Other critters

[dianeh]

Just about the only other critters I get in my yard are squirrels. But I know other people here have other visitors - including deer - that they I'd love to hear about.

[Tammie]

Just about the only other critters I get in my yard are squirrels. But I know other people here have other visitors - including deer - that they I'd love to hear about.

Hi Diane,

Aside from the usual neighbor's cats and dogs (grumble, grumble!) I have gotten all kinds of interesting critters in my yard over the past 5 years or so. I came home one day from grocery shopping (takes the whole day 'cause the nearest store is an hour away!) and I found 2 sets of moose tracks in the garden, from a cow and her calf. The only damage outside of deep holes punched everywhere was 6 crushed onions!
A couple of weeks after that, I came home again to find wolf tracks in the garden... he was likely following the moose from the week before!
We've also had ground hogs, mink, skunks, & rabbits. The regulars now are red foxes (mainly in winter) and flying squirrels (only after dark).
Living in the bush as we do, you really never know what will show up!

[amasara]

I'm surprised you have ANY neighbor's cats and dogs with that kind of WILDlife!! Wolves - would love to see one - we only have dreaded coyotes!! THey don't seem to be too successful in culling out the ferel cat population we have - I send out my standard poodle when I see one!! He looks like a black bear!

[seb_seb]

Woodmice,field voles,red fox, and hedgehogs are the "critters"found visiting. Oh and how can i forget that bl**dy squirrel!!

[marianna]

Oh, I'm so happy to see this thread! I love to hear about the critters in the backyards!

My visitors have changed over the 27 years I've lived here...at first we had several gray foxes....absolutely beautiful creatures. Haven't seen any for several years.

Rarely see a skunk....several opossums (big and small), lots of raccoons, complete with moms and babies in the early summer....rabbits, groundhogs, and last winter began regular pass-throughs by a coyote.

Rarely see a red fox, although they never did venture into the yard like the grays did. Fox squirrels by the bunch, gray squirrels, and the occasional red squirrel.....and one bazillion chipmunks! Used to have a couple flying squirrels, but no more. (They disappeared along with the gray foxes and the evening grosbeaks, I fear!)

We used to see hog-nose snakes, blue racers, little green snakes, multi-colored garter snakes and northern water snakes....now seem to only have rather plain looking garters and BIG black ratsnakes, and the very uncommon bullsnake.

Things change....the city encroaches....the creatures move.

[AnnieW]

Woodmice,field voles,red fox, and hedgehogs are the "critters"found visiting. Oh and how can i forget that bl**dy squirrel!!
Hi Diane -

Well compared to Tammie's moose and wolves, our critters seem somewhat tame !! Regular visitors include hedgehogs, foxes, bunnies, roe deer, and of course the ubiquitous grey squirrels (they have even moved into the loft !). There is also a badger that occasionally uses us as a through road - although I've not seem it for some months and worry it may have been the one that met a sad fate up on the main road back in October :-(

We also have a thriving colony of newts (palmate) in the pond and a large number of bats buzzing around.

Annie

P.S. : That must be one BIG poodle you have there, amasara :eek!:

[Celeste]

Many creatures, great and small call my place home. Most of the time I'm happy about that, but sometimes it's a little scary. Here is my list; deer, wild turkeys, racoons, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, opossum, skunk, garter and black snakes and black bear. Most of these, I prefer to see from afar.;)

[seb_seb]

Id like to add Bats,Frogs,a toad, and sometimes a Grass Snake is summer:)

AnnieW> If those squirrels are in your loft...they`re likely to bite through some wires and cause a few problems?

[snowyowl]

Red Squirrels, Skunks, Red Fox, Racoon and Coyote are the main species that we get. There are voles and Field Mice as well but somehow they don't seem the same as the bigger wildlife. There should be Flying Squirrles but I haven.t seen any. Some bats in summer. Do blackflies and mosquitoes count as wildlife?
Two neighbourhood dogs and an occasional stray cat rounds things off. Of my two cats, one never goes outside and the other goes out when I go to the barn in the morning and comes back in for the day when I go back in the house.
My dog likes to chase crows away from the feeders. My two donkeys don't bother anything except skunks. I've never seen the donks do anything but I've found a number dead skunks around the place. I do know that the jenny beat up a coyote one night but that was when we still raised sheep and that was her job.

