When we first moved into the house, we had the Great Mouse Hunt, of course (if you haven't heard that story I'd be happy to share it).
After the mousecapade, we uncovered the garden our first spring to discover snakes! Lots and lots of snakes! They were mostly little snakes, but there were a few medium-sized ones too (I didn't tell Lauralee about those). I even found a snake with blue eyes! It was really cool. The snakes have mostly subsided too. There was one that I used to wake up on our side lawn every Spring with the lawnmower, but I haven't seen him at all this year. Maybe he packed up and moved away...
We've got our fair share of snails. They don't cause us too many headaches. It sure is thought-provoking to see them crawl up onto our aluminum siding in the cool of the morning and find them roasted to death by the hot afternoon. The circle of life.
Earwigs? Oh yeah. They're all over the place. They have a taste for anything that Lauralee plants.
Wasps love our house for some reason. They build nests outside in every nook and cranny that they can find. Some nooks and crannies are unbuildable, luckily, because they're already full of old nests from years past.
We've got lots of little birds that call our yard home. They especially come out after the sprinklers have been on. We've got the standard robins and sparrows, but also some magpies, and a cute little family of morning doves that built a nest in the tree by our patio. At least once a year I find a baby bird who is hanging out by our back fence and is learning to fly.
Certainly we can't forget about the multitude of stray cats fed by our crazy cat-loving neighbors. They roam all over the neighborhood, not just our yard, but they enjoy digging up some of Laura's flowers, scratching at the dirt in our front yard, and pooping all over the garden.
We also have the pleasure of seeing a family of hawks that fly by frequently. They live a few streets over but like to fly past our house on their way to the field beyond our backyard. It's fun to watch them circle the field for food or take a break on the fencepost.
Well, last night while I was turning off the sprinklers I found a new and exciting creature to add to our list. Two creatures, actually: raccoons! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I heard some rustling out along the back fence. This is usually stray cat territory, but I turned the flashlight over there and sure enough, there were two raccoons hanging out on a fallen branch. I'd never been so close to a raccoon that wasn't squashed in the middle of a road. I walked over to them to see what they would do and they just stared at me until I guess I finally entered their "uh-oh zone." One of them scurried over and hopped the fence into the neighbor's yard, but the other one shot straight up the tree it was sitting next to. That was unexpected. So now I'll be on the lookout to see if the raccoons come back. I hope they do. I've named them Batman and Robin, because there are two of them, and they both wear masks.
Quinn
1 comment:
apparently we have some roaming our neighborhood too. We've been warned not to leave pet food outside as they'll come get it. They're supposed to be REALLY mean too. Be careful!
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