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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 31, 2016 13:45:55 GMT -5
My daughter just spotted a weasel in our yard. My wife and I got to see it too. When my daughter first saw it, it was following a cottontail rabbit. We continued to see it in the same general area of the yard as the bunny and I was hoping to see a good fight. The weasel eventually came out from under some juniper shrubs with a vole in its mouth and ran to the far corner of our house and into the woods. This is the first we've seen a weasel in the yard. I hope it comes back and eats more voles, because they destroy my lawn every winter.
I started thinking about all the animals we've seen in the yard over the years. I live on a one acre lot just outside of a small town. There is a lot of woods starting at the end of our road. My back yard is wooded. Here's a list of every mammal, except dogs, cats and people that I can remember someone in my immediate family seeing in the yard. Shrew, mouse, vole, bat, weasel, mink, chipmunk, red, black, gray, and fox squirrels, cottontail, possum, skunk, raccoon, fox, deer. We've heard coyotes and a neighbor saw a bear.
So that's what we have seen in Michigan, so what do the rest of you see in your yards?
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Post by captbob on Dec 31, 2016 13:58:56 GMT -5
Had a huge possum walk the top of our 6' wood fence last night. 'Bout the size of a very fat house cat. Quite the balancing act for such a big critter.
Have armadillos stroll by as a regular nightly event.
Raccoons seen at least monthly. All at night. May be more frequent but I miss seeing them.
Fruit rats. Way too many squirrels. Bats in the summer. No bears!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 31, 2016 14:17:17 GMT -5
*LOL* We have so many critters we have to be high fenced to keep the big stuff out of my wife's fancy plantings. Inside the fence we get Fox Squirrels, Mexican Ground Squirrels ( huge), cottentails, jack rabbits, porcupines, Gray Foxes, raccoons, ringtails, oppossums, armadillos and various bats. In the yard outside the tall fence, Whitetail deer, Sika deer, Axis deer, wild hogs, bobcat, coyotes, mouflon sheep and blackbuck and whatever the heck other weird exotic walks out of the bushes. The back of our lot is low fenced so lots of weird stuff jumps in occasionally. Oddly, very few small rodents except the occasional deer mouse, probably due to the large numbers of snakes, screech owls and hawks....Mel
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Post by drocknut on Dec 31, 2016 14:25:39 GMT -5
At my mom's house where I have been hanging my hat recently there are lots of critters running around. She lives on a 5 acre tract of land in a rural subdivision about 20 miles from town in the desert. We see coyotes, rabbits, ground squirrels, packrats, gophers, and one pig that wandered through one day (we still have no idea where it was from or where it went). That just counts the mammals. Have reptiles (yuk) lots of birds, roadrunners, toads, and lizards too. Heck, we could start a zoo...lol. oh and I forgot my furchild who is there when I am, we're a package deal...lol.
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Post by captbob on Dec 31, 2016 14:30:41 GMT -5
Do Jehovah's Witnesses count? Worse than the fruit rats they are!
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Post by jakesrocks on Dec 31, 2016 14:40:24 GMT -5
Aside from stray cattle & an occasional horse, there have been white tail & mule deer, skunks, raccoons, mink, muskrats, 13 stripe gophers, field mice, coyotes, fox, cotton tail & jack rabbits, feral cats (Damn city folks keep dumping their pregnant cats out here) & an occasional stray dog. Oh,& a few years ago a young love sick moose wandered thru looking for new territory & a girlfriend. There have been reports of mountain lions wandering thru the area, but haven't seen any myself. & I keep watching, hoping to see bigfoot.
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Post by tims on Dec 31, 2016 14:44:38 GMT -5
No skunks? When I had cats I had to be careful on the front porch as it was common to have a skunk visiting for dinner out of their dish. The cats completely ignored the skunks and vice versa; they'd lay there 2 feet away from snacking skunk like it didn't exist.
I live on what was my grandparents' property. Dad told me a story of when he was a kid how grandma would put out scraps for the neighborhood strays and how there was always a friendly black cat hanging around. One night he was walking through the back yard and saw the black cat and scooped him up to give him a pet, then had to drop him soon after realizing he'd picked up a skunk. Then shared the family recipe for a de-skunking bath, lots of tomato sauce. If you're ever in my neighborhood give the black cats a wide berth.
Other than that lots of mule deer, a couple raccoon, cotton tails, mice, squirrel, chipmunks and bats.
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Post by jakesrocks on Dec 31, 2016 14:45:46 GMT -5
Do Jehovah's Witnesses count? Worse than the fruit rats they are! Hey Bob, Get you a big old python to drape over your shoulders, & wall sconces with black candles in them. When you see them coming to the door light the candles & grab the python before answering the door. Worked for me. Was never bothered by the Jehovah's Witnesses again.
