While pacing around thinking about a post to Turpentine’s I might choose an elephant thread, I looked out of the patio door. My mind was on animals so I noticed what I could see at the time.
[ul]
[li]about 25 or 30 Sparrows, kinda hard to count[/li][li]2 Cardinals, 1 adult female and 1 juvenile male[/li][li]2 Blue Jays, 1 adult, 1 juvenile[/li][li]1 Mockingbird, which kept running the sparrows off[/li][li]2 Mourning Doves[/li][li]2 lazy cats[/li][li]1 Squirrel that ran up the tree when I walked up[/li][li]1 Hummingbird[/li][/ul]
I thought that was a fairly good list for living a city. I have other visitors, too, but this was over a matter of a couple of minutes.
Nothing. Nada. Zippo. I’ve been thinking about getting a dog but I don’t think I’ll actually do it. I have no trees in my backyard and I would require a dog that would spend a great deal amount of time outdoors. I just stomach the thought of leaving an animal outdoors in 100+ temperatures without anything out there to give it shade.
My cat (Athena) enjoys sitting on the dining room table and staring out into the backyard. I’m not sure what she’s looking at but something has her attention. Sometimes I’ll see small sparrows drinking water and playing in the yard.
That list sounds quite similar to our backyard birds in Minnesota (minus the mockingbird, but we have catbirds).
I also frequently see nuthatches, red-headed woodpeckers, robins, and house wrens. In early morning sometimes I see rabbits helping themselves to the tasty morsels in the flower garden, and we have a pair of chipmunks that lives near our backyard pond.
A couple of weeks ago, toward dusk, Bob and I saw a small bat that seemed to be dazed. It later flew away.
Two years ago around Halloween, a brown bear was trapped and killed by police officers and animal control about four blocks from our house.
We keep our cats inside for their protection, and to protect the birds.
Grace, trees would help I’m sure. I have 4 cats, 3 hang around outside all day even in this heat, of course they do have shade. I have a small mimosa tree growing in my flower bed that needs to be moved soon. Do you want it?
Spider Woman, I could add a lot of other creatures but those were the ones that were there at the time. I also get robins, woodpeckers, house wrens, chicadees, finches, juncos (in the winter), various black birds (red winged, starlings, cowbirds, grackles). I’ve also had skunks and opposums. The neatest was the hawk the landed in the backyard (of course, the sparrow suffered).
I don’t get snakes, but I’ve got frogs and lizards this year. I once had a spider that we named Charlotte. She built a big web everyday with a zigzag down the middle. She was a big black spider with yellow markings, leg span was about 3 inches across.
I have 2 dogs in my back yard (Jack Russells), the occasional bird flying past and my cat which sometimes goes around the back just to stir up the dogs. Any other animal is not game to go in our yard as the dogs would have them for brekkie.
My back yard has been pretty boring lately. We occasionally have bats in the living room though.
And once I surprised a possum on the front steps.
Squirrels and rabbits mostly. The rabbits have made a home in the brush pile. It’s been a good year for rabbits.
Not enough birds. Hubby took the feeders down to clean them last spring and didn’t get them put up again till a little while ago. Not much action there. Guess they think we’re closed. Oh wait! There’s an eastern screech owl hanging around. Didn’t know what it was until I described its call to WoodThrush – he sent me a sound thingie that matched. Way cool.
And driving home after work today, I almost braked for a bug crawling across the highway, just to get out and see what the heck it was. Dang, it was big!
AuntiePam, I don’t have rabbits at all. I did get a young possum in the bottom of an outdoor trash can once. That was quite a surprise when I threw some trash away.
You have bugs big enough to brake for? And you aren’t even from Texas, are you?
I usually have nothing in my back yard except my dog and cats. Anything else that makes it’s way in, except birds, and sometimes even them, is PREY. Goners. All the way. So I don’t encourage squirrels, birds, etc. I’ve found way to many dead rabbits, moles, birds, and such to risk it.
the usual assortment of suburban backyard birds (too many to list)
house cats
rabbits
groundhogs
bats
butterflies/moths
spiders/ticks
mosquitos (es?)/ants
