Who Else Lives Here

Cardinal

Bluebird eating the dogwood berries

       

Along with us and our two four legged inside family members, we have plenty of outside critters to share our space. Some of them walk on four legs, some on two and some just crawl. We love all of our wildlife and would not destroy one of them ever. 

Some of our residents are poisonous, but we have an agreement with them. We don't hurt them and they don't hurt us.

Our house is free of mice and rats and other rodent like critters

They all add to our ecosystem, keep it in balance and provide pleasure to everyone who sees them.

Even the neighbor's cows come by for visits.

Even the panther and the cougar who ran too fast for us to get photos are welcome around here. We didn’t see the bear, but were told by the neighbors that he was wandering around looking for a snack.

Butterflies at Gunner Pool

Momma and baby in the driveway.

Red finch

Indigo Bunging at the birdbath

Scarlet tanager flying away - he's camera shy

Pileated woodpecker. Noisy guy and really big, about 18" tall

We do have other critters, but they are not all 'ready for their close ups'. We enjoy them from afar.

So now you have seen some of the folks we share our lives with and we are richer because of them.

Scootering around Calico Rock

I have showed some photos of past travels in some of the national parks in the US.  Today I want to post a few pics of Calico Rock, AR about 45 minutes away from our house. We live in a part of the  Ozarks that is a vacation destination all by itself and we take advantage of that constantly. 

If we have a houseguest, we always drive them to Calico Rock, Blanchard Springs, Gunner Pool, all within 45 minutes. Blanchard Springs and Gunner pool are part of the Ozark National Forest. 

Calico Rock has a ghost town right next door. Actually it is old Calico Rock that was just left to rot away. There is still a Calico Rock Main Street with stores, mostly for tourists, but a small population keeps Calico Rock going.

Native wood holds up for years.

Broken bridge. How would you like scootering over that?

Window in old CR. Nature has reclaimed her own

Gunners pool, part of the Ozark National Forest is a must see for anyone.  It’s tough on a scooterer, but some of it is doable. Regardless, it is worth the trip, even if some of it has to be seen through a car window.

Gunner pool waterfall

Alligator fossil, no not really, but it doesn't take much imagination to see it.

We have no idea why so many butterflies decided to visit this spot all at the same time.  But we did get a photo of some of them.

Butterfly convention.

A visit to the Natural State has to include seeing the old town of Calico Rock and the recreational areas of Ozark National Forest.