Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Wildlife in the City





I would love to live on acres in the country, but since I don't, I enjoy looking at pics of others. My corner garden is full of life, though, too. We have squirrels, which drive our dog and me nuts, rabbits, which I'm not thrilled about, either, birds, lots of butterflies, bees, wasps, and other insects, garter snakes, and this summer and fall, have a family of opossums living under our deck. People have said to get rid of them, because they are mean, but we've not had problems, other than our dog not wanting to come in at night when she's onto their scent or has seen them. Our next door neighbor says she has opossums under her deck, too, so maybe they are the same ones, and we are sharing them.

We have a neighbor who feeds the squirrels, but they like to bring the food to our yard to eat it. Maybe it's just the squirrels who live in our tree, and they bring it here so they don't have to share with the other squirrels in the neighborhood. They know Heidi's boundaries, and will tease her and then run away. They are just too tame for me, and I don't like it when they stay put and look me in the eye as I am getting closer to them. Here are some pics of the latest food from the neighbor that was brought here.

5 comments:

  1. I really liked your post. I wish more people felt like you do. It is always possible to coexist with wild animals and it is good for us. Keeps us in touch with nature and strengthens the kinder side of our personalities.
    Marnie

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  2. When I set about gardening "outside the fence" I knew it would be best for my stress level and the deer to make it deer resistant without having to worry about repellants, etc. I agree with accepting nature for what it is and try to co-exist peacefully. Cameron

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  3. Thanks Marnie and Cameron,
    It's not always a happy arrangement, when the squirrels dig my plants out, or the rabbits eat more than what I feel is their fair share of the lettuce, but I do need the kinder side of my personality to come forth at these times. I do spray liquid fence around the veggie garden to keep the rabbits at bay, but it doesn't work for very long, and then I'm not consistent with it.

    We have deer eating some of the plants in our church beds. Cameron, I need to look at your lists come spring. They seem to particularly like the hosta this year, while in the past, it was the Autumn Joy Sedums. (I think that's what they're called. My brain freezes sometimes.) It sounds like your deer get into different moods for what they want to eat, too. Marnie, do you have deer?

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  4. We only have one or two squirrels on our farm from time to time (I don't think it's civilized enough for them, lol), and I agree, they're a mix of amusement and aggravation.

    When I was a kid there was a squirrel who would actually come up and lay under the lawn chairs when we were out on the patio (and we never hand fed this squirrel). This same squirrel also played with our Cairn Terrier, believe it or not! Unlike many terriers, our Cairn did not have a killer instinct, and it was hysterical to watch them playing together.

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