We went to the state fair. Does that count? Otherwise, just squirrels, rabbits, geese, and a few songbirds.
But at the fair, we saw cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, & dogs (they have a herding dog show). & people. All kinds of people.
Dogs
Cats
Many gooses
Assorted songbirds
Crows
Squirrels
Rabbits
Coyote
Spiders
Deers
Unidentified beast that chomped divots out of several tomatoes on the vine.
Its time is coming.
Spotted a coyote roaming around the headstones in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. I was riding the Red Line El’ Train at the time.
I’ve spotted them in Lincoln Park too, from the bus.
Go on Safari! Ride the CTA!
-While I was walking down the sidewalk, a doe shot across the fairly busy road. All cars stopped and then proceeded slowly because there’s usually another deer not far behind. Within a minute or 2, she came back across the road but this time stopped right in the middle of the lane. The car stopped and she just stood there staring at the car. Pretty soon her fawn came running out and they went the way the doe had come from. She came back for her baby! She was like a crossing guard. Of course, I stood there horrified peeking out through my hands waiting for one of them to get hit.
-Then a couple of days later, while walking the dogs (luckily on leashes!), a skunk came waddling down the sidewalk right towards us. I was making a bee-line for the other side of the road when a deer came out from that side. The deer wouldn’t move until I turned around and pretended to go the other way.
-Bunnies eat the clover in our yard every evening
-Chipmunks come to the birdfeeder all day long
-Chickadees, sparrows, etc
-Crows are always in the backyard trying to steal the dogs’ bones
-A fox was sniffing around the trail, just as I was going to let the dogs out of the car
-Red squirrels scolding everyone and everything around them
-I rescued a pigeon that was outside of my office. It looked like a hawk had tried to grab its back. I took it to the wildlife rehab center. (I know someone will say, “a pigeion?!” but it is a life and I couldn’t watch it suffer)
Cats making a special effort to eat more than one bite of hot dog buns and bread is about as likely as you developing a taste for fresh mice.
Spotted Lanternflies. Hundreds of them.
I saw a gator today in the flooded cow pasture next to my house. He was mostly submerged, but looked too small to take down any of the current cows. I did notice the black-bellied whistling ducks aren’t there today…
I came home from work one day and found the cat ate the top layer of a whole bag of hamburger bun tops - after chewing a hole in the bag. Not the whole top, but - the browned part. Cats will eat weird things.
I once had a cat that developed a taste for bread, and would tear open bags to get to it. He even figured out how to get on top of the refrigerator when we tried to put it out of his reach.
We used to have a bread-eating cat too. We had to keep the bread in the microwave.
My cat will attack a grocery bag to get to the bread and have himself a savage feast.
I cannot leave any type of bread product out where he can get to it or he will eat it. It all goes in the fridge or freezer the minute it gets in the house. He also like certain pies and cakes.
OK everybody, I learned something new about cats today. Thanks!
I’m still not eating any mice though. 
In just the last week?
Deer
Raccoon
Beaver
Otter
A few different salamander species - one was a Cheat Mountain
Crawdad - don’t ask me the species
Snakes (Garter and water)
Groundhog
Fish (Native Brookie, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Rock Bass, sauger, walleye, innumerable minnows of unknown species)
Birds (a ton, couldn’t even think of all the species, a kestrel and bald eagle were among them)
Turtles(snapping and northern spiny softshell)
Domestic animals (cats, dog, red-eared slider, guinea fowl, chickens)
I’m sure there are probably things I’m forgetting and the invertebrates would just take too long to list
This week: Arctic ground squirrels, snowshoe hares, red foxes, caribou, moose, and brown bears.
Last week: Puffins, bald eagles, sea otters, harbor seals, Steller sea lions, orcas, and a humpback whale.
It’s kind of cheating that I just got back from a vacation in Alaska, though.
I have a possum that likes to get cheeky and come in through the doggie door and eat the dog and cat food. I had to chase him out twice in a single night last thursday.
I’ve seen wild turkeys, squirrels, chipmunks, and a couple of frogs, and too many songbirds spiders and insects to count. I’ve heard the neighbors’ dogs and goats.
My only close encounter was with a curious porcupine. I set up my new backpacking hammock in the woods behind my house to test it out. (Verdict: I prefer tents). Shortly after sunset Mr. Porcupine comes sniffing around and crying. If you didn’t know that porkies cry, here’s a YouTube video. Apparently I was in his spot or something. He came right under the tarp and directly beneath the hammock before waddling a few feet away and climbing a tree. I heard him chewing bark for quite a while after that.
Translating Wild Animal Noises:
“Fuck off!” “You too, you thieving bastard!”
Repeat ad nauseam.
I haven’t seen much of them, but the skunks have unfortunately been very active this summer.
My mom’s dog also had a run-in with a mouse and a possum (he couldn’t understand why the possum refused to play with him). And a couple of pigeons have been in residence in our church for over the past week.
We’ll all have to recite the “Carmen Possum” together at some point, with so many of them around.