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

@Karen-and-Brian0 I find it sad that the red squirrels are dying out - they're much cuter than the grey ones! Fingers crossed the ones near your cabin hold their ground!

 

It must have been hard to watch the cowbird chick taking up most of the mother's resources - did the other chicks survive? I've heard that the larger bird often pushes the small ones out of the nest! 

 

Kirstie

 

 

It is just too beautiful to be around nature surrounded by the creatures and having peace of mind. Well, really beautiful pictures of the birds and other animals looks so nice.

Hi Karen I have loved your photo of Hamlet since I first saw it.

you should enter it in the 

comedy wildlife photo. Competition.

the 2016 winners are out just now and entries for 2017 close 

at the end of this month.

it really is a great photo.

Cheers and good luck

Michelle

Annette33
Level 10
Prescott, AZ

Ah, the critters! Yes, we have some... and I mean aside from our cats and the obnoxious pack rats all around our property. We're living up high in the boulders, kinda untamed neighbourhood, so there are some surprises...

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First up, regularly, we have deer, practically coming right up to our entrance door, they haven't eaten up too much of our plants ( my herb beds are screened in..) , so we still like them 🙂

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But here is a new one, most of you might never have heard of : a javelina ! I had never heard of them either before moving to Arizona, but here we are - and here they are as well. A group of 3 or 4 occasionally come right through our property, right close to the guest apartment 🙂 So we like to show them off when they come through. They are rather harmless, still I don't want to get too close - you never know!  They snort and  look VERY weird. Most people think they are something like wild boars, but they are not. They are almost blind, mostly night creatures, but we have seen them during daylight as well.

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Finally, just a few weeks ago, we had a whole fan club of skunks getting too comfortable right under our house. Every night the lovely smell... reading up on it, apparently it is mating season and that happens when the female rejects a certain suitor. Oh no! better get them outta there before they have their babies.! (due in late April or May)...so we got busy and put out these traps... in no time, every morning we had the cages full - caught 7 of those monkeys!!! Who you gotta call? Your local wildlife officers! They picked them up and relocated them far enough away in the woods. Just to make sure we got them all, we left the traps up a few extra days,until only the neighbourhood cats got caught. So then it was time to screen in the nooks and crannies under the house. Good bye skunks, go find another Airbnb lodging, sorry we had to cancel you!

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And that's the way it is at our place in Prescott, Arizona 🙂

btw: we are NOT like Phoenix at all -  people forget that Arizona also has mountains, so we are at 5500 feet altitude, mountain area, 2 hours south of the Grand Canyon - we're living in a beautiful part of the country!

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Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Annette33 it looks like you're in beautiful setting up in the mountains! I'm glad the deer don't bother your garden and they are welcome visitors - they're very sweet with their big ears!

 

I must admit I have never heard of a Javelina! It does look like a mix of a wild boar and a warthog! Funny little things. Do they have cute young? I love little piglets 🙂

 

Oh dear a skunk invasion - I imagine it wasn't a pleasant smell! That's good you managed to have them relocated.

 

In case you haven't seen it yet, you might want to join in on the 'Meet the pets' thread - you could share that photo of your cute cat!

 

Kirstie

MicheleandLouw0
Level 10
Maun, Botswana

@KirstieWhat a great post! I am so lucky to be living in Botawana in Africa with the Moremi Game Reserve right om my doorstep. My guests often enjoy day safaris and see  a huge veriety of wildlife. Here are just a few!

giraffes

Giraffes

hippo

Hippo

Antelopes

A large veriety of antelopes

impala.jpg

leopards

Leopards

Loins

Lions

elephant

Elephants

Zebras

Zebras

crocodile

Crocodile

fish eagle.jpgFish Eagle

Lilac_Breasted_Roller_Face.jpg

Lilac Breasted Roller

woodland kingfisher

Woodland Kingfisher

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@MicheleandLouw0 I was hoping you'd come and share the wildlife from Botswana! You do have an exciting variety :). That's great that you are so close to the game reserve and your guests can do safari - I'm sure they love it! I went to the Masai Mara in Kenya last year and saw many of the animals/birds you mention - I missed out on seeing a leopard though, apparently they're quite hard to spot ;)!

 

I loved seeing the different brightly coloured birds, especiaaly the rollers - they're beautiful!

 

Do you get any interesting creatures come to your property? Or do you have to go into the game reserve to see them all?

 

Also, just a side point, if these aren't your own photos, could you possibly send me the link of where you found them? I can add that to your post as the source. As this is a public forum we need to try and make sure all sources are credited.

 

Kirstie

@Kirstiemost of these are my own pictures. The ones of the birds are from google. I have several bird feeders in the garden and we  have an abundance of birdlife and  squarrels. And some times the unwelcome snake or two who are coming for a good frog meal in on our property. We also sometimes have rock monitors visiting us.

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Wow you've taken some amazing pics! Do you get to go out on safari often? Can you just drive around the game reserve on your own or do you have to go with a guide?

 

Oo dear you wouldn't want to step on a snake by mistake! I had to look up what a rock monitor was - a type of lizard? Are they quite big?

 

Kirstie

@KirstieYes Rock Monitors are not too attractive! We get to go to the bush often. My husband gets to go a lot for work. He often flies into some of the luxurty tented camps in the Delta. We also have a propery on the Okavango River at Sepopa  that we hope to ad on Airbnb in the near furure.  Self-drive safaris are welcomed in Botswana. As long as you book your campsites and have your permit that you obtain at the gate. Here are some pictures  of our propery at Sepopa

 

IMG-20120712-00083.jpg

Okavango River

olifante.jpg

From the boat- some Ellies in the water

okavago river.jpg

 

At Sepopa on the Okavango river

paradise island.jpg

An Island  on the Okavango River

 

tiger.jpgOur daughter with a tiger fish she caught

 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@MicheleandLouw0 Wow lucky him getting to go to the bush for work! The Okavango river looks beautiful, I'm sure your property at Sepopa would be really popular with Airbnb guests!

 

That's an impresssive fish that your daughter caught! Did you eat it afterwards or do you have to put them back?

 

Kirstie

@Kirstie We support "Catch and Release. But a Tiger fish is anaways too bony to eat

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@MicheleandLouw0 ah ok, yeah I can't remember ever seeing tiger fish on a menu!

 

 

This is a red-tailed hawk hanging out in a tree in my back yard. They are a type of raptor, with sharp talons and beak. They eat small game such as snakes, rabbits, and mice. This photo is about 6 weeks old. 

 

 

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---> That's how I look at most guests, like cousins. And you know, some of those cousins are kooks.
Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

That looks like an impressive bird of prey @Robin129! I bet they look majestic as they fly!