Wildlife in Your Own Backyard

[Vagabond]

Update: The lovebirds ? ? mated and had a brood. One of the owlets was perched outside this afternoon. ? A raven was not at all happy about it but after squawking for a while, thought better of it and flew away.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Update: The lovebirds ? ? mated and had a brood. One of the owlets was perched outside this afternoon. ? A raven was not at all happy about it but after squawking for a while, thought better of it and flew away.

Have you got any photos?

 

[Vagabond]

Have you got any photos?

Yes. If you send me your email address via a private message, I will send you something.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I live in a suburb surrounded with foothills and parks within a few blocks. The high school a few blocks away gets deer, coyotes, even turkey vultures. Those birds love the high school baseball field. It’s hilarious watching the boys chase the turkey vultures away so they can prep the field to play their game. This same high school also has a hiking trail surrounded by trees. It’s peaceful and a really nice walk. The kids sometimes run the trail for PE/sports and encounter deer, the turkey vultures , and once in a while a snake. A coyote was spotted by the tennis courts last week.

 

[twilla]

I live in the far suburbs of a big city in the mid-Atlantic US. I see deer all the time, actually to the point that they are quite a nuisance. Unfortunately, I've hit two deer in the past ten years but luckily neither deer was fatally injured. My jeep still has the dent and cracked front bumper. Otherwise, we have all the usual suspects, all types of birds, squirrels, fox, rabbits, skunks, possum. I have two favorite wildlife moments:

1. Several years ago I found that a dove wife and husband had taken up residence in a pot on my condo's balcony. Momma laid two sets of eggs that year. And to my delight, the doves returned the following year and also laid two sets of eggs. The squabs were darling and it was exciting to watch them grow and change each day and then leave the nest. I was even able to snap a couple photos.

2. I was driving home from work very late one night and an owl swooped down into the street in front of me. It was far enough in front of me that I didn't hit it. I stopped and watched him with amazement for about thirty seconds until he flew off. I'm guessing he saw a midnight snack he couldn't resist.

 

[Susan1]

My cousin's (actually cousin's ex-wife/widow) condo in Delaware

https://tinyurl.com/ykvjzrjb

 

[Judy]

I saw a rabbit.

 

[barbk]

Does our night-roaming mountain lion count? I've caught it on our game cam a bunch of times in the last few months. I keep wondering what happens when the mountain lion encounters the two raccoons that are more frequent visitors at that corner of the house. The fox is a much less frequent visitor.

And we know spring is near. The woodpecker dude is back banging away on our chimney letting all the ladies know that he'd help make great babies. Growing up, my only experience with woodpeckers was seeing the Woody the Woodpecker cartoons. Somehow, I ended up with the idea that woodpeckers were 12-18" tall. I was pretty surprised to see how small many of them actually are.

 

[Judy]

I saw a rabbit.

We definitely have wildlife though .. even wolves ? found that out last year.

 

[Susan1]

There was a "warning" on the city's FB page that the foxes are back. I guess you have to live close to some woods. The only one I ever saw out in public was walking down a busy street's sidewalk at 7:30 in the morning. There were parks and the river close by. Everybody that walked by my desk that morning, I said "I saw a fox". My boss said they saw them at the company's golf course all the time. Apparently, they aren't going to go after dogs, but maybe cats. It was 70* a couple days ago. Snow yesterday. (We frequently have 50* temperature spreads on our 7 day forecast.) They must be confused and hungry. Welcome to Ohio, foxes.

 

[Judy]

We definitely have wildlife though .. even wolves ? found that out last year.

But not in my backyard I should say. I haven’t seen them but close to the fruit farm/Ottawa River. My friend lives in Blackburn which is heavily wooded and I’m really close to them and they have coyotes too.

 

[PRlady]

I now live in as urban an area as it gets. But DC has lots of trees and there are cardinals and blue jays and woodpeckers (the first time I heard one I figured it was a rap beat from someone’s car, a lot more common around here.) and squirrels who enjoy taunting my cat.

Yesterday we were at a winery in semi-rural Virginia and saw so many deer! I’ve missed them since moving downtown.

 

[clairecloutier]

We live in a semi-urban small city/suburb, but there is still a lot of wildlife around here.

A number of coyotes have been spotted in our neighborhood this year, including even in broad daylight. One of our neighbors’ cats was recently killed outside, in their own yard ? … they think by a coyote or possibly a weasel. It’s a bit worrisome.

 

[MacMadame]

We live in a city with a suburban feel. The population is about a quarter million! But wildlife is everywhere. Coyotes, foxes, squirrels, skunks, possums, geese, deer, can be seen in residential areas and parks. I think that's somewhat expected in places with no freezing winters. But also wild turkeys, bobcats, and mountain lions are around and venture into residential areas.

I have seen every single one of these up close and personal except mountain lions. I am always somewhere else when they show up in places I frequent.

 

[Lizziebeth]

SO saw the woodchuck again, sunning on the side deck. The burrow is under the deck and the escape hole is in the lawn I took a photo of him last year, perched on the deck, enjoying the view.

