Suburban wildlife

[Nords]

He looks like he just swallowed one of your cats!

They're like cockroaches-- if you can actually find one then you have at least a dozen more. But our yard is mosquito-free!

Our compost pile is supporting an entire mongoose family... they're probably hypercaffeinated but they keep the compost well-turned & aerated.

 

[KB]

You have more interesting visitors than I do.

I have quail among other birds, and rabbits, mice and lizards in the yard. Between my back fence (which is wrought iron) and the creek is a path where coyotes and skunks travel during the night. I've already been awaken by a skunk letting his scent go. Oh my gosh, what a way to wake up at 3 AM. Shut that window fast.

I would think there are opossums and racoons too, just haven't seen them.

 

[VoyT]

Good lord Nords, do those things ever get in the house?

 

[Nords]

  Good lord Nords, do those things ever get in the house?

The chameleons & the mongoose are quite happy in the back yard. The house is filled with geckos but they stay out of the way and they're fun to watch. The geckos chirp at each other to declare their territory, though, and that'll wake you out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night.

The field mice, however, think that bunny food is yummy and we're on our third invader this year. I'm watching a live trap now and when the kid goes to bed we'll haul out the snappers.

 

[BUM]

Life is good.


Then, 20 feet away on the lanai, a flock of quail walked past--

Ummmmm.....quail...

 

[Mr._johngalt]

You have more interesting visitors than I do.

I have quail among other birds, and rabbits, mice and lizards in the yard.  Between my back fence (which is wrought iron) and the creek is a path where coyotes and skunks travel during the night.  I've already been awaken by a skunk letting his scent go.  Oh my gosh, what a way to wake up at 3 AM.  Shut that window fast. 

I would think there are opossums and racoons too, just haven't seen them.

Not exactly suburbs, but not wilderness either.  Here is our list
(this is spotted from the house)

Hawks, eagles, herons, cranes, gulls, kingfishers, ducks, geese,  pelicans, deer , possums, raccoons, owls, deer, groundhogs, skunks, turkeys, chipmunks, bats, frogs, toads, snakes, musk rats,
squirrels, rabbits.  Also nearby, but not actually seen in the sub (so far) are
foxes, pheasants, coyotes, weasels (various), and beaver.

Fun watching all of God's critters.  I like them more than people in
general.

JG

 

[flipstress]

We live in town, not the suburbs either, but there's still wildlife.  BF sees and hears more of it than I do.  Spied or heard from our tiny lot, he's got probably close to or over 100 bird species on his yard list.  He's also reported seeing fox, beaver, and possum in the neighborhood.

I did see a monarch butterfly by our milkweeds last weekend.  (The neighbor must be upset at the weeds encroaching upon her yard from ours.)

 

[Nords]

We have bufo all over the road after rainstorms (especially during winter) but this was waiting in the flowerpot when spouse went out to water the plants this morning. (It's dug in pretty well.)

No field mouse sightings this morning-- yet.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

actual length about eight inches.

Is that actual actual length or what a lot of guys THINKS is eight inches?

I wouldnt trust the bear with the dogs. Hell, the deer in my mcmansion backyard kicked the living crap out of my neighbors dog and he wasnt even bugging them...just walking around and WHAM.

 

[VoyT]

  The house is filled with geckos but they stay out of the way and they're fun to watch. 

   Ah .. geckos. We got a big kick out of watching them when we visited Maui. I put a soda bottle down and it was immediately commandeered by one of the little fellows ...

 

[Nords]

Is that actual actual length or what a lot of guys THINKS is eight inches?

Imagine my surprise that you picked up on it first.

The piece of wood under the Jackson? That's a 2x6...

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Imagine my surprise that you picked up on it first.

The piece of wood under the Jackson?  That's a 2x6...

He didn't notice it first, just had the poor taste to go with it.
I was half way through a similar post and reconsidered.
Some of us have a bit of self control

JG

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ah Johnny...considering you've gone for quite a few things that I left untouched should say a lot about your self control. I suppose the good news is that our constituency can always count on one of us to take care of business...

 

[SteveR]

Not as much wildlife at the house as at the cabin.

House:
Magpies, quail, sparrows, finches, hummingbirds, doves, and a bunch of other birds that I have no idea what they are.
Squirels, chipmunks, mole, ground squirrels, racoon, deer, fox and mice.

Cabin:
Wild turkey, deer, moose, elk, hawks, eagles, Mexican Bluejays, mice (tons of them ), fox, coyotes, marmot, ground hogs, bats, peacock (peahen actually), goats (mountain variety), bobcat, cougar, hummingbirds, squirrels, who knows what else?

I only hunt with a camera. Not into hunting unless the animals are armed too.... 8)

 

[Cut-Throat]

Cabin:
Wild turkey, deer, moose, elk, hawks, eagles, Mexican Bluejays, mice (tons of them  ), fox, coyotes, marmot, ground hogs, bats, peacock (peahen actually), goats (mountain variety), bobcat, cougar, hummingbirds, squirrels, who knows what else?

