Wildlife in Your Own Backyard

[oleada]

We get a ton of squirrels. There’s also three hawks that live around our property. My mom saw two deer with a fawn one day.
Someone in the neighborhood Facebook group posted pictures of a bald eagle they saw in their yard which is super cool.

 

[rfisher]

Squirrels (gray and chipmunk variety), eastern cottontail rabbits and deer frequent the back yard. I'm certain raccoon and possum use the gully between my house and the neighbors at the bottom of the hill, but I haven't seen any. There are a lot of birds, but the squirrels are much more adapt at taking the top off the bird feeder and gorging themselves. Not that there aren't plenty of acorns and black walnuts for their little furry selves. Alvin, Simon and Theodore and the Chipettes are way too friendly with each other and there are mounds all over the yard which drives Bella into predator mode.

 

[millyskate]

My mum said they'd heard the first cuckoo today, the 6th of April for the third year in a row.
Last night as I went for a walk I saw a fox sleeping under a front garden tree. It was very peaceful - lifted its head when I walked past and settled back down again. It was a beautiful scene.

 

[just tuned in]

^ This thread, more than any other, has given me a real feeling for how wide-reaching our FSUniverse community is. Cuckoos, you say!

Our backyard has just the ordinary northeastern US birds -- robins, cardinals and blue jays. Sometimes a fox wanders into the neighborhood and the community forum divides into pro- and anti- fox factions.

 

[Badams]

We have all kinds of birds, butterflies, lightning bugs in the early summer, deer, raccoon, fox, red squirrel, grey squirrel, black squirrel, chipmunks galore, frogs, toads, painted turtles, snapping turtles, geese, ducks, an occasional wood duck, occasional swan, heron, bear, but I've never seen a coyote here. I've heard them plenty, but I've never seen one.

 

[aliceanne]

There is a swampy pond next to work. This past year a pair of coromants nested there. They look a bit like herons, but when they swim their wings are completely under water. They also dive and swim quite a distance under water using their wings to propel themselves.

A lot of birds stop or nest there. Red wing blackbirds, red breasted starling, yellow finches, herons, and a Baltimore oriole.

I’ve seen coyote road kill, but I have yet to see a live one. The deer are starting to have twins and triplets.

 

[PRlady]

This makes me miss my old house near Rock Creek park. Deer, hedgehogs, raccoons, birds, tons of squirrels. I still have squirrels in the city but what I mostly see is every breed of dog under the sun from Bernese mountain dogs and Newfies (downtown-why?) to purse dogs like Pomeranians.

I want to go hiking by the water on Chesapeake Bay; if you’re lucky you’ll see herons, wild swans and otters.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

We live in a subdivision of small acreages that back on an environmental reserve by a small river. We have a regular crew of squirrels and deer, plus visitations from mice, rabbits, fox, coyote, porcupine, beaver and moose. At this time of year sometimes the deer sleep under the spruce trees in our back yard at night. They are close enough to see us in the house. Once I came out of the garage to work in the garden and turned left just when a moose came around the corner of the house coming toward me. We both (silently) said EEK and turned around.

 

[moebius]

Wild turkeys everywhere. Not afraid of people or cars.

 

[Susan1]

Wild turkeys everywhere. Not afraid of people or cars.

Not wild like turkeys, but ducks and geese everywhere. They come from all the landscaped ponds around apartment and business complexes. A whole four lanes of cars have to wait till a line of them cross the street. I saw a big sqwooshed one when I got my furnace filter at Menard's the other week - right on a main road in a shopping area. One place I temped at years ago had a nest under the window of the break room every year. They gave the parents different current popular names every year. That year it was Kate and William.

And - I saw a cardinal when I opened the bedroom window yesterday. 78*. There could be snow flurries tomorrow night.

 

[puglover]

We are practicing isolation at our lake property. The lake is still frozen for the most part although starting to melt. We are seeing a lot of young deer. Today we watched a few otters racing and frolicking with each other over the ice. At the causeway where the ice is gone there are a lot of geese but we saw 4 swans today dipping into the water for food.

 

[Cachoo]

I like the picture of the neighborhood in the middle of Boulder with a mountain lion sound asleep in a tree in this guy's yard. Now that is something you don't see everyday in a city.

