Spring for the Woodland Creatures

Now that spring is nearly half over, we're finally having some consistently spring-like weather.  Bulbs are finally blooming, trees are getting leaves, and we're seeing signs of the creatures who have been hibernating all winter long -- our very own Woodland Creatures.

The Woodland Creatures are known to inhabit the outdoors -- specifically anywhere they can get obscenely dirty.  Our "pond" in the back yard provides an excellent setting for the Woodland Creatures.  They are also prone to digging in the mulch (while Mommy screams in protest) and rolling around in the grass.  A sandbox may be in order for these two, since digging in the dirt is their great joy in life.

Today, these Woodland Creatures enjoyed a lunch at their picnic table on the back deck.  Notice their groupie, the shiny black dog missing two front claws (after an unfortunate accident on some playground equipment last week).

Connie keeps tabs on them outside and hates to come inside until the Woodland Creatures do.  She is a big fan of the "pond" and surrounding swampy area.  Mostly she's glad we took the bandage off her paw and stopped making her wear the big cone around her neck.

I laid out some food in hopes of attracting the Woodland Creatures so I could observe them while they fed.  The female Creature ate nearly her weight in food, but the male Creature eschewed most of his sandwich in favor of adventures in the swamp.

I went inside for a while to make chocolate chip cookies and came out to check on the Woodland Creatures a while later.  I found that they had raided the garage and extricated the sleds.  They carefully arranged their "ships" on the "ocean" and were playing a merry sailing game.  Weirdos.

"Catch da wope, Mommy!"

The Woodland Creatures finally tired of their filthiness and allowed me to lure them inside into the shower.  The female Creature won the prize for dirtiest, the male Creature won for best use of Froggie Potty for pooping, and Connie won for not barking at the high school kids when they got off at the bus stop at the end of our driveway.  All in all, it was a great afternoon for all wildlife involved.