Animals roaming free

[Philos]

Folks,

I’m interested to know what animals tend to roam free near your house or in the garden?

We are festooned with them around here. There are domestic cats, foxes, squirrels, deer, badgers, common rats, mice, voles, moles, birds of prey, pigeons, gulls, magpies, blackbirds, rooks, owls, cuckoo and endless varieties of little birds I can’t name. This is before we get started on the insects, which are everywhere and apparently endless.

There is a bloke in the supermarket with a stall about ‘saving wildlife’ and sometimes I just want to pull out a shotgun and get some peace and quiet in the garden, but I don’t tell him that.

How is it for you?

Alex.

 

[Unbeatable]

Mice keep finding their way into the house. Also in the house are small moths, waterbugs, and a small jumping insect like a cricket but apparently without the chirping.

In close proximity to the outside of the house are leopard slugs.

There are sometimes brown snakes in the garden. Rabbits at one point lived beneath the toolshed, but I think they're gone. They've never been a significant problem.

There are a few domestic cats in the neighborhood.

Deer hang out in the wooded areas of the nearby parks. There are also chipmunks, and burrows which contain some sort of fat-looking rodents, probably groundhogs.

And of course the grey squirrel is everywhere, along with various small unidentifiable birds.

 

[crazyfingers]

Aside from the normal garden birds and birds of pray, squirrels, chipmunks and such, we have very large numbers of wild turkeys about and lots of white tail deer. The turkeys and deer frequently pass through our yard. I've seen fishers, foxes rarely. We have coyotes in the woods in back and hear them at night but have only seen one once. There are owls out there too.There are skunks and racoons but being nocturnal critters they are rarely seen. We can certainly smell when a skunk has been by. We have a good population of bats.

 

[Sarpedon]

I have rabbits, which I startle often and have managed to corner a few times, but I've never had the heart to step on them. I have small birds, and put out a feeder for them, which they haven't started using yet. I have squirrels. Earlier this week, I was visited by a pair of ducks, which flew up on my garage when I approached them with a bread end. I have seen nearby but not in my yard, wild turkeys, raccoons, a beaver, bald eagles, red tailed hawks, as well as other harder to identify raptors.

 

[crazyfingers]

I have rabbits, which I startle often

Last spring and early summer there was a cotton-tail rabbit in my yard eating the clover pretty much every day for several hours. I work at home mostly and I'll go out for a few minutes with the camera several times a day looking to take bird photos. This rabbit became extremely used to me being out there that I would frequently pass it as close as 6 feet in the middle of the yard and it would keep munching. I never walked straight at it but in a direction that it could see that I would pass by, but closely.

 

[Zeluvia]

I like what little wild life is about. There are fewer now I think because of the drought. The only ones I kill are the rattlesnakes, and only in the garden.

Feral cats are the biggest annoyance. There is a possum under the shed, and since he pisses off the cats, I like him. Squirrels and doves. There seem to be less types of birds, mostly now it is sparrows, doves and pigeons. Don't see any mice, and only once a rat, who had already lost it's head. Occasionally see a coyote at night, I think they are hunting the cats. The deer don't come up near the houses, but I see them crossing the road down where the big utility lines run. Smell skunk now and then.

 

[Rhea]

Small: moles, mice, squirrel, chipmunk, many small birds, snakes, rabbits, frogs, bats

Medium: cats, woodchucks, opossums, skunks, raccoon, hawks, eagles, heron, ducks, geese, turkeys, foxes

Large: deer, coyote, turkey buzzards, bears

And yes, I pullout my gun and get some peace and quiet in the garden (and under the foundation).

 

[Under the Rose]

I will post a few pictures of our friends.

Among the more frequent visitors are foxes. This red fox was photographed just outside our front door by myself a few years ago. They wander through and hunt mice in the hay sheds. The cat will run off the foxes once the snow melts and the horses are not at all concerned by their presence.

 

[Angry Floof]

Armies of squirrels
Woodpeckers, hawks, owls, dozens of varieties of songbirds
Deer
Black bears
Bull/gopher snakes, black snakes, copperheads (also mountain rattlers, but they are so shy that it's not likely I'll ever see one in person)
House cats

 

[Elixir]

When we built our house 15 years ago, it was in real wilderness. Now it's surrounded on three sides by "green" development. We have the last corridor for river access for tens of thousands of acres of BLM and its animals, so we get as many or more species as when we first built.
Deer, elk, antelope, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mt lions, black bear, stray cattle, free range horses - lotsa large mammals. Then there are the small ones - too numerous to mention including all the usual suspects. Plus snakes, lizards etc. (They say rattlers are here, but I have never seen 'em, just Bull Snakes and Garter Snakes.) But what's really impressive are the birds. On the cusp of the riparian and high desert ecosystems, we get birds that aren't even in the regional bird books - I ended up getting the Audubon Society bird bible that weighs about 10 lbs. Not exactly a field guide, but at least I can identify all the regulars.

Last spring and early summer there was a cotton-tail rabbit in my yard eating the clover pretty much every day for several hours. I work at home mostly and I'll go out for a few minutes with the camera several times a day looking to take bird photos. This rabbit became extremely used to me being out there that I would frequently pass it as close as 6 feet in the middle of the yard and it would keep munching. I never walked straight at it but in a direction that it could see that I would pass by, but closely.

