milo...the camping cat

hi.  i'm milo.

 even the yard manager needs a break now and then.

tomorrow afternoon we go camping.

we don't rough it anymore.

hey, i'm...uh...about 15...and if my two favorite humans were still tent camping...

i'd have to stay home.  so we have a slide-in camper.

i like being outdoors - but at my age - i deserve all the comforts of home...

but on a smaller scale.

i was born in plant city, FL.

me asleep out back in plant city

 my mother, stimpy...disappeared while me & my brothers & sisters

were still nursing. we think she was taken by a big owl.

laura took care of us...and decided to keep ME...

because i was the smallest...the cutest...and the smartest!

me and sam on the back deck in PC

about 9 years ago or so, laura sold the mobile home we were living in,

and we moved up to north florida to be with sam.

after a while they put their $$ together and bought this camper.

uh...some place in georgia i think

 we three hope to retire & travel around in it someday.

the pictures that follow are 'all about me'...milo...the camping cat!

 as you can see...i used to be on a leash. 

i hated it. first it was a harness which made me jump and twist 

like a bucking bronco!  then i learned to walk with a collar.

Little Talbot State Park, Florida

 

well i guess i didn't ALWAYS walk...i was easily distracted.

so sometimes sam would have to pick me up & carry me.

but that's ok. he's my man. my best buddy.

Hard Labor Creek State Park, Georgia

"if you take the collar & leash off, i'll come out!"

yes, i could be a little stubborn!

eventually...sam & laura decided to see how i would do on my own.

no collar.  no leash.

the only stipulation was that i behave. and listen. and don't leave the campsite.

Torreya State Park, Florida

Mistletoe State Park, Georgia

Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama

Mistletoe State Park, Georgia

"ummmm...nice tree!"

"hey!!  you took my spot!!"

Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama

besides exploring, climbing, chasing lizards, eating  and...pooping...

(i know...too much information!)

i'm an expert sleeper.

Paynes Prairie State Park, Florida

on laura's side of the bed, over the cab of the truck. a QUEEN size bed. bigger than our bed we 3 share at home!

see all those patches framing the window?

each one is from a different park that i've left my...uh...scent.

so...there ya go...just a little look into my camping life.

meow.

tomorrow can't get here quick enough.

OH, did i mention i have x-ray vision?

more about that some other time!

"Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat."

~Robert Heinlein

bye. meow.
milo

**this post was suggested a while back by Calling Ravens who thought it would be

pretty cool to hear MY camping adventures!!**

the end.  again.

critters, 'shrooms, and a pile of poop!

 this past week it's been cooler in the mornings...in the 60's.

aaaaaah...perfect weather for wandering around 

and traipsing into the woods out back.

no mosquitoes, gnats or ticks.

the hibiscus is still blooming.

 

and the little grasshopper nymphs which i've posted pictures of before...

are munching away...and growing!

 baby Anoles are all over the place. they're pretty skittish...

so you have to be very stealthy when trying to get a picture.

 

here's a Six-lined Race Runner.

i always thought these were the Five Lined skinks.

silly me. i never counted the lines.

they just LOOKED like the adult Five-lined skinks...without the blue tails.

 

here's a Five-lined skink...the blue tail means it's still a juvenile.

anyway, i'm out back...following our path to the wooded area...

 and i see some weird mushrooms!

...and a colony of assorted fungi growing all over an old rotted stump.

the ground is still covered with so many previous years fallen leaves.

the ground is soft with peat...it feels spongy.

some of this years fall colors are already scattered about...

there are so many hidey-holes...and downed trees (mostly from past hurricanes)...

so many places for the nocturnal critters to call home.

i spotted a Long-tailed skipper...

 

and then a Giant Swallowtail...

i saw a chewed up bone...looks to be from a deer...

and a hollowed out...half of a body...Cicada.

a cocoon from the Polyphemus moth...

and what i believe to be Gray Fox scat (berries & fur visible)

here's a picture from back in january...of one of our Grey Fox visitors...

in the back yard.

this post is definitely long enough...i hope i didn't tire you out.

i could do this all day...and when the temp stays cool all day...

this is where i'll be on the weekend!

this NEXT weekend...sam and i (and milo) are going camping

at Suwannee River State Pk.  a much needed get away. 

they have really cool trails there...and we thought we might rent a canoe for the day

since this park is located where the Suwannee & Withlacoochee Rivers meet.

~I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, 

to front only the essential facts of life, 

and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, 

and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.~ 

~Henry David Thoreau, 1854

 OH yeah, when i came out of the woods...Milo...yard manager...was waiting for me!

"uh...did you pay the toll...no, i didn't think so. toll=treat. remember that"

back in february...we found a dead 'possum behind our shed.

we held a nice burial for it.  i wanted to dig it up later...for the bones!

do you remember that? i did a post on it.

first-bloom-critters-both-breathing-and-not

well, i went to dig it up over the weekend...was going to include it here...

but this is long enough.

something to look forward to??!! 

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

laura

mushroom with morning dew