The rain finally left so I tore myself away from the keyboard, and ER.org, and went outside to turn over my backyard compost pile. Immediately, I had an amazing wildlife encounter, right here in the city of Raleigh, NC.
Before I explain, a few questions for you:
- Has wildlife increased where you live?
- If so, what kind?
- Is any dangerous?
- What is the most dangerous?
- Do you like/love it, or hate it?
Have been on the edges of NJ pine barrens for ~30 years. There are enough green area in preservation to keep the wildlife populations relatively steady. We have deer, skunk, raccoon, groundhog, chipmunk, squirrel, opussum, hawk, owl, vulture, snake, mole, mice, etc. The populations move up and down periodically. Hawks are very impressive hunters. We see more as the population of moles, mice, increase. I've been up close with all of these critters. A large buck went through our year a week or two ago. Usually we only see doe.
This past week a neighbor across from us cut down two very large oaks, which will no doubt cause squirrels to move, etc. His lawn will be greener, amply fed by fertilizer and watering routines. It's his yard, I know.
On the plus side, I drove by a very small fawn just inside the development. Hopefully this one will grow old, and not become a victim of auto collision.
All animals are potentially dangerous. For example, mosquito and ticks are quite small, very numerous this year. They carry disease, and some neighbors with untreated, dirty pools do not understand this.
