Four Green Feet

Martha and Sweeney Basking

I think I mentioned in the past how Sweeney is usually the first one to bask in the morning.  When Martha was by herself in the indoor pond, she usually wouldn’t come out to bask until about 10 am – 11 am.  After I added Sweeney to the pond, she was basking earlier.  Sweeney was usually basking by 8 am or earlier.

Sweeney usually basks most of the day.  Martha doesn’t.  She may only spend a few hours a day basking.  Often times it seems like she basks a few minutes at a time many times a day.  Since moving her outside, she seems to bask most in the morning and later afternoon.   Although last night, she climbed out at around 8 pm while it was raining.  Anyway, there have been a few occasions that I noticed Sweeney wasn’t basking while Martha was, even though I saw him basking alone just a few minutes before.

Martha and Sweeney Basking

I think I know why now.  This morning I was watching the squirrels around the pond (again).  Sweeney was basking and I saw Martha head towards the log.  She circled around and started up.  Sweeney was basking where Martha generally likes to bask, but often times he stays just to the left of Martha’s favorite area.  While I was watching this morning, Martha lumbered up the log and hit Sweeney’s shell in just the right spot and he went tumbling into the pond.    I wonder how often that happens!?

These pictures were taken shortly after Martha knocked Sweeney into the pond.  After he fell off, Martha slipped back into the water.  Sweeney climbed back up a few minutes later right on to Martha’s favorite spot.  Martha decided she wanted it when she climbed up right afterwards.  She pushed him right on up the log.

I’m going to add a second basking area to the pond.  I did that last year too because it seemed like Martha spent more time hanging around the fountain head than she did basking.  Like I mentioned a couple paragraphs before, she does not bask nearly as much as Sweeney.  Last year after I added the second basking log, she would bask on it more often than she would on the main log.

What I did last year was trimmed a small section of a seasoned, thick tree branch to about 8 inches long and then split it in half.  To keep it mostly stationary, I drilled a hole through it, took a piece of rope long enough to just reach the bottom.  I tied a few large fishing weights to it and tied a knot in the log end.  It would move around little when Martha tried climbing up on it, but it worked out pretty well.

That tree branch basking log is now too small for Martha.  Actually it was too small by the end of last summer.  I have a bunch of seasoned logs that I can split, but I’ll probably have to find a better way to keep it from moving around.

The tadpole feeding frenzy has stopped.  We are down to 5 tad poles, from the original 12.  The seem to have figured out to stay away from the turtles, especially their hiding spots.  Although, from time to time, I’ll see a brave tadpole sitting on top of one of the hiding spot’s rocks.

Martha and a Friend, a Squirrel trying to figure out how to get a drink.

This year we seem to have more visitors to the pond then we had last year.  The squirrels really took a liking to the secondary filter.  They’d saunter right up to the bucket and take a drink from the falling water.  Unfortunately the camera was never close by when this happened and I never got a picture of it.  Yesterday, I saw a squirrel hanging off one of the paver stones taking a drink from the pond.  He didn’t stay long and was gone when I came back with the camera.  I need to carry the camera whenever I’m in the house!

Martha and a Friend, the Squirrel gets a little closer.

This morning there was a flurry of squirrel activity in the backyard.  There was about 8 of them within 10 feet of the pond.  We have a bird feeder hanging a few feet from the pond and they always congregate around the feeder.  This morning there were a few of them having around the pond.  It is funny to watch the squirrels try to figure out how to get a drink.  Last year I had the paver stone covering the basking area, so they’d just climb on them and jump to the log.  Getting a drink from the log was a piece of cake then.

This year, I have the wire mesh covering the basking area and it extends a few inches past the brick over the log.  I’ve seen one scurry over the mesh, but I have yet to see one stop on it and walk around.  So getting to the basking log is not an option.  Only a few smart squirrels have realized they can just get a drink from the falling water.  Watching the others try to figure it out is always a fun show.

Martha and a Friend, a different Squirrel takes a look at the water.

The squirrels don’t bother the turtles, but they do get the turtles’ attention.  Right before I took these pictures, Martha was facing the house, lower on the log and closer to the water.  When the squirrels started swirling around the pond, she moved to where she is in the pictures.  She would turn her head back and forth watching the squirrels.  Then she noticed me at the window and stared at me for a few minutes.

We love the wild life in our backyard, but the squirrels have been frustrating.  They don’t seem to bother the ground cover plants, but they’ve been digging up some of the sweet pea plants.  The sweet pea is getting taller now and hopefully it’ll be safe from the squirrels soon.