Anyone know how to get ride of woodchuck??? Last year I had four big pots of vegies on the deck and the woodchuck helped himself. I want him (or maybe it's a woodchuckette with babies ) dead or gone.

 

[Balletmom]

Lived in a very large city ( pop. 2.8 million) but one with lots of natural green space. In my backyard I’ve had skunks, possums, so many raccoons and a coyote who will sleep in my veggie garden. There was a beaver in the concourses of our subway stop.
The raccoons are crazy, one sat on the self checkout in a large pharmacy, they come on the subway, the airport, banks. One was caught on video going into a coffee shop and stealing a donut.

 

[Lemonade20]

A few woodpeckers have taken up residence at my daughter's university. All she can hear outside is the woodpecker hammering a large hole next to her window. Geese has also started patrolling the grounds and all you hear is honking wherever you walk.

 

[manhn]

I moved to a rural town from the big city a few months ago and I often see deer, especially during my runs. One of the first time I was near one which freaked me out and I tripped, causing a bloody knee. A couple of mornings, deer take up my parking space so I drive a few minutes waiting for them to move on.

 

[Vagabond]

A red-tailed hawk is perched on a telephone pole by the creek. The songbirds are not happy. They started chirping as soon as it landed and then huddled up together on the lines, hoping to find safety in numbers.

 

[Kruss]

My condo building is next to a field and a small lake, so I get all sorts of critters here. Most are very common, but I enjoy taking photos of what I see outside my window and on our grounds.

Cardinal 1
Cardinal 2
Cardinal 3
Cormorant
Deer Pair
Deer Resting
Egret
Egret in Flight
Hawk
Hawk with Bonus Blue Jay
Heron Sunning Itself
Heron in the Field
Mourning Dove
Muskrat
Visiting Swan
Turtle in the Parking Lot
Woodpecker

 

[Susan1]

I have a friend who lives in Australia, and a few years ago, she sent me a picture she took of a kangaroo on the beach at sunset. I can't attach it cause it's in "my pictures".

 

[Susan1]

I have a friend who lives in Australia, and a few years ago, she sent me a picture she took of a kangaroo on the beach at sunset. I can't attach it cause it's in "my pictures".

o.k. - I put it up as my avatar for awhile! (BTW, she's had nature pictures published on Australian travel websites.) I have one that she took in her own backyard when when they were having drought conditions and roos were going into neighborhoods looking for water too. But I saw a squirrel yesterday. ha ha ha

 

[jadingirl]

I was visiting my neighbour in her backyard the other night. Left around 9ish and walked back down the street to my house. The next day she says OMG I don't know how you didn't get sprayed. Just after I left she was still outside when a mother skunk and her 12 babies came walking down the side of her house and scampered under her deck. She, or course, ran into the house when she saw them. She told her husband about the visitors living under their deck.

The next morning they waited and watched the mom and all her babies come out from under the deck to start their day. As soon as they were gone, her husband boarded up the bottom of the deck! Poor skunkies - we don't know where they ended up but assume they are living in the park now.

 

[KCC]

A skunk sprayed my dog a few months ago. We cleaned her up, but it also sprayed the side of my white house. I could not find a good way to remove the yellow spots and now I have to repaint one whole wall. It was a good idea to board up the deck bottom.

 

[Susan1]

I saw a baby cardinal today sitting on the fence in the back yard. Its face was reddish, so it was a boy, but the body hadn't changed color yet. Pointy head, yellow beak. I see red streaks flying by, and in and out of the shrubs by the front door, but that's not where the nest was. I talked to him from inside the house. I told him to be careful.

 

[misskarne]

The townhouse I lived before my current apartment was further towards the edge of my city, near a nature reserve and a mountain. On walks I would frequently see all kinds of birds (it was also a cat containment area for that reason). I also had to rescue a blue-tongue lizard who decided sunning himself in the middle of the road was a great idea (clearly having not seen how people drove around that area).

My parents' house is also near the edge, and I have had to rescue an echidna from a neighbour's garden before, and seen kangaroos bouncing down the street (they like to graze on the oval near their house), and relocated blue tongues from their backyard, and seen snakes.

 

[Susan1]

In Trenton, south of Miamisburg

Coyote found hiding in family’s bathroom

Officers found a coyote hiding behind the toilet in a family’s bathroom, the Trenton Police Department said on Facebook.

www.kktv.com

 

[oleada]

We live in a semi-urban small city/suburb, but there is still a lot of wildlife around here.

A number of coyotes have been spotted in our neighborhood this year, including even in broad daylight. One of our neighbors’ cats was recently killed outside, in their own yard ? … they think by a coyote or possibly a weasel. It’s a bit worrisome.

Same here. We live not far from each other so not a surprise, but still. The other night before bed, we heard a couple of them howl so loudly - they had to be just outside our fence. It was so loud and close by I thought Mr. Oleada was watching something on his phone.

 

[Vagabond]

The great horned owls were perched out in back and hooting up a storm a short while ago. It's nesting season for them.

? ? ?

One year to the day the hoot fest is on!

? ? ?

 

[Vagabond]

I am standing in front of ny door, watching a coyote twenty feet away hunting for rodents. Successfully, I might add.