What's your local wildlife?

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

What's your local wildlife?

Local wildlife.png

 

Hi all,

 

Following on from our popular Meet the pets thread I thought it would be interesting to hear about the wildlife that you have in your area. We all live in such a variety of countries and habitats across the world - I'm sure there's a real range of local birds and animals to discuss! I've noticed various local creatures mentioned around the CC (@Robin4's possums are famous!) but it would be great to collect them in one place :).

 

What wildlife ventures into your garden or local parks? Are they welcome visitors or more of an annoyance? Do any of your guests come to your area specifically to see local wildlife?

 

Here in London there's more wildlife than you might expect - pigeons and squirrels are probably our most numerous but we also have several city foxes that creep out at night. There's one that lives near me - it's quite exciting to spot it in the shadows! We also have a surprising number of wild parakeets which you can spot in some of the parks - apparently a few escaped from aviaries in the 1960s and started breeding!

 

If sharing photos that aren't your own, please make sure to include the source - as this is a public forum we need to ensure all sources are credited!

 

I look forward to hearing about your local fauna!

 

Kirstie

46 Replies 46
Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

You might be interested in sharing your local creatures @MicheleandLouw0@Robin4@Branka-and-Silvia0@Linda108@Helga0@David-and-Fiona0@Karen-and-Brian0@Huma0@Alice-and-Jeff0@Jackie79@Rachael26@Wendy-and-Frank0@Keila0 - I'm sure you must have some interesting animals and birds!

Living on a ridgetop in the southern tip of the Appalachia Mountains gives us a head start when it comes to local wildlife. Our cabin is 30 minutes from the nearest town and on the edge of National Forest Service land  with beautiful views ranging over 70 miles south into Georgia and Tennessee. Most of our guests come for the views and peace and quiet, but are amazed at the wildlife. We put out black sunflower seeds for the birds and get a wide range of year round residents (birds that is - not neighbors!) as well as migrating and summer visitors - from the all year beautiful American Cardinal (our North Carolina State bird) to the stunning Indigo Bunting in the summer months. 

Cardinal snow 2 March 2013.JPGIndigo Bunting 23 April 2013 (2).JPG

 

But of the birds that visit us daily, it is the wild turkey that is special to us. They are known as the ghosts of the mountains as they are relunctant to be seen, understandably! (locally they had been hunted almost to extinction locally back in the 90s but populations are increasing steadily due to kinder hunting regulations thank goodness). So when we see them it is a special treat. 

Turkey 2 moms and 2 babies July 16 2011.jpg

 

Appalachia is home to some great wildlife from the bobcats and bears to the lizards and turtles - and all can be seen with a little patience. I remember the first time I saw a bear (I was safely inside the cabin looking out) and was excited to watch him cautiously climb up through the woods to the open part of our property.... that is until I realised that he was on target to pull down one of my bird feeders!... well that got me going and I rushed out the back door and told him to get lost! Which he promptly did, saving my feeders for another day. Another time it was just getting dark and I was alone (husband in Atlanta on business) and I heard a knock on the door, looked out the wondow to see what I thought at the time was a hunter in hairy looking fishing trousers - then my brain kicked in and I realised it was a juvenile (maybe 2 yr old) black bear standing up at the back door looking in the small window! Another shout and they (his mother was on the driveway) scarpered down the road into the woods. No damage but great excitement - and luckily they had left muddy pawprints all over the back door so my husband believed me when he got home. 

Here are a few pics of our favorite critters - flying squirrels (mostly seen at night so this day time pic was a treat), Eastern Box Turtle (they chose to lay their eggs along the southern ridgeline and so we see baby turtles every year - so sweet!), rabbits, and my favorite, the chipmunks (or ground squirrels as they are called locally). We also see the ocassional deer who love eating the green leaves from my sweet potato crop, but it is hard to mind that as they are so beautiful and graceful (again, local hunting keeps the population down but we love it that they feel safe in our neck of the woods and venture out for our deer salt licks). 

DSCN6051.jpg

Baby Eastern Box Turtle 23 June 2013 9am.jpg

May 31st 2011 001.jpg

Stumpy 14 March 2014.JPG

I better stop here or this post will consume the whole thread! More pics on our listing. Thanks @Kirstie for the idea and I look forward to reading other posts from around the World!

Rachael

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Wow @Rachael26 it looks like your spoilt for choice in the Appalachia Mountains! What incredible wildlife - much more exciting than our pigeons!! 

 

The bright-coloured birds are stunning - that picture of the American Cardinal against the snow really caught my eye when you posted it in another thread, gorgeous!

I didn't even know wild turkeys even existed! That's good news the population is growing again.

 

I bet the baby turtles must be really sweet! Are they protected there or are they successfully breeding on their own? I know there are all sorts of issues with turtle breeding grounds all over the world and they need protection.

 

Thanks for sharing the photos 🙂

 

Kirstie

The best thing we offer in this backyard are birds.

