While we worry about getting nuked by North Korea, life goes on for the possum, who has dropped by for a snack . Eeeeek - he's got people hands! :) ...
Our neighborhood has a fox. First time in twenty years that I have seen one here. Some times I have seen them down by Lake Erie.
I read recently they might have a role in controlling Lyme disease. It seems that they disrupt the tick cycles by not allowing the mice to live as long. They don't actually lower the mice population, they just don't allow them to be used as effectively as hosts by ticks which disrupts the transmission of Lyme from species to species.
We of course have a lot of deer. A couple of times over the years I have found new born fawns in my yard. The first time I thought it was a cat until is struggled up on its very shaky legs.
I sometimes get nests of bees. This year the large bumble bee has one right next to my tomato patch. Doesn't have to travel far to pollenate my tomatoes.
It sounds like there's lots of wildlife there. I've never even seen a fox in real life before and have only seen deer at the zoo. I guess it's too suburban here for anything that large to survive.
Possums really do play possum. There is a possum that hangs around my sister and brother in law's place. Their golden retriever will often pick him up and carry him around like a toy. He doesn't hurt the possum, and after a few minutes gets bored and puts him down. The possum lies still as if dead for awhile. Then he gets up and walks around like nothing happened. Critters with people hands; check out this video (scroll down): here of little raccoon hands.
We also live in a very suburban neighborhood. But, our house backs to a small stream, and there is a narrow little woods along the stream bed. We see deer daily in the woods, sometimes in our yard. They like to eat the impatiens, among other things. In the winter they come into the yard and chomp on the azalea leaves and the ivy. They have to jump our fence to get in. Our next door neighbor does not have a fence, and the lot is higher han ours, so they go into the neighbor's yard and it's an easy hop into our yard from there. The azaleas and ivy always grows back in the spring
We have had a fox living in that woods for many, many years. I don't know how many generations, but we never see more than one. We do see the one almost every day. I have seen him in my yard a number of times, and the most recent time he had a squirrel in his mouth. Poor things was still alive. We occasionally get mice in the house during the winter, so I wish the fox would be a bit more active on the mousing front, since he (she?) likes rodents. We occasionally see possum, but not often. Lots of squirrels, lots of chipmunks, lots of rabbits (who invade my vegetable garden). The heron that lives in a nearby pond sometimes also shows up in the stream behind our house also. I do like wildlife around, and it's lovely to have so much of it in our 1/4 acre lot suburban neighborhood.
It's interesting the different kinds of critters that appear in different parts of the country. I haven't seen a fox here or rabbits. Lot's of squirrels here, though, brown and gray. Do you guys get lizards? There are a lot of those here too - kind of cute but the cats tend to pick on them.
It's hummingbird season. The one who frequents my trumpet vine saw me sitting on the porch and flew within about six feet of me, hovering and chittering like an angry little pixie. Never seen that before. Usually they're nervous and fly away if you make the slightest movement. Relieved my woodpecker is back. Wonder where he was. Monarchs are appearing with the black flies, chicory and Queen Anne's lace. Still seeing a few fireflies.
Nothing special here. Most of the iguanas have moved back down to Miami. Hardly ever see them anymore, but did for a long time after hurricane Wilma. Raccoons everywhere. Often dead on the road between here and church in the morning. The red-shouldered hawk who used to sit on my mailbox (I knew to look when he was there because the other birds all suddenly went silent) hasn't been back in ages. Of course, all kinds of gators and exotics in the Everglades a 10-minute drive away.
We used to have hawks for almost a decade. They would usually nest in one of the neighboring yards. I don' think I have the right trees for nesting. Most of the squirrels nest in neighboring yards, too.
When a had a black walnut tree, I had tree squirrels. I had to get of the tree because it over hung my deck. I had to wear a hard hat out there when the walnuts were dropping. They sounded like cannons when they hit the deck.
