I live in north carolina. The county of franklin to give a rough idea. It’s somewhat rural and very beautiful in spots. Anyway, there is an extremly large field roughly shaped like an “L” near my home and close to a small airfield.
I take walks there frequently and watch the sun set. It’s a great place, big open skies, nothing to block the view. Occasionly, I’ll see various types of wildlife at work and play. It’s so relaxing and I walk and talk to myself(outloud of course), it’s somewhat like therapy after a long day.
Anyway, I watched these ants moving back and forth between nests. There were many brown, small busy ants, bumping into one another, finding the best path to the new home. I looked closer and they were removing eggs from one place to the next. It was rather neat. They worked together and worked long after sunset. I was drinking a beer and poured them some for all their hardwork. Many came to that spot and seemed to drink deeply.
While watching them I heard a series of barks and yips. It sounded like a family of foxes. Oh, those pups were probably so pretty. I never did catch sight, they were well hidden by the grain in the fields and the mother was in the edge of the woods.
I have to say that is one sweet friday night. I can do without crowds and lights to experience nature. The pileated wood peckers, mallard ducks, red winged black birds and the occasional crow chasing a turkey vulture are a few of my favorite things…How about you?
Yes, it can be quite amazing. I have 2-10 deer that pass by daily and I’ll never get bored with that! But the nasty side of nature just came though here, so be prepared. It’s a rough one!
I used to love nature as a kid, watching a spider spin its web, collecting flowers from the rose bush in my yard, or just lying back in the grass and watching the clouds. Now it’s just a buggy, allergy-causing reason to stay inside. ::sigh:: Anyone want to inspire me to go outdoors? Or would they rather join me in an all-day video game marathon?
I also like watching deer. My daughter and I take walks and sometimes find deer skulls and bones. She is fascinated by animals and finding bones is a rewarding experience to her. I know it sounds strange, she is just curious.
We came upon a half rotted deer being eaten by vultures and she stared and asked all kinds of questions. Maybe forensics is in her future…
Kcsuze, I’m sorry you have allergies. I’m rather lucky for I am allergic to hardly anything. I can go for all day game playing though. I’m playing splinter cell now and it is pretty enjoyable. Between my daughter and 9 month old son needing attention, it’s hard to find the time to do anythingin the line of gaming.
I challenge you kc, just turn off that system, go outside and watch a sunset. It’s simple, sure, but you will so enjoy yourself. Find a nice field on a good cloudy day, sit and enjoy the show…
I have a sandhill crane wandering through the condo complex right now. I heard a really weird kraw-aw-aw-aw-aw-awk and thought “…nah, can’t be, too many buildings”. Yup, it’s a sandhill. Digging up the yard for bugs. Gorgeous bird, with such a baleful look.
We regularly have a Red-tailed Hawk buzzing through the area, driving all the mockingbirds wild. Quite amusing watching this huge bird, sitting on the roof, unconcerned, while these mockers divebomb and scream at it.
A friend regularly has flocks of wild turkeys (one tom and up to six hens) strolling though her gated community. Good things turkeys can’t read, or they’d know it’s a “Neighborhood Watch Community”.
We have a cardinal who spent the whole summer last year searching for a mate and fighting off the Evil Cardinal of Death that lived in our laundry room door.
This year he turned up with Mrs. Cardinal. But now he’s protecting her from the Evil Cardinal of Death. Oh well.
When we lived in Maryland, in suburban DC, we had a little patch of woods right behind our house where on Christmas Day two years ago we watched a red fox stop right outside our yard, find a nice deep drift of leaves, and curl up and go to sleep. A couple of days later a merlin falcon landed on our porch railing for one brief amazing moment. Seeing nature in the wild is one thing; but there’s something extra-refreshing about seeing it in the middle of all that civilization!
I love this time of year - right after the wisteria bloomed, just as the fluff from the cottenwoods wisps through the air, and just before God makes confetti using crepe myrtles. Now is the time to lay on the grass in a sun puddle with my dog - and nap!
Yeah, one of the coolest things is the resurgence of some bird species, in the Boston area. For years and years, the only time you’d see a hawk was if you got way outside town. Now, they’re more common than they have ever been, in my lifetime. I saw one, last Saturday, spiraling over downtown Newton. And is there anything more beautiful than watching a hawk gliding on the air?
We’ve also, in the last few years, started seeing Cardinals. I’d never seen one, before. I’m not even sure they were ever native to this area, previously. But, they are beautiful birds.
Possibly the coolest wildlife I’ve ever seen, in this area, was the River Otter I saw swimming in the Concord River. I love otters! And, they happen to be one of my “totem animals” according to Indian lore.
Ants, on the other hand, are only cool when they’re outside. We’re currently in the midst of our annual Spring invasion of by big, black ants. Not the huge carpenter ants, and not the tiny little one I see in the yard. I don’t know what kind they are, but they’re annoying as hell when there’s twenty of them on the kitchen floor, at one time. Fortunately, the invasions only last a week, or two, and then we don’t see another one until next Spring.
Taken! Better a sunset than a sunrise. I’m no morning person. I couldn’t today, though, as thunderstorms have run through the area. Now that’s some nature, baby!
butrscotch, you remind me of my mother and how she used to watch the cardinal couple outside her office window. She was very sad when she had to change location in that office. She’d tell us almost every day how Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal were doing. She didn’t call Mr. Cardinal the Cardinal of Death, though.
I’m glad you all are sharing, I was beginning to think I was the only one here that takes the time to slow down and enjoy.
I love watching red tail hawks as well. It’s pretty nice to watch the mother showing the babies how to hunt(i presume thats what is going on)as they fly through the small patch of woods behind my home. They call out and fly for hours. I also found a nest high up in a strand of trees behind my job.
Has anyone ever seen a velvet wasp? It's actually an ant, really large and coloful. Extremely beautiful reds and blacks. The tiny hairs on it look like velvet(hench the name i guess). They will sting but are extremely hardy pets. They can survive a 6 year old. I always confused them with fire ants, quite possibly beacuse I was stung as a young child by one. I moved to florida and actually expereinced fire ants, very nasty and attack in groups.I was walking by a pond in cape coral and saw a fish on the bank. I assumed it was dead, but on closer inspection It was covered in fire ants, maybe 100 or more, I didn't count but it was covered. I saw it flip and jump and I mercifully pushed it in the water, drowning ants but maybe saving the fish. Tough decsion eh?
I vist the mountains alot and would like to see bears in the wild, but I'm honestly frightened by the thought. I get rather paranoid while hiking alone. I once hiked into a bear sancturary at the base of table rock near linville gorge and instanly panicked when I saw the signs. But I calmed down when I thougt of bird sancturaries and the fact that it means these animals will be safe in this area(no hunting), it didn't mean they would all be there.
Any encounters with grizzlies in the wild, if so what happened?
Yesterday I got home after three days of 4WDing and camping. Beautiful and just what I needed to recharge the batteries 