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Post by Pat on Dec 31, 2016 14:57:32 GMT -5
Mainly our cat, and the neighbors aged cat. Lots of birds and squirrels. Signs of raccoons. Found one lone roach in our house last week. A first. None since. I stepped on the roach, ground him into the rug. Worms when the soil gets too wet for them. That's about it! One more thing: I found preying mantis egg nests. Didn't know what the thing was. Cut carefully in half with jeweler's saw. Tiny things. Left on my workbench overnight. Next day the cutest miniature preying mantises all over my workbench. Very cute. Don't like them big.
When we had a pool, we had possums occasionally. And two ducks that came twice.
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Post by Rockoonz on Dec 31, 2016 14:59:43 GMT -5
We get Squirrels, possums, raccoons, neighbors cats and feral cats, and of course our Chihuahua and his occasional visitors. Seen deer and coyote nearby but no evidence of them ever jumping the fence, though I suppose they could. We have a Kingdom Hall about 1/4 mile away but their visits are rare, thankfully. Guess they don't crap in their own back yard...
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,694
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 31, 2016 15:10:17 GMT -5
Well,list is long for (North Dakota)............Moose,deer,coyotes,raccoons,skunks,badgers,porcupines,cows,squirrels,gophers,ground hogs,Ferrel cats,A bear (once),bats,Wolves,fox,weasels and a few mink....
Now in Oregon,its skunks,coyotes,Ferrel cats,and dumbass people......LOL
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 31, 2016 15:43:13 GMT -5
Ok, I forgot a couple. Skunks are fairly common, bats, and maybe porcupines. I can't remember seeing a porcupine, but they're very common. It's fun to see the different critters people see in their yards.
Some of you broke the rules and listed reptiles and birds. My father-in-law saw a lizard in my yard once. I was standing right there but missed it. I asked if it was a salamander and he was sure it was a lizard. There is a skink native to the state. I've never seen one around here, but I saw some in the U.P. when I was a kid. We have lots of turkeys around here too.
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Post by captbob on Dec 31, 2016 15:54:14 GMT -5
We have lots of turkeys around here too. Don't we all my friend, don't we all. Although we may have different names we use for them! I call mine trailer trash.
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Post by jakesrocks on Dec 31, 2016 16:09:18 GMT -5
Forgot one on my list. Hunters thinking they can sneak in & bag a few pheasants in my posted back field.
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Dec 31, 2016 16:58:30 GMT -5
Okay, only mammals = whitetail and mule deer, moose, elk, mountain lion (next door), beaver, otters, muskrat, skunks, porcupines, assorted mice and vole species, pocket gopher, moles, fox squirrels, pine squirrels, shrews, mink, weasel, red fox, cottontail rabbit, flying squirrels, brown bats, raccoons, coyotes. That is about it. No bears or wolves yet, but it is just a matter of luck and timing. We feel blessed to live here for sure. Oh yeah, add humans and dogs and cats.
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Post by Pat on Dec 31, 2016 17:03:18 GMT -5
....and a mole and many lizards, plus a few purple salamanders. Coyotes were reported s block away.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 31, 2016 17:16:35 GMT -5
I live a city- literally downtown. I live in one of the very few wooded areas left. When the developers were clearing one of the last areas near me, I had possums and a raccoon in my house and yard. I've seen bunnies, bats, muskrats, Norwegian roof rats (UGH!), mice, and squirrels in the yard and a few stray cats. Lots of birds and snakes, of course, and really cool praying mantis- though those aren't mammals. The raccoon broke in to steal the catfood. Found out after it was trapped that it was a momma. She left 4 little kits for me. Cutest things on the planet, but they had to go, too.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 31, 2016 18:08:55 GMT -5
Hey now, I love to argue with Jehovahs Witnesses. Too much fun watching them get all worked up.
Oh yeah, I forgot skunks. We have both striped and hognosed. Supposed to have spotted too but I've yet to see one. Got nutria down by the creek too...Mel
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 31, 2016 19:07:30 GMT -5
....and a mole and many lizards, plus a few purple salamanders. Coyotes were reported s block away. Oops, I forgot moles. I think I've only had star nosed moles.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 31, 2016 19:09:37 GMT -5
Okay, only mammals = whitetail and mule deer, moose, elk, mountain lion (next door), beaver, otters, muskrat, skunks, porcupines, assorted mice and vole species, pocket gopher, moles, fox squirrels, pine squirrels, mink, weasel, red fox, cottontail rabbit, flying squirrels, brown bats, raccoons, coyotes. That is about it. No bears or wolves yet, but it is just a matter of luck and timing. We feel blessed to live here for sure. Oh yeah, add humans and dogs and cats. That's quite a list, Mark. I've seen beaver on or close to our road, just not in the yard. Do you see anything interesting in Panama?
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