I have a pecan tree and the squirrels eat them and drop them or bits of them down on the driveway as they eat - almost been bonked on the head a few times :)
Crystal, Yep, Florida. Boa constrictors in the Everglades eating Anhingas (which are birds that swim underwater). I forgot to mention we had semi-feral peacocks in the neighborhood for awhile, mating on my patio. They escaped from a guy who finally got tired of chasing them and let them go. Very noisy when they are in the mood. I think the raccoons got them all.
I keep reading that the everglades area is submerging and the beaches eroding because of the sea level rising. Here we have wild turkeys running around, though none right in my neighborhood. I can only imagine what the cats would think of them :)
The beaches have eroded ever since the White Man came and started putting up concrete condos on sand. Still eroding. Still building. If you can find a copy, read John D. McDonald's Condominium. Que sera sera.
What we are really suffering from is fish swimming down the streets of Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach after high tides. It happens in Virginia, too. Locally, cities are spending millions to raise their streets, but the governor doesn't believe a problem is possible. He wants to go to the Senate next.
I imagine you all have coyotes. Looking out my living room window in the Poconos, I saw one a couple years ago for about 3 seconds as it dashed out of and back into the brush. Stealthy critters.
We had some coyotes here for a few years; haven't heard them recently.
Occasionally a black bear wonders over from Pennsylvania into North East Ohio, usually south of Interstate 90. The theory is that these are young males who get chased out by the older males; they wonder around, grow bigger and stronger for a season then back to PA to compete for the females.
Our coyotes are like a canine motorcycle gang. Pretty sure they're the ones leaving cigarette butts, dead rabbit heads, and empty bottles of MD 20/20 all over the side of the road. We used to have a bounty on them, but now the farmers want them around to cull out the groundhogs who are decimating the soy beans.
My area is too suburban for coyotes, I think. But I do live within walking distance of the American river and the Effie Yeaw nature center that's by the river. Kind of forgot about that because it's been so long since I've been there. Here's a video of the center.
We have a lot of Canada Geese, especially down by Lake Erie but also in a lot of the grassy areas, and parking lots near my house. Fortunately I have enough trees around my neighborhood that it is hard for them to fly in and out.
They have little fear of people or of cars. The trick to dealing with them in a car is to go forward at a steady pace; they will get out of your way. They are afraid of dogs. When they see one even at a distance on a chain their heads go up and they begin moving in the opposite direction.
We have a occasional blue heron in the marshes near the lake, and of course hundreds if not thousands of seagulls on the beaches.
Geez, I have never been to Florida. In fact, I have been south of the Mason-Dixon line only three times: New Orleans, Dallas (ugh), and Augusta, Georgia (where I saw a cockroach the size of a saucer). Other than Dallas, I have never been west of the Mississippi River. I have never been east of Pittsburgh unless you count flying to the UK.
The bugs seem to get bigger the further south you go, except for mosquitoes and blackflies, where the opposite seems true. My first canoe expedition in Canada, we didn't even know they were gnats. We dubbed them f%#* bugs because they were relentless.
It was Algonquin Provincial Park. At night time, around the campfire, we nature lovers fantasized about nuking the park and paving it over with asphalt. Actually, it was really bad timing. Subsequent visits were much better.
looks equidistant to MI and PA. great memories. wish we could get the old crew together for one more expedition but time and the Reaper have taken their toll.
I've never been to anywhere in the South besides southern California and the Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico). I imagine it's a place of heat, mugginess, and huge bugs, sort of like Hawaii?
Our neighborhood has a fox. First time in twenty years that I have seen one here. Some times I have seen them down by Lake Erie.
ReplyDeleteI read recently they might have a role in controlling Lyme disease. It seems that they disrupt the tick cycles by not allowing the mice to live as long. They don't actually lower the mice population, they just don't allow them to be used as effectively as hosts by ticks which disrupts the transmission of Lyme from species to species.
We of course have a lot of deer. A couple of times over the years I have found new born fawns in my yard. The first time I thought it was a cat until is struggled up on its very shaky legs.
I sometimes get nests of bees. This year the large bumble bee has one right next to my tomato patch. Doesn't have to travel far to pollenate my tomatoes.
