My "Wild" Life in Review - Friday Foto Friends UPDATED

 Here it is late Friday afternoon, and I still don't have any new pictures to share with you for this week that you haven't already seen.  It's been too hot to go out and do much outside so we've been keeping cool inside and really not doing much of anything that we don't absolutely have to do! So, that being said, I've got nothing new to share with you. So I thought I might go back and find an old post that you might enjoy seeing again...or perhaps you haven't seen it at all before! 

This post was originally written  back in October of 2016, while we were still living in our house in the woods.  We left there exactly two years ago to move to our current home on Still Waters Pond, where life is a bit "quieter" and not quite as "wild" as before.

So here is the original post from October 2016..."My Wild Life in Review".... I hope you will enjoy this again!

"Ever since we moved to the Ocala National Forest almost five years ago, we have encountered many kinds of wildlife...oftentimes right here in our own front yard...and sometimes as we travel around the area "in search of" anything worthy of our notice...and to feed my "photography bug".   A few years ago my dear brother gave me a digital camera because I was the last one in the universe to still be using a film camera, and he happened to have an old Kodak EasyShare Z650 with a neat little attached zoom lens sitting in his cabinet, (he worked for Kodak) and when he gave that to me it opened up a whole new world!

So, for my Friday Foto Friends, here is a little bit of my "wild life" from just this past week.

We'll start out with our resident "Little Bear", who has been walking through our yard frequently over the past couple of months.  He started out looking much more scraggly and skinny than these pictures taken this afternoon. It appears that he is starting to fatten up as he prepares for winter.  Little Bear is probably just a year or two old, and apparently is an "orphan" bear, out on his own.  Our yard connects to the forest, and we discovered very soon after moving here that the bears claimed our yard as a part of their trail to the woods.  Click HERE for a previous post about our bears.

 I love how Little Bear stopped and posed for us before leaving the yard.  This picture makes him look a lot larger than he is, but it is definitely the same "Little Bear" as above.  He stopped and sniffed the air for a minute or two...trying to figure out where the noise was coming from...(we were INSIDE the house taking these pictures, I can assure you)

 Bye Bye Little Bear!

We also have a wildlife "night camera" that takes pictures of animals walking through our yard at night.  This is a bobcat prowling around.  We often also get pictures of coyotes, foxes, raccoons, deer, and of course, the bears...

If you've kept up with any previous posts recently, you've already seen my deer...but here they were one evening this week...the fawns have really grown up and no longer have any spots.  I've enjoyed watching their antics this past summer.  I pray they and their mother all make it through hunting season, which will be starting soon....(sorry to add a sad thought in the midst of this, but that is the reality of life in the big woods)

Now, this next batch of pictures I must admit was not taken in our yard or neighborhood.  However, we were invited to go play golf (that's another story that I'll explain later) with some friends yesterday, and the golf course proved to be a nature wonderland for me with my camera. (I don't play golf...so guess what I did?)  

Here is a critter that I have been trying to capture on camera for a long time.  This is a Fox Squirrel. (Click HERE for more info on this )  They live in the pine and oak woodlands around the forest, but are rapidly becoming almost extinct because of so much development.  I've seen some along the road near where we live, but by the time we can stop the car and get the camera focused, they are long gone. So you can imagine my joy and excitement as not one, but several fox squirrels showed up to watch us play!  Apparently people feed them and so they don't seem to be too afraid to come near.

When he ran up the tree he spread out on the limb like this and pretended we couldn't see him...

They were so much fun to watch...my friends had to keep reminding me that we had to keep moving on to the next hole on the fairway...

I did actually try to putt when we got to each hole, but I didn't attempt any long shots. We would have spent too much time trying to find the golf balls...

Here's the rest of our group. They were the serious golfers...

I was just along for the ride, and after a while my friend even trusted me to drive the golf cart, which was another first for me:

Well, back to the "Wild Life"....when we got to the 14th hole, (yes, I can't believe we actually played 18 holes...), there was some other interesting "wild life" to keep me entertained while the rest of them tried to hit the golf balls:

Out of the woods came this whole flock of wild turkeys:

 This one was looking at me with a rather disgusted look...and I think someone must have told her that Thanksgiving is coming in a few weeks...

So on that note, I will end this wild tale...and remind us that we ought always to be thankful!  I am very thankful for our home, for the wonderful creatures God has created and that we are privileged to enjoy, and also for good friends and family who brighten our lives and encourage us to step out on the "wild side" and try something new...

In the book of Philippians, chapter 4 verses 4-7, we are given the "secret of the peace of God" (according to the heading in my Bible)

"Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to all men.

The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication, 

with Thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God;

and the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and minds

through Christ Jesus."