 

I have potted trees on my decks and every year, without fail, different birds will build their nests there.  You can get up close and see the eggs, watch them hatch, see the mama and papa birds feed their young.  My grandchildren are fascinated by this.

 

Woodpeckers, robins, bluejays (they are so mean), hawks, owls, finches in the most beautiful colors fill the panorama.

 

We also have deer, lots and lots of deer, who have finally stopped eating the vegetables in the garden.  Walking the dogs around the perimeter helps with this as deer will smell the dogs and keep their distance.

 

Fox, coyotes, white wolves, but my favorites are the mama turkeys with her young taking their sweet time to cross the driveway.  I turn off the car and let them pass but sometimes the babies think the car is a "tent" they can hide under and mama gets really, really angry.  And loud.

 

I don't kill spiders or wasps or bees or moths.  I kill mosquitoes.

 

We have two water gardens and the froggies do a find job of catching flies.  I also leave spider webs intact on the corners of the sliders so the housefly population around here is next to nil.

 

Letting nature do her thing means I have to do very little.  The birds will eat the slugs, I feed live Japanese beetles to the frogs, and the snakes in the area eat whatever mice we may have.

 

I protect the chipmunks at all costs and once in a while, one will fall into a pond at which point I will grab my net and rescue it.

 

The fish overwinter beautifully and every year the population grows (so I find myself giving away plenty of fish every spring).

 

I'm a city girl and have only been living in this setting for seven years; I take none of it for granted.

 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Sounds like you also have an amazing variety of wildlife on your doorstep @Wendy-and-Frank0

 

I bet your grandchildren love being able to see the chicks growing up - it's great that the birds aren't too scared to nest near your house!

 

Oh deer (pardon the pun) are the deer a bit of a pest? I hadn't realised they ventured onto people's property and scavenged in the vegetable patch! We don't have very many wild deer in the UK anymore, most are in parks or in the Highlands in Scotland.

 

Do the foxes and coyotes cause problems for the local farmers? I imagine it would be worrying to have a flock of sheep if they were lurking around!

 

Chipmunks seem like such sweet little animals! Poor things falling into the pond. I once saved a hedgehog from a swimming pool - it was struggling to swim with its little legs bless it!

 

It's amazing how nature works together isn't it! I was listening to a podcast the other day in which a scientist was saying that trees in forests are all inter-connected under the soil by small funghi and that they communicate with each other! They send warnings about threats (the proof is that other trees around one that is in trouble all build up their defences) and they exchange resources (e.g. if one tree has plenty of water or nitrogen it can pass some along to another tree that needs it) - it's fascinating!

 

Kirstie

This is fun!

 

We live in Southern California, not far from the beach, but in built up community, so there is not a lot of 'wild life' to be seen. However, there is a canyon about two blocks from my house, so in the early Morning and once the sun goes down, we get a lot of coyotes, the occasional mountain lion, and food for both (rabbits). I'm not a big Bird person, but we have a couple of red-tail hawks, and owls. 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Jackie79,

 

I guess it's quite good that the coyotes and mountain lions stay around the canyon and don't come to your doorstop! Do you visit the canyon often? Is it quite rare to spot a mountain lion? 

Red-tail hawks are impressive! I find birds of prey always look so majestic when gliding through the air.

 

Kirstie

Karen-and-Brian0
Level 10
Bragg Creek, Canada

What a great topic @Kirstie! I'm loving reading about the local wildlife of other hosts.

 

One of the major joys of our cabin being located in the Canadian boreal forest is the abundance of wildlife to be found- it can get pretty wild out there! From tiny voles and squirrels to mountain lions and bears, the variety of wildlife really gives the feeling of being at one with nature.

 

Deer are the most commonly seen on our acreage, both mule deer and white-tailed deer. They walk through on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day. Our place is located between 3 wildlife preserves - one across the road, one behind and one to one side of the property, so it's on the main thoroughfare for wildlife traffic. Lucky us!

 

moose2.jpg

 White-tailed deer

 

Moose are common but a little more elusive and spotted less often than deer. They are surprisingly nimble creatures for their massive ungainly size, and can easily bound over high fences. They are extremely aggressive and precaution should be taken when coming across a moose's path or pulling over for photos. I've seen a bull moose try to challenge a car in the same way it would challenge another bull moose - they really don't see at that well!

 


moose3.jpg

Bull moose 

 

Alberta is home to two bear species, the black bear (ursus americanus) and the grizzly bear (ursus arctos horribilis). Yes, I had to look up their offical names! The grizzly bear is the larger of the two. They cover large territories in their search for food and have been known to wander into our area from time to time - the black bears are attracted by bird feeders, so we stop stocking ours as soon as the bears start to emerge from their dens in the spring, and don't start to fill them again until reports of bear hibernation are offical in the late fall. I don't want to meet either one of these fellows face to face at close range!

 

grizzly-bear.jpg

 Grizzly bear

blackbear.jpg

Black bear

 

Cougars, or mountain lions, are usually very shy of people, sightings are rare - but we've seen a couple on our trail camera, so know they are in the area. We put in a dog run surrounded by cougar-proof fencing but keep a close eye on our dogs just in case.