It sounds like there's lots of wildlife there. I've never even seen a fox in real life before and have only seen deer at the zoo. I guess it's too suburban here for anything that large to survive.
ReplyDeletePossums really do play possum. There is a possum that hangs around my sister and brother in law's place. Their golden retriever will often pick him up and carry him around like a toy. He doesn't hurt the possum, and after a few minutes gets bored and puts him down. The possum lies still as if dead for awhile. Then he gets up and walks around like nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteCritters with people hands; check out this video (scroll down): here of little raccoon hands.
Hee hee :) It's just a little too far into the uncanny valley for me!
ReplyDeleteWe also live in a very suburban neighborhood. But, our house backs to a small stream, and there is a narrow little woods along the stream bed. We see deer daily in the woods, sometimes in our yard. They like to eat the impatiens, among other things. In the winter they come into the yard and chomp on the azalea leaves and the ivy. They have to jump our fence to get in. Our next door neighbor does not have a fence, and the lot is higher han ours, so they go into the neighbor's yard and it's an easy hop into our yard from there. The azaleas and ivy always grows back in the spring
ReplyDeleteWe have had a fox living in that woods for many, many years. I don't know how many generations, but we never see more than one. We do see the one almost every day. I have seen him in my yard a number of times, and the most recent time he had a squirrel in his mouth. Poor things was still alive. We occasionally get mice in the house during the winter, so I wish the fox would be a bit more active on the mousing front, since he (she?) likes rodents. We occasionally see possum, but not often. Lots of squirrels, lots of chipmunks, lots of rabbits (who invade my vegetable garden). The heron that lives in a nearby pond sometimes also shows up in the stream behind our house also. I do like wildlife around, and it's lovely to have so much of it in our 1/4 acre lot suburban neighborhood.
It's interesting the different kinds of critters that appear in different parts of the country. I haven't seen a fox here or rabbits. Lot's of squirrels here, though, brown and gray. Do you guys get lizards? There are a lot of those here too - kind of cute but the cats tend to pick on them.
DeleteIt's hummingbird season. The one who frequents my trumpet vine saw me sitting on the porch and flew within about six feet of me, hovering and chittering like an angry little pixie. Never seen that before. Usually they're nervous and fly away if you make the slightest movement. Relieved my woodpecker is back. Wonder where he was. Monarchs are appearing with the black flies, chicory and Queen Anne's lace. Still seeing a few fireflies.
ReplyDeleteWe have a hummingbird here too and a trumpet vine he likes. I can hear him sometimes around dusk making his loud peep :)
ReplyDeleteThis guy was staring straight at me and giving me what-for. It was comical and weird at the same time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he was confused by what you were wearing, if it was flower colored?
ReplyDeleteI wondered that, too, but don't think so. Maybe it was the purple tee shirt. I sure don't look like a flower, though.
DeleteNothing special here. Most of the iguanas have moved back down to Miami. Hardly ever see them anymore, but did for a long time after hurricane Wilma. Raccoons everywhere. Often dead on the road between here and church in the morning. The red-shouldered hawk who used to sit on my mailbox (I knew to look when he was there because the other birds all suddenly went silent) hasn't been back in ages. Of course, all kinds of gators and exotics in the Everglades a 10-minute drive away.
ReplyDeleteWe used to have hawks for almost a decade. They would usually nest in one of the neighboring yards. I don' think I have the right trees for nesting. Most of the squirrels nest in neighboring yards, too.
DeleteWhen a had a black walnut tree, I had tree squirrels. I had to get of the tree because it over hung my deck. I had to wear a hard hat out there when the walnuts were dropping. They sounded like cannons when they hit the deck.
I have a pecan tree and the squirrels eat them and drop them or bits of them down on the driveway as they eat - almost been bonked on the head a few times :)
DeleteIguanas would be interesting! Are you in Florida? You must be on the front lines of global warming's effects on wildlife.
