Critters and Gluten Free

It's officially Summer in Florida and we have had a lot going on in our backyard as usual.  We have a bird feeder along our property line that is frequented by raccoons especially in the winter when their food sources are running low, cardinals, doves, woodpeckers, titmouse and red winged blackbirds.  Notice that the raccoons come first!  I've basically given in to them during the winter and early spring when they visit our feeder sometimes all day especially if it has been cold. 

They have though become a permanent and entertaining feature of our outdoor home.  They are often splayed out on top of the feeder scooping handfuls of sunflower seeds into their mouths.  The bird feeder below is a recycled plastic feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited.  It is the only one that has managed to stay put for 5 years... with a cemented post and nails to secure it.

Spring Babies ~ rarely get chased off due to just being so cute.

This past winter we had a new 4 legged critter enter our lives.  "Mama Cat".  She was skinny as a rail and was caught often cleaning our grill after my husband left it open to cool down.  I tried my best to ignore her as besides the outside animals I feed, we are a one domesticated animal family ... so says my husband.  But her belly kept growing and it soon became obvious that she was expecting kittens. 

Mama Cat and her beautiful coat after being fed Grain Free Acana for 3 months

The kids started feeding her during a week in March while my husband was out of town.  Our one domestic animal family soon became two.  And we explained away and begged as Daddy protested back.  We won eventually with the explanation that we would find them homes as well as her. 

Two weeks later Mama cat disappeared and came back skinny 2 days later without kittens.  We prayed that they were ok and would make it out amongst the scrub palms and other critters. 

And finally 2 months later, this past Saturday I was sitting on the sofa reading and caught sight of them. 6!  6 new mouths for me to feed!  : )

I had been getting very anxious as I knew I needed to start acclimating them to people soon or we would have many feral cats living behind our home.  I had no idea where they were, but knew she had at least a few as you could tell she was still nursing.  Mama Cat thankfully is not feral. 

The kids and I began feeding the kittens in our backyard that day and we are now able to hand feed them and pet them while eating.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can find them homes soon and possibly even Mama Cat otherwise we may really be a 2 domesticated animal home!

Why am I talking about Critters and Gluten Free?

While all of this keeps me rather busy .... Gluten free is always on my mind and does come into play in my backyard. I had thought about it some time ago, but just had not researched it.

I have wondered if the birdseed I was buying could have any wheat in it? Unfortunately the answer is:  Yes, it can.  Here is the back of one of my seed mixes I have purchased from Winn Dixie.   

I also started googling and I cam across this on ehow.com: 

Many ready-made birdseed mixes contain low-quality ingredients that are unattractive to most birds. Cheap mixes often contain filler material such as wheat, peanut hearts, hulled oats and rice that few birds will eat, according to the University of Wisconsin. Visiting birds often pluck out these filler materials and discard them on the ground under the bird feeder or they are left in the feeder uneaten.

Read more: Bird Basics: Wild Bird Seed Mixes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8061052_bird-wild-bird-seed-mixes.html#ixzz1vj3ZYPJ4

I also came across this by Dr. Robert Wood ~ Food Allergies for Dummies: 

Pet food: Food for dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and other pets can contain wheat, peanut, egg, milk, and a host of other ingredients that can trigger reactions.

Bird seed: In addition to the seeds, some mixes may contain peanut, wheat, milk, and other allergens.

So, yes, I am now buying "High Quality" birdseed along with my "High Quality" cat food by Acana  to help keep me safe and Gluten Free


And thus my Backyard Critters are now too....Gluten Free.

We spend a great deal of time in our backyard.  Below are just some recent backyard pictures and some from the past:

Mama or Daddy Wren feeding babies on our back patio speaker -
My husband has had to use the iPod dock once again.
They should be flying from the nest soon. 
Wrens are so fun to watch ~ the parents are very attentive
and constantly feeding their babies.
Last summer we avoided them by playing
rock and roll during the day while we were
at work.  My husband is a little put out again this year, but I love it and so do the kids....
and hey, so does our cat Jagger.

June 2010 ~ Before Gluten Free ~ we raised 24 Monarch Cats ~ Subsequently we set the following summer limit to 4 at a time the rest were left to our garden to experience life in it's entirety.

Setting one of the first Monarchs free. The first few were exciting....after Number 15 or so .... Not so much!

Blackberries Spring 2012

Florida's Bonnie Planet Cabbage Scholarship Winner ~ grown in our backyard 2010 by our Daughter

This year's Organic Tomatoes - Growing well in my raised Vegetable garden.

Space Shuttle Atlantis' Final Launch
One of many sad days ~ but always beautiful to watch from our backyard.
The shuttle program has been a huge part
of our lives and is why we became
Floridians.

Baby Sand Hill Crane Summer 2011
Our neighborhood has several nesting grounds so we are blessed every spring with several babies and often twins.

Lettuce ~ I am super excited as I have never grown any before.  Salads coming soon!

Okra from 2011 ~ easy to grow ~ Raccoons will not eat ~ Pickled A LOT!

Jagger looking for the babies.

Where we are often found with friends in the evening having some
gluten free wine. 
This picture caught my eye as a maybe to share  
due to fire pit, but then I knew I had to when I spotted
the raccoon in the back on alert due to
our neighbors dog.  This is our
typical day. : )