Lol! We have so. many. rabbits. Giant thumping jackrabbits plus the lawn-eater bunnies. The lawn eaters get so tame... I walk with my dogs to the barn. The rabbits pay no mind, and sometimes come along. Dogs don't even chase them - they know the rabbits will head into the cactus and it just isn't worth it for them.

 

[crazyfingers]

I will post a few pictures of our friends.

Among the more frequent visitors are foxes. This red fox was photographed just outside our front door by myself a few years ago. They wander through and hunt mice in the hay sheds. The cat will run off the foxes once the snow melts and the horses are not at all concerned by their presence.

That's the kind of photo I would love to have taken. Wildlife photography is my hobby. I think I'll post a few later.

 

[gmbteach]

We have a few birds that visit, mainly to get the flies and bugs from around our compost bins. I put seed out for them occasionally, and will do so daily once we get a bird feeder.

We have the odd rat, and I say that because we have only seen evidence of one that one of the dogs managed to catch and kill.

We have geckos. The cats try to catch them, unsuccessfully as they are usually on the ceiling.

We also have the occasional blue-tongued lizard, however they have been discouraged by the dogs.

All in all, despite having 3 dogs and 2 cats, the wildlife don't suffer too much around here.

 

[sensiblesue]

Many, many rabbits and snowshoe hares. Magpies and Steller's jays. Shrews. Ermine. Moose. The moose will jump the four-foot fence into the yard, mope around for a while, leave their droppings, and jump back out. Sometimes they bring their babies. An occasional bear. Sandhill cranes. A disgruntled-sounding porcupine. The neighbors' dogs.

 

[rosy tetra]

Birds - We have lots of crows. They love it when our neighbor's persimmon tree bears fruit. There are also a variety of little birds, some doves, mockingbirds, robins, occasional woodpeckers, starling flocks, hummingbirds, hawks. Down the creek closer to the bay there are lots of various water birds. Next town over there's a flock of green parrots living in the midst of town, seems to be growing larger every year. They're fun to watch.

Mammals - Lots of squirrels. There are a lot of oak and walnut trees in the neighborhood, so there's plenty of food for them. They also take avocados off our avocado tree. There are rats and mice and gophers, which I only really notice when our cats leave body parts lying around. Once in a while we see a raccoon, sometimes an opossum, rarely a skunk. The neighborhoods closer to the hills have deer, bobcats, and occasional cougars. Our house cats "roam free," but mostly stay in the backyard. We see a few other house cats roaming around too.

Reptiles - I mainly see a lot of little lizards sunning on sidewalks and rocks.

Amphibians - We get salamanders in the rainy season, which means we saw very few this year.

Insects - Lots of different kinds of bees and wasps. Typical little ants for our area. These days I'm trying to keep the aphids off the flowers. And every time I open the back door to let the cats in, a moth or a crane fly sneaks in. Pretty soon there will be grasshoppers and june bugs and plenty of flies. Fortunately we get few mosquitoes.

 

[crazyfingers]

Maybe this thread can take off as a place to post your wildlife photos?

Last week was a good weekend for some fun photos.

American Crow


Ring-neck Ducks


Great Blue Heron overhead


Painted turtles at the park


Spring peeper


Red-tail Hawk in my woods


Same Red-tail having taken off


Mourning Dove


Grackle

 

[crazyfingers]

A few more interesting ones to me from the last few weeks or months.

Red-wing blackbird


Mute Swans have very sharp teeth


Wild Turkey in the woods strutting his stuff


House Finch has a good spin after a snack of cedar seeds


Red shouldered Hawk


Coopers Hawk


Mute Swan crossing the pond

 

[crazyfingers]

Not a bad day out today so far.

First a common grackle from a couple days ago



Today

Tree Swallows






Mute Swans have a nest on the pond


European Starling


Now I have never seen this before. A brown bat out in the middle of the day. It's a few minutes before noon. I spent about ten minutes trying to get a good photo as it was clearly feeding swooping back and forth across the same stretch by the pond.







Getting home, a red squirrel


- - - Updated - - -

Am I posting these wrong. They look a lot better over here. http://www.secularcafe.org/showthread.php?p=537100#post537100

 

[Garnet]

Squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, skunks, moles, mice, bats, house sparrows, mourning doves, hawks (not sure what kind, we have a mated pair that lives in my neighborhood), robins, blue jays, cardinals, grackles, crows, downy woodpeckers, red headed wood peckers and very occasionally, deer.

 

[crazyfingers]

Carolina Wren


Hack! Caught. Patooey!


Better now

 

[Toni]

In my yard? Aside from domesticated cats and dogs, lots of squirrels, rabbits, mice, bats and of course a variety of insects (in season), some toads: a pair of mallard ducks temporarily thought of nesting in our bird bath but fortunately decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Other birds frequently seen include cardinals, blue jays, sparrows, goldfinches, nuthatches, robins, etc. I am not a birder so I know I am neglecting to mention many species. Sometimes hummingbirds, and I've seen blue birds as well. Occasionally, in town I will see an eagle. Once saw a nest of owlets in my neighborhood. Seeing grey herons flying overhead is pretty common.

Out of town, lots of the usual: turkeys, deer, bald eagles, various hawks, pheasant, sometimes quail or grouse, possums, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, occasionally fox and more rarely coyotes, although you can hear the coyotes a lot at night, in rural areas. Very rarely do black bears wander down to my corner but it is not unheard of. Of course the usual river folk: sometimes otter or beavers, muskrat, lots of turtles, etc. Lots of herons, ducks, geese, tundra swans.

Further away from civilization are more, wilder things.