call (mah!)

Well, last summer, we had a fawn living in our back garden, per quoted message.

This year, after our dog Murray had an altercation with a very large doe in our back garden (he's recovering), I surmised that we had a fawn in the garden again.  I was VERY wrong! Instead, we have TWIN fawns in the garden!   

[Oddpod]

Oh , amazing! I hope you are able to enjoy them and that Murray continues to recover!

[Subversive_plot]

Unfortunately the twins are less enjoyable after the emergency vet bill we received. Mama doe apparently decided 25-pound Murray was too close to the babies and kicked the stuffing out of him.

Not the twins fault though. Yes, they are still cute.

[Subversive_plot]

Pic of one of the twins, near the vegetable garden. The other twin was nearby, but stayed back in the woods.

I am leaving the gates open to allow / encourage the doe to lead the twins out of our back yard and into the world beyond. This is good for them, a doe does not usually keep the fawns in one place for more than a week or two.

[snowdrops]

A true Bambi,wonderful to behold ( not that I’m sure Murray will agree, how is he now?)

[Subversive_plot]

A true Bambi,wonderful to behold ( not that I’m sure Murray will agree, how is he now?)

Murray is doing much better, thank you (though today he is having back problems - unrelated to the doe, mostly to do with age, we think). He still does not want to go off the deck (where it is safe  ) and down to the lawn (where he thinks it is still dangerous!  )

[Subversive_plot]

The twin fawns are much more bold now.  Today, they were romping and playing, chasing one another around the back yard while I was digging holes in the garden for cucumbers and tromboncino less than 100 feet away.

[vikingraider]

Look at this beast that was in my allotment today. A Privet Hawk Moth

[Aunt Sally]

Lucky you.  They are stunning creatures. 

[mumofstig]

They are gorgeous aren't they!

Where I used to live a neighbour had a fuchsia hedge and we used to see Elephant Hawk moths (the pink ones) and their caterpillars.

[mrs bouquet]

I have just counted 12 butterflys on the small buddliea.    Lots of bees still feeding on various flowers and the Hawkshead Moths are whizzing around.  Lots of insect life still going on in my garden.  Mrs Bouquet

[Growster...]

A chum who lives out in the wilds locally, noticed that since the field next to his house has been left uncultivated for a year, he has been inundated with hornets and other creatures whenever he turns the lights on!

They're not the dreaded Asian variety, but still make a racket - especially when they're caught in the door as he rushes out to shut it...

[mumofstig]

hornets and other creatures whenever he turns the lights on!

Had a couple in the kitchen a few weeks ago  I shut the door and left them to it! I just waited 'til they left.....

[Subversive_plot]

Attached is a photo of a buck (stag) that the Mrs. snapped from our driveway. I cropped the photo a bit before posting. She saw him hopping from garden to garden at different houses like the fences were not even there.

With those antlers, he is not at all concerned about people being a threat!  Best guess, he is between 3.5 to 4.5 years old.