I only hunt with a camera.  Not into hunting unless the animals are armed too.... 8)

Well, let's see some wildlife Pics! - I would assume the cabin is in the Mountains with Elk and Mountain Goats! - What state is the cabin in?

 

[SteveR]

The cabin is in Utah mountains; several miles from Park City. I will see about some photos when we get back from vacation in TN.

 

[Nords]

[Yes, thank you, vBulletin, I know this thread is more than 1460 days old. It took me a while, OK? It's the last time the "Search" says that I used the word "quail"!]

I guess this is an extreme instance of Trombone Al's updates to threads, but I finally got backyard quail photos. Besides it's interesting to see who was posting four years ago.

Our kid is on the Mainland for another two weeks and we just returned from two weeks there ourselves. So it's been really really quiet in our backyard. Maybe because of that, for the last week the local quail have returned nearly every evening just around [-]dinnertime[/-] 6 PM.

This time I could shoot from 30 feet with a cheap surf camera on max digital zoom. The youngsters are fully fledged so maybe the parents weren't as protective. I was finally able to sneak within 15 feet but the youngsters just stepped off the wall into the bougainvillea. The dad flew to a chain link fence next door and yelled at me for a while before deciding he'd [-]distracted me from the rest of the flock[/-] satisfied honor and could fly off.

 

[W2R]

They are so cute!

Lately we have had numerous absolutely huge black ravens about the size of puppies or toy poodles flocking to our neighborhood. (They did this in the months after Katrina, too, but had become less frequent for a while.) When they are in the street they stand their ground and look at you truculently like, "This is MY street and proceed if you dare!"

These are definitely too big for the idea of "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", as you could make two pies out of just one of them. Ewww, except that they are probably seriously diseased and they probably eat all sorts of disgusting stuff.

Sunday one of them defecated on my windshield, leaving a spot about 8" in diameter or more. I hadn't had a chance to clean it off, when yesterday's heavy rains washed it off. TMI, I know, but this has been about it for suburban wildlife around my house lately.

My ravens would beat your quail to a pulp!

 

[Martha]

I love resurrected old threads! The quail are lovely. Ravens are smart and fun to watch as well.

 

[freebird5825]

The quail are beautiful! Do you feed them or do they just know that nice unarmed people live there?

 

[Brat]

Our two eagles ...they are preditors for losts of smaller creatures, and even large salmon. The crows (some of whom are raven size) try to drive them off, I suspect because they dine on their young.

 

[Nords]

My ravens would beat your quail to a pulp!

I don't mess with ravens, but my father always says "Hello" to them. If they see you regularly enough over a few months they'll croak "Hello" back. Freaks out the fellow hikers he meets on his favorite trails.

The quail are beautiful! Do you feed them or do they just know that nice unarmed people live there?

I think the quail just use our yard for commuting. I don't know where they come from, and we quickly lose them in the head-high California grass. Their predators are mongoose and neighborhood cats.

We were [-]stupid[/-] naive enough to feed the feathered critters when we first moved in, but that just encourages the java sparrows. Those little suckers form noisy packs that turn meaner than any of Hitchcock's friends.

So now the birds just feed off the yard's grass and guava. The mockingbirds and red-vented bulbuls are pretty territorial about their perches while the zebra doves & sparrows seem to make most of the nests. We regularly scare the heck out of each other when I'm pruning. Brazilian cardinals and mejiros round out the flocks. (The mejiros will actually peck into a papaya and hollow it out.) The neighborhood also has a flock of about two dozen wild green parrots. A breeding pair escaped during Hurricane Iwa in 1982 and their descendants seem to be doing just fine on their own.

 

[Walt34]

We see lots of deer, the occasional fox, lots of squirrels, herons, hear the owls at night but have not see one, a groundhog living in the next door neighbors back yard, and regularly see possum and skunks as roadkill. The deer don't even run from the back yard when I open the porch door but they do stroll away.

The deer in particular are becoming a problem. Every few days we see a new one on the side of some road. On the bike I'm more afraid of them than I am of the cars. At least the cars are usually predictable.

 

[harley]

Resurrected this old thread

I finally got a half decent shot of one of the bald eagles that hunt in the pond and bay in back of my house. There are two, but I only got a picture of one. He's sitting on my neighbor's house. Of course it's the crappiest day we've had in weeks. Between these guys and the ospreys I've learned to look up when we let the chihuahua out back. I really need a new camera.

 

[JPatrick]

We discovered one of our does dead about 500 feet from the house the other day. Had been violently ripped apart and feasted upon.
As we have no dogs in the area, the first suspect is a coyote. Others are cougar and/or a mountain lion, though they are not nearly as plentiful as the coyote. Need some CSI help..