Jennifer Murphy's photos

It's been a while since these two have stopped in to see what's good in the pasture. At the edge of the field is an old apple tree, and the doe heads straight for it.

I was watching a video from the game camera and was pleased to see one of the pups was back under the mulberry tree. I've only seen The Beast lately, so I was worried my neighbors may have actually shot the pups (everyone around us has guns and shoots constantly...welcome to the country!). The pup was eating windfall berries and walked to the right, out of camera range. Then this happened.

At first I thought this coyote was one of the pups, but now I'm not sure. This one has been coming in alone; it's half the size of The Beast, and I'm fairly certain it's an adult or perhaps one of last year's pups. And yet another interesting coat color and pattern; much darker and more rust colored than most average coyotes I've seen.

My favorite song dog filling up on dropped mulberries.

I had spotted this creature twice at a distance, and couldn't understand what I was looking at. Canine, sure...but it was too big to be a coyote, we don't have wolves here, maybe someone was missing a white shepherd type dog? My neighbor soon solved the mystery with his game camera - a blonde coyote, and a big one. I'm not sure which parent it is, but it does have two pups and another adult that it travels with. How do I know? This shot is from my own game camera. I'm obsessed with this contraption! This is the first daytime photo I've captured of The Beast (my affectionate nickname) with the game camera. I've been lucky enough to snap some pictures with my DSLR through the window, and in all of them he/she looks more yellow than white. With the naked eye, it's a nearly white animal. Right now he/she is coming in nightly to eat the windfall mulberries under our tree. They don't bother the mules, and my mother's cat is smart enough to keep her distance. I have run them off in the mornings because I don't want them getting too comfortable and hanging around all day. As much as I love watching these clever song dogs, they are still wild, and comfortable wildlife always means trouble.

One of two pups belonging to The Beast. The pups are marked almost identically, so it's difficult to tell them apart.

I've had scores of pink bleeding hearts, and I once had an entire garden of nothing but white bleeding hearts, but never have I ever owned a red bleeding heart. This one has made it's way into my perennial collection as a gift from my mother.