Springtime (for real this time) (posted by Lani)

It really is finally spring. FINALLY! The bear is definitely awake, we've seen evidence of him although haven't actually seen him yet. Hummingbirds are arriving, we have more and more each day and I'm sure I'll shortly be inundating you with hummingbird pictures. So far just the broadtails, but other varieties will be here soon as well. Deer are wandering up from the valleys and some were in our back yard this morning. We saw a MOOSE, a real live MOOSE, coming back from Nederland the other night. Moose are, as I'm sure you know but as was brought home to me by the presence of this particular moose taking her own sweet time deciding whether to cross the road or just stare at us, very large and imposing. And fairly funny-looking, not that I would say that to their (very large) faces. All in all I was glad I was in my car when I saw the moose.

And of course, we have our foxes.

Boyfriend had a badly injured leg (we think it may have been broken) and I've been shamelessly feeding him and Baby because there was no way he could hunt and I couldn't bear to just let him die -- especially since he was taking food back to the den for Baby and her kits. As these pictures show, though, he's eating well and looking good, and he's starting to use the leg a little for balance now so I'm hopeful that it's healing.




Baby is around more now than she was; I think her kits are getting older and can be left alone more. I was potting up some hanging baskets on the porch last week and she wandered down the hill and came over to lie down and watch me, obviously curious about what the heck I was doing. She and Boyfriend are both starting to lose their winter coats and look a little ragged, but Baby's truly a beautiful girl. Maybe she'll bring her babies down to visit one day; I live in hope.