 

[Vagabond]

Mountain lion slinks into San Francisco, seen near Salesforce Tower

A young mountain lion spent Tuesday morning padding around downtown San Francisco and...

www.sfchronicle.com

This is not, strictly speaking, in my own back yard. It's in downtown San Francisco!

But a while back, another mountain lion was found and tranquilized four blocks away from me, so I will be careful when I go out at night.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I got incredibly excited when I saw one of those in Canada last year in a park. We don't get them here. But then I got excited at seeing a skunk as roadkill because it was the only skunk I have ever seen. Along with porcupines as roadkill too.

 

[Vagabond]

The scent of a skunk is far more memorable than the sight of it, especially if it has been run over.

 

[skatingfan5]

The scent of a skunk is far more memorable than the sight of it, especially if it has been run over.

"Dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinkin' to high heaven ..." Definitely unforgettable memories from summer road trips with the car windows open.

 

[pat c]

Coyotes attacked a young girl in a park near my house. That is extremely unusual behavior from coyotes. I wonder what is up with them?

coywolf? or coydog? They're a little more agressive.

I live rural, so the amount of wild life I see and take for granted is fairly numerous. I do a short walk every morning. During the winter time, the deer, jack rabbits and the owls, just glare at me. I am a nuisance to them.

I have seen some animals that are on the endangered list where I am. No, I don't report them. Our experience with the people who want to study them, hasn't been a positive experience. Not good for the animals either.

 

[paskatefan]

Currently there have been black bear sighting in Southern New Jersey (across the Delaware River from Philadelphia). They're been wandering around in what look like some suburban neighborhoods.

 

[MsZem]

Some boars just overturned the recycling bin on the street again (I'm not sure what's the difference between wild boars and feral hogs - it's this animal). I've seen as many as eight at a time, mostly young ones with some, er, chaperones.

Also mongooses, lots of birds, hedgehogs, jackals I think, and a really huge porcupine. Plus one of these once dropped by for a visit, and at the time I did not know it was not a snake.

Yes, I live in a city. More or less.

 

[Vagabond]

Update: Wayward Mountain Lion Captured In San Francisco Released Back Into Wild

A wayward mountain lion that was captured near Oracle Park Thursday morning was taken to the Oakland Zoo for an examination prior to being safely released in the wild in the afternoon, officials said.

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

The mountain lion is being relocated to an area where social distancing will be easier.

Yesterday, I went on a hiking trail near where I live, and warnings had been posted.

 

[Prancer]

I just learned that what I had thought were escaped ferrets are actually minks! Apparently we have a number of mink colonies around here. Who knew?

 

[sk8pics]

Currently there have been black bear sighting in Southern New Jersey (across the Delaware River from Philadelphia). They're been wandering around in what look like some suburban neighborhoods.

There was a black bear pretty close to my house a couple of weeks ago. I found out after the fact, so I was out wandering around at potentially the same time!

 

[Japanfan]

I'm not sure what's the difference between wild boars and feral hogs

Feral pig - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A feral pig descends from previously domesticated pigs that escaped. A wild boar does not.

 

[Vagabond]

This afternoon, a peregrine falcon was perched out back, calling out in a series of high-pitched chirps. I have seen peregrines before in commercial areas and along Interstate 110 in Downtown Los Angeles, but never until now in my own neighborhood.

 

[Susan1]

Not exactly unexpectedly wild, but I have two bunnies in my yard every evening around sundown. They sit in different places, sometimes together and sometimes apart. They sat out there completely still during all those nights of fireworks that made me jumpy.

 

[Vagabond]

This morning, I heard, but could not see, a woodpecker in a pine tree out back. This is the first time I've ever noticed one right where I live.

 

[MacMadame]

This morning, I got to see a skunk. I think I would rather hear a woodpecker!

 

[BittyBug]

I live in a city but we have a lot of green spaces around and we have a lot of urban wildlife. Squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, skunks, opossums, raccoons, the occasional fox and also occasional coyote, and we even had a deer running around once. Lots of birds, including woodpeckers and hawks, and various insects like butterflies and slugs.
And there’s a park nearby that has a pond that has turtles and herons.

 

[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.

 

[AxelAnnie]

My sister lives in developed community. There are.some hills nearby.
This may get a prize.
Over Her neighbor called to let her know there was a bear in his yard. Yep. And the poor bear got scared and climmned a tree. My got him down safelysister watching all this over the fence.

They had to call animal rescue who thanked him and got him down safely. Bears are BIG.