 

cougar.jpg

Cougar

 

Other visitors are coyotes (more commonly seen) and wolves (very rarely seen) :

 

wolf.jpg

Black wolf

 

coyote.jpg

Coyote

 

Now that I've posted all the photos of very scary looking predators I had better reassure you that they are very rarely, if ever, encountered and they are likely to spot you & leave well before you spot them. You're much more likely to enjoy the peaceful, relaxing company of deer, squirrels and birds! 

 

We have a warren of rabbits living under our deck, which is likely what attracts the predators, and the predators keep them in check so they don't over run our place.

 

rabbit.jpg

 

And we have some resident squirrels & really enjoy watching their antics with the blue jays at the bird feeders. We named this little guy "Hamlet" and didn't notice until later when we looked closer at the photo that he was peeing! Our peeing squirrel, Hamlet:

 

hamlet.jpg

 

Hamlet went on to find a bride and was the proud father of at least 2 (and we think 3) little baby squirrels last year. 

 

The variety of birds at the cabin is the other thing we really enjoy - we regularly see blue jays, grosbeaks, common grackles, northern flickers, finches, crossbills, chickadees, juncos, nuthatches, and great horned owls to name a few. We see birds at the cabin that are rarely, if ever, seen in the city. Last summer, a cowbird laid an egg in a nuthatch's nest & the poor little thing practically killed itself trying to keep that massive baby fed! The bird world has it's share of birds who know how to work the system.

 

bluejay.jpg

 Blue jay - I love their colour and markings

 

For anyone interested, more here: Wildlife of Alberta

 

Karen

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Wow there's an amazing selection of animals in birds in your area of Canada @Karen-and-Brian0

 

I would love to meet a moose - their antlers are impressive 🙂

 

It sounds like a sensible plan to keep your bird feeders empty when the bears are around, I imagine they can be quite scary visitors to your garden! Shame the birds have to miss out though!

 

Cougars, wolves and coyotes? You do have lots of predators around! 

 

Aw Hamlet the peeing squirrel is adorable! I love red squirrels. The only place you can still spot them in the UK is Scotland, those in England have been overrun by the grey squirrels - I nearly ran over a red one in Scotland once, thank goodness I missed it!

 

I hadn't realised Blue Jays had such intricate markings - stunning! It's amazing how some birds are happy to pass their young over to another unsuspecting mother isn't it? I thought cuckoos were the only ones to do it but I've discovered there are several (including the cowbird as you say) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite - 'Brood parasite' is quite a disturbing name for them!

 

Are these photos all your own? I am very impressed if so! If not could you please let me know the sources and I'll pop them in - as this is a public forum we have to make sure we don't breach copyright.

 

Thanks for sharing Karen, it's really interesting to hear how closely some of you live with various creatures 🙂

 

Kirstie

Hi @Kirstie Some are mine (mostly from our trail camera) and some I've had for a long time & now can't remember exactly where I got them/who to credit except that they are from Alberta government travel websites. I always thought that if they weren't trademarked/stamped, they were ok to use? If not, please delete my post. Sorry! -Karen

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Ok thanks for letting me know @Karen-and-Brian0, I'll double check but I think it should be ok!

@Kirstie @Karen-and-Brian0

Well as long as you don't remove the pic of Hamlet the peeing squirrel.... I sense an Airbnb mascot appearance contract in the making.... delightful!

 

Best Wishes.


@Karen-and-Brian0 wrote:

Hi @Kirstie Some are mine (mostly from our trail camera) and some I've had for a long time & now can't remember exactly where I got them/who to credit except that they are from Alberta government travel websites. I always thought that if they weren't trademarked/stamped, they were ok to use? If not, please delete my post. Sorry! -Karen


um, NOPE. that is not a rule at all. All pics have a copyright, and some might allow others to use freely, and others are licensed. impossible to know if you are lifting them from a website beyond the source. 
(I'm a photographer)

Hi @Kirstie Isn't it an interesting thing about the grey & red squirrels?! The grey is definitely dominant genetically. Calgary had an indigenous population of red squirrels, and the Calgary Zoo imported some Eastern grey squirrels as an exhibit several decades ago - not a very interesting exhibit I wouldn't imagine and not a good idea in hindsight. You guessed it, some of the grey squirrels escaped the zoo and intermingled with the indigenous squirrels. Now Calgary has mostly grey squirrels, the red ones are very rare. We still have them out at the cabin but I suppose it's just a matter of time before the grey squirrels skitter their way out there too. 😮

 

Yes cuckoos do the same thing as cowbirds. Brood parasite sums it up doesn't it? Yuk. I had actually never seen it happen before we had the little nuthatch nest in the tree near our bird feeder & we could actually see the mother struggling to feed the big monster who looked nothing like her other babies. It was so bizarre! It got the majority of the resources too, which was very difficult to watch.