Tuesday 4 ~Wildlife

 

Wild Life

Tuesday 4 is here once again.

(Per our hostess Annie:) I was thinking about wild life that is all around us. Summer brings us out of the house and we spend more time outdoors, weather permitting, and have an opportunity to see animals and birds that live around us.

1. Do you see many animals where you live? Is your answer a good or bad thing?

Well, people who follow my blog know that I have a lot of "wild-life" around where we live. Mostly birds and squirrels. But the variety of birds especially keeps us entertained all the time. It's not quite like it was when we lived in the Ocala National Forest (at our last house, which is just 30 miles from here), where we saw bears and deer on a regular basis, with a few coyote, raccoons and possums thrown in for extra fun, but we are thankful for what we do have here.  Here is a link to a post from our old house in the woods, with LOTS of wildlife!  I do kind of miss all of the excitement, but I guess we are better off without so much wild activity around us.  If you go back into my post archives, most anything between 2012 and 2019 will have some wildlife somewhere in there!

2. What kind of animals and birds are around your area?

Sand Hill Cranes, Hawks, Great Blue Heron, Bluebirds, Cardinals, woodpeckers, Wrens, to name a few of the birds.  Animals: we do have squirrels, possums and armadillos

Armadillo in our yard.

occasionally in our yard, along with neighborhood cats and sometimes a stray dog. Oh, and turtles. Gopher Tortoises are in the area, but thankfully not in our yard as they make a lot of tunnels. (and they are endangered and protected).

And there are deer in the woods, we just don't get to see them very often except occasionally where we take our walks one might venture out and cross our path if we are fortunate enough to see it. 

We did actually see a coyote run through the woods one evening when we were walking. That has made us much more cautious about when we go walking. 

Red Shouldered Hawk (juvenile)

One of our Sand Hill Crane Colts

Bluebirds having a chat at the birdbath

Canada Geese

Mama Sand Hill Crane and one of the colts earlier this spring

Ruby Throated Hummingbird (Male)

Great Blue Heron on Still Waters Pond

Turtles on the pond

3. What kind of animals and birds could you do without and what kind would you love to see more often?

Stray dogs...this area is ripe with stray dogs and cats. Fortunately they aren't right here in our neighborhood (the dogs), but you have to be very careful where you walk as they sometimes form packs out in the more wooded areas and have become not just a nuisance, but dangerous.  Our animal control system is not able to keep up with it. It is very sad that many of these dogs and cats come from thoughtless and careless people who dump off their unwanted litters of dogs and cats in the woods, and then they continue to breed and the problem is multiplied.  Sadly we had to bury a stray cat recently, who apparently just got sick and died on the edge of our lawn and pond. There was no sign of injury. It was like she just laid down and died. It was very sad.  We gave her a nice little burial and I even said a little prayer.  It made me very sad, but she was a stray and our neighbor, who feeds some of the strays in the area said she had never seen this one before.  So it could be someone dumped her off in the woods and left her to die. That makes me so angry.

4. Do you feed wild birds or animals ?

Yes, we feed the small wild birds that come to our bird feeder. We don't feed any animals or the bigger birds like the Cranes or Canada Geese. If you start to feed them, they will expect it every time they see you, and it really isn't good for them to be fed by humans, and it is actually against the law to feed them.  Our neighbor, as I mentioned above, does feed some stray cats in the neighborhood, but I noticed one came into our yard today and I am afraid she might be pregnant. I don't know much about cats, but she looks kind of fat in the belly, so time will tell.  I hope not, because that will mean more stray cats to run wild. At least she isn't really feral, and maybe the kittens can be taken to the humane shelter. Time will tell. I hope I'm wrong...

HERE is a link to a post I wrote about that same neighborhood cat last fall.  At least I think it's the same cat...and maybe it's really just a chubby "he", and not a "she". As I said, time will tell. 

Well, that's it for my "wild life" here these days.  Now let's go see what other people are enjoying in their neck of the woods!  Here's the link!