[AnnieW]

AnnieW> If those squirrels are in your loft...they`re likely to bite through some wires and cause a few problems?
seb> Yep - I know. We block one route in and they find a new one !!!

Annie

[Tammie]

Red Squirrels, Skunks, Red Fox, Racoon and Coyote are the main species that we get. There are voles and Field Mice as well but somehow they don't seem the same as the bigger wildlife. There should be Flying Squirrles but I haven.t seen any. Some bats in summer. Do blackflies and mosquitoes count as wildlife?

**Considering how they drive US wild, I would definitely say YES!!!**

Two neighbourhood dogs and an occasional stray cat rounds things off. Of my two cats, one never goes outside and the other goes out when I go to the barn in the morning and comes back in for the day when I go back in the house.
My dog likes to chase crows away from the feeders. My two donkeys don't bother anything except skunks. I've never seen the donks do anything but I've found a number dead skunks around the place. I do know that the jenny beat up a coyote one night but that was when we still raised sheep and that was her job.

I never mentioned the armies of squirrels and chipmunks that we have here. It's a constant battle with both to see who's going to win... them or my flowerbeds!! They're forever raiding my bulbs!
We also do have lots of bats which are pretty cool considering to bugs we get here... that's their main diet. The more bats, the better! I'm even thinking of installing a bat house this summer to keep them in the yard.

[Catherine]

I just finished filling the feeders this morning and sometimes I think I feed more deer than birds out of them. There was a doe with her two yearlings waiting for me to finish. All my sunflower heart feeders are "squirrel proof" and the squirrels love to make that a joke. We also have regular raccoon, skunk, possum, chipmunk, and red fox visitors. Several years ago, we had a black bear rip the feeders out of the ground and clean them out. We are 45 minutes from New York City and the black bear populations is increasing by leaps and bounds. We've had coyotes in our backyard in New Jersey and a whole pack of them live in the conservation area next to the house in Massachusetts. We have to take the dogs out on leashes at night in our own yard. They aren't big dogs and could otherwise end up as coyote dinners. We had a family of mom and five raccoon babies in our attic in Massachusetts. We were able to get the mom out by blasting the kids' music up against the area they were in. Took more ingenuity to get the babies out but we did without doing them any harm. Later that year I heard noise in the feeder at night and in the light of the flashlight, there were six pair of raccoon eyes staring back at me in the tree. Wish I could have gotten a shot of the whole family going after the feeder.

Kitty.

[Geoff Brown]

My critter is the regular rat who sometimes tries to shin up the pole to get at the food in the bird feeder, so far without any success!!

[Celeste]

Dan,
I looked up Yellowknife-Wow, you are a long way from home! I can only imagine the WILDlife you have there.

[amasara]

Dan your donkey tale reminded me of an incident involving a donkey that once lived the the field with our horse. He broke the fence and his owner came to fix it - left his truck door open and our goats (roaming free) found the inviting open door and proceeded to eat several checks on his front seat - one was $10.000. He had to go to the signer who is a local restauranteur (Bob Evans- for those in the states) and explain that "Sara's goat ate his check" Both have teased me re: this incident many times!!

[AnnieW]

.... We had a family of mom and five raccoon babies in our attic in Massachusetts. We were able to get the mom out by blasting the kids' music up against the area they were in. Took more ingenuity to get the babies out but we did without doing them any harm.

Kitty.
Now there's an idea - maybe I'll try that with the squirrels !! We're going through a Deep Purple revival at the moment, perhaps that blasted in the loft will get rid of them.

Annie

[bluesboy]

My sister has a donkey named "Guido" theres no need for a stall in the barn he just hangs with the john deere doesn't care much for the ford but where ever the john deere goes guido is there.He once got in our van when we opened the door to leave.We had to remind him it was a dodge and not a deere.

[snowyowl]

My sister has a donkey named "Guido" theres no need for a stall in the barn he just hangs with the john deere doesn't care much for the ford but where ever the john deere goes guido is there.He once got in our van when we opened the door to leave.We had to remind him it was a dodge and not a deere.
they are fascinating, intelligent creatures. I would have loved to see the donkey in the van.
I sold some sheep to a fellow from New Hampshire one time and he took them