Wild Kingdom?

[ski diva]

Last night there was a big, fluffy red fox on my front porch (DH opened the door, and there he was!), and right now I'm watching a skunk in my back yard. I also see turkeys and deer around here, from time to time. And I know there are bear and moose, though I haven't seen a bear yet.

What kind of wild animals do you get in your yard? (Spouses and kids excluded)

 

[SnowHot]

Black Bear, Deer, Coyote, Turkey, Rabbit, Squirrel, Possum, Porcupine, wood chuck, Raccoon ..................haven't seen a fox in a long time.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Last July (too tame for their own good - we never let them approach us, though they came close):

Neighbor was walking dog in early May, sizable bull moose was in the adjacent woods (). Cow and calf spotted in neighborhood;

Others of note: bear, coyote, bobcat, red fox, fisher (can kill cats and small dogs, or impart SERIOUS injuries to same), skunk;

In the air or hanging around: wild turkeys, bald eagle, brown hawk, red hawk, great blue heron, hoot owl, screech owl, large brown bat (our yard as territory);

Audible from 1/4 mile away: nesting loons;

Reptilia/amphibia: assorted snakes and frogs;

Class Insecta: you don't want to know....

Essentially, way more of the above than humans.

 

[Jilly]

Ah middle of suburbia, birds and squirrels mostly. Neighbours cats too. We have had a deer though. Poor thing got lost and the cops were trying to chase it. I really got mad with them. But it was explained that they didn't want a traffic accident because of it. I got blamed for spooking it. No guys you did that all on your own. I've been around wildlife before and this poor guy was lost and confused. Nobody was getting near him.

 

[Jenny]

We're in suburbia, too, but have seen a stray deer, a skunk which I HOPE was lost, and also a hawk landed in one of the trees once. And we know it's been back because of the bunny remnants we've found.

 

[Skimom]

We have lots of foxes. We also have coyotes in our neighborhood and at the park down the street. My DH has seen them frequently in our neighborhood while running. I can often hear them at night. Sadly, because of the foxes and coyotes, I've also seen lots of dead rabbits!

 

[itri]

I got nothin' here unless you count the absolutely ridiculous amounts of dogs that live in my complex and neighborhood! Ok, I guess a few birds and bugs, too.

Now, my MIL (in Cincinnati) has cicadas to spare. Blech!

 

[SnowHot]

This was my yard yesterday morning!

 

[playoutside]

Here in the wilds of NJ we get...

Black bear, deer, skunks, rabbits, fox, racoons, opposum, cats, dogs, snakes (inc copperheads), blue heron, turkey vultures, wild turkey, hummingbirds, red-tailed hawks, orioles, cardinals, other birds, squirrels, chipmunks, owls, turtles (inc big snappers)

Neighbors have a large black lab which is good for a nearly daily startle--you see him out of the corner of your eye and think he's a bear! He's just stopping by for his daily biscuit.

Bear are so aggressive that you can't keep trash outside. Neighbors put their trash in the the shed and the bear tore the doors off. They recently caught a 725 lb black bear about 5 miles away -- that is huge for a black bear in the spring! Last week I made a fool of myself when I didn't get up early enough for the trash guys...jumped on my bike with a bag of garbage and rode it over to the trash truck on the next street...they were very amused.

 

[RachelV]

I watched a crazy guy feed squirrels in union square yesterday -- does that count?

 

[Kiragirl]

yup, that counts.

in my yard occasionally I see a deer or 2, skwerlz, bunneez, hawk, vulture, groundhog, cats, birds, and yesterday I realized some hornets are starting to build a small nest in between an inner and outer window, crap they give me the creeps. So I trying to figure out how to get them out and realize I probably cannot without an incident, then realized they got in through a little opening because the storm window was not quite shut. Sorry bees, but I shut them in hoping they will die, then I can get rid of them and the nest.

 

[Kiragirl]

I watched a crazy guy feed squirrels in union square yesterday -- does that count?

do you ever see falcons in the city?

 

[RachelV]

do you ever see falcons in the city?

Mmmmm, not really, but I'm not necessarily looking. A few years ago a whole family of falcons (peregrine falcons? I forget) was nesting on an apartment building right across from the model boat house in central park. That was pretty cool -- people were always out in the park with telescopes and stuff watching them. You could tell they were huge birds even from far away.

 

[Consuela]

Neighbor's cat, squirrels, and a %^*#)$^& mocknig bird that lives on the electrical post in the corner of our yard.

Okay the funniest thing when we went for a walk last night, this cat with a collar and bell came down from a porch to greet us. We stopped to pet it because it was just so darn friendly and cute with her little bell. Well, she proceeded to acompany us on our walk all the way to the end of the street meowing and trotting along with us. Just before we got to a busy street we decided we'd better back track and try to ditch her near her house. She was such a cutie!

 

[ski diva]

Talk about Wild Kingdom -- check this out:

Man Riding Bike Runs Into Bear

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Talk about Wild Kingdom -- check this out:

Man Riding Bike Runs Into Bear

OMG
is that guy ever lucky to have wound up w/just ROAD RASH!!

 

[itri]

Wanna know the really funny/ironic/scary thing? It's not the first time this has happened in that canyon! A couple of years ago, a triathlete hit a bear pretty much in that same spot while racing. She was also ok. I'm scared, I'm racing in the same triathlon, in the same canyon in just a few weeks! I don't wanna hit a bear!

eta: better link

 

[SouthernSkier]

We mostly get deer, raccoons, and opossum. Luckily, no moose. Bears are very rare - I haven't ever seen one in my yard, but there was one sighted (and photographed) a few miles away. It happens seldom enough that it made the news.

A deer in my backyard last Christmas

 

[playoutside]

Great day for wildlife in my neighborhood!

Today we were visited by a mama bear and her cub. The cub is from this year and prob weighs less than 40lbs while mama looked to weigh 200-250. The baby got treed and mama headed up too. Baby fell asleep and mama got bored and wandered off for a couple minutes. I must say when she galloped back it was a damn scary site. I watched them for a good hour, mama had to climb the tree a second time and talk the little guy down. He cried all the way.

As if the bears weren't exciting enough...while I was driving home from BBQ shopping a bobcat ran across the road in front of my car! Never saw one in the wild. Very muscular and beautiful. No pictures...I would've crashed and she was too darn fast!!

Mama showing teeth

Mama looking up at baby

Baby running off

Mama and baby as they cross back to woods

 

[ski now work later]

Great photos playoutside! Was that in Watertown or NJ? I lived in Northern NJ when I was little and again for high school, and in Cambridge in the '80s....

In my yard (Western Mass.), I've seen bear, deer, turkeys (lots of them), racoons, skunk, bobcat, and the usual squirrels and chipmunks.