ReplyDeleteCrystal, Yep, Florida. Boa constrictors in the Everglades eating Anhingas (which are birds that swim underwater). I forgot to mention we had semi-feral peacocks in the neighborhood for awhile, mating on my patio. They escaped from a guy who finally got tired of chasing them and let them go. Very noisy when they are in the mood. I think the raccoons got them all.
DeleteI keep reading that the everglades area is submerging and the beaches eroding because of the sea level rising. Here we have wild turkeys running around, though none right in my neighborhood. I can only imagine what the cats would think of them :)
DeleteThe beaches have eroded ever since the White Man came and started putting up concrete condos on sand. Still eroding. Still building. If you can find a copy, read John D. McDonald's Condominium. Que sera sera.
DeleteWhat we are really suffering from is fish swimming down the streets of Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach after high tides. It happens in Virginia, too. Locally, cities are spending millions to raise their streets, but the governor doesn't believe a problem is possible. He wants to go to the Senate next.
I imagine you all have coyotes. Looking out my living room window in the Poconos, I saw one a couple years ago for about 3 seconds as it dashed out of and back into the brush. Stealthy critters.
ReplyDeleteCoyotes, if only. I have the LP of their calls that Natural History (museum of) put out a few years ago. That is as close as I can get.
DeleteWe had some coyotes here for a few years; haven't heard them recently.
DeleteOccasionally a black bear wonders over from Pennsylvania into North East Ohio, usually south of Interstate 90. The theory is that these are young males who get chased out by the older males; they wonder around, grow bigger and stronger for a season then back to PA to compete for the females.
Our coyotes are like a canine motorcycle gang. Pretty sure they're the ones leaving cigarette butts, dead rabbit heads, and empty bottles of MD 20/20 all over the side of the road. We used to have a bounty on them, but now the farmers want them around to cull out the groundhogs who are decimating the soy beans.
DeleteMy area is too suburban for coyotes, I think. But I do live within walking distance of the American river and the Effie Yeaw nature center that's by the river. Kind of forgot about that because it's been so long since I've been there. Here's a video of the center.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of Canada Geese, especially down by Lake Erie but also in a lot of the grassy areas, and parking lots near my house. Fortunately I have enough trees around my neighborhood that it is hard for them to fly in and out.
ReplyDeleteThey have little fear of people or of cars. The trick to dealing with them in a car is to go forward at a steady pace; they will get out of your way. They are afraid of dogs. When they see one even at a distance on a chain their heads go up and they begin moving in the opposite direction.
We have a occasional blue heron in the marshes near the lake, and of course hundreds if not thousands of seagulls on the beaches.
Bumper crop of geese up her in Michigander land, too. Sandhill cranes. Lots of turkeys. Deer infestation is impossible.
DeleteGeez, I have never been to Florida. In fact, I have been south of the Mason-Dixon line only three times: New Orleans, Dallas (ugh), and Augusta, Georgia (where I saw a cockroach the size of a saucer). Other than Dallas, I have never been west of the Mississippi River. I have never been east of Pittsburgh unless you count flying to the UK.
ReplyDeleteI need to get out more.
The bugs seem to get bigger the further south you go, except for mosquitoes and blackflies, where the opposite seems true. My first canoe expedition in Canada, we didn't even know they were gnats. We dubbed them f%#* bugs because they were relentless.
ReplyDeleteKeep your mouth closed and paddle fast. Do not go in August.
DeleteIt was Algonquin Provincial Park. At night time, around the campfire, we nature lovers fantasized about nuking the park and paving it over with asphalt. Actually, it was really bad timing. Subsequent visits were much better.
DeleteI've been there a bunch of times! Used to stay there when going to the Northern Lights Festival in Sudbury. Good times!
Deletelooks equidistant to MI and PA. great memories. wish we could get the old crew together for one more expedition but time and the Reaper have taken their toll.
DeleteI've never been to anywhere in the South besides southern California and the Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico). I imagine it's a place of heat, mugginess, and huge bugs, sort of like Hawaii?
ReplyDelete