Nature in your backyard

[matt2500]

I'm interested to know what kind of wildlife folks have in their areas.

Myself, I live out in the sticks in the remote Seattle suburbs - I've got a seven acre lot backed up on a LOT of empty forest land. In my yard, starting in the spring, I regularly see a pack of coyotes. Before the coyotes showed up, I had deer in my yard all the time. For this reason, I like the coyotes around, since they scare the deer off, and those deer don't eat my garden anymore.

And, as my apple trees are just starting to drop their fruit, it's only a matter of time until my bear shows up. I've got a decent-sized black bear whose territory includes my apple trees. The only time I ever see him (or signs of him) is in September, when the apples drop. He'll come into the yard and eat any I don't collect, and leave humongous piles of bear crap around the trees.

The best wildlife I ever had, though, was a few years back when I just moved into this house. I've got a full sunken basement, with recessed window wells. I had a pheasant that decided it wanted to get into my house, so it would hop into a window well, and then throw itself at the window, not understanding the whole concept of 'glass.' Pheasants are gorgeous birds, though at the time I was tempted to see just how tasty they are! This bird was literally throwing itself into my basement windows for an entire summer.

My Dad lives not far from me, and he's got the standard deer, racoon, etc, but also had a cougar a few years back, which was a little scary (much worse than my bear). I don't have racoon, for some reason, nor skunks (which I had in the house I grew up in).

What do other OOTers see regularly?

[T-God]

Yes, I can see why you'd rather have coyotes than deer...

[dibbs]

Squirells, rabbits, and rarely deer and foxes, when I was in Mass anyways. Here in RI theres only squirells and a fatass woodchuck whom I have named Reginald the fat woodchuck.

[New001]

Back when I lived in Redmond, WA my backyard had a ton of wildlife. We had about an acre of woods with a creek, and there were most notably coyotes and raccoons. Lots of rabbits. Also, we saw great blue herons (I think they were anyway) a couple of times try to feed from our koi pond. Incredible birds.

Salmon use the creek sometimes. Tons of different kinds of birds and rodent-like things too. The woodpeckers are obnoxious. Some deer. I'm fairly certain there was a cougar around somewhere at one point, too.

Now I'm in a [censored] part of a Houston suburb with no wildlife at all, unless you count the [censored] bugs that look like mice. Oh, and deer.

[matt2500]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I can see why you'd rather have coyotes than deer...

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but, yeah, coyote are better than deer.

I have a big garden, and the first couple of years I lived here, the deer ate the hell out of it. They regularly destroyed my strawberries and raspberries. Since the coyotes showed up, no problems at all.

Now, I haven't got myself any small pets (like a cat) for fear the coyotes might get them, even though my neighbors have an outdoor cat that is around my house all the time. But, really, coyotes are pussies. They run like hell at any sound. If I'm up in the garden, and see them (rare, since they're nocturnal), all I have to do is cough, and they get the hell out of Dodge.

[matt2500]

[ QUOTE ]
Back when I lived in Redmond, WA my backyard had a ton of wildlife. We had about an acre of woods with a creek, and there were most notably coyotes and raccoons. Lots of rabbits. Also, we saw great blue herons (I think they were anyway) a couple of times try to feed from our koi pond. Incredible birds.

Salmon use the creek sometimes. Tons of different kinds of birds and rodent-like things too. The woodpeckers are obnoxious. Some deer. I'm fairly certain there was a cougar around somewhere at one point, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I really wish I had a salmon creek in my back woods. I worked in Alaska for a while, and saw the salmon swimming up a creek not far from where I stayed. Amazing. A couple of buddies and I once went wading into a pool where the salmon staged, and I just picked them up by the tail.

I forgot to mention the eagles that occasionally come by my place. I've seen a fully mature bald eagle fly about thirty feet over my head, and then, once, went up into my garden and had lots of small songbirds going nuts. I wondered what was going on, and then, about fifteen or twenty feet away from me, saw an immature bald eagle (fully sized, but brown in color, not black and white) sitting in the grass. It noticed me, spread its wings, and soared away. I could hear its wings flapping. That was very cool.

[T-God]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I can see why you'd rather have coyotes than deer...

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but, yeah, coyote are better than deer.

I have a big garden, and the first couple of years I lived here, the deer ate the hell out of it. They regularly destroyed my strawberries and raspberries. Since the coyotes showed up, no problems at all.

Now, I haven't got myself any small pets (like a cat) for fear the coyotes might get them, even though my neighbors have an outdoor cat that is around my house all the time. But, really, coyotes are pussies. They run like hell at any sound. If I'm up in the garden, and see them (rare, since they're nocturnal), all I have to do is cough, and they get the hell out of Dodge.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was being sarcastic, but you give good reasons. I take it back.

[matt2500]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I can see why you'd rather have coyotes than deer...

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but, yeah, coyote are better than deer.

I have a big garden, and the first couple of years I lived here, the deer ate the hell out of it. They regularly destroyed my strawberries and raspberries. Since the coyotes showed up, no problems at all.

Now, I haven't got myself any small pets (like a cat) for fear the coyotes might get them, even though my neighbors have an outdoor cat that is around my house all the time. But, really, coyotes are pussies. They run like hell at any sound. If I'm up in the garden, and see them (rare, since they're nocturnal), all I have to do is cough, and they get the hell out of Dodge.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was being sarcastic, but you give good reasons. I take it back.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh. Deer are to country dwellers what rats and pigeons are to city dwellers.

[Wakko]

here in CT we get wild turkeys all over the place. i also saw a coyote last year.

we are cutting down all the forest in the area because houses are worth a lot here still. i never saw these types of animals five or 10 years ago.

[Howard Beale]

I live in Fountain Hills, Az, which is at the eastern edge of metro-Phoenix and has mostly undeveloped desert to the North and East. It's like living in the zoo. All kinds of birds, rabbits, toads, snakes, mountain lions, coyotes, hawks, lizards and various critters. The coolest ones are:

Roadrunner



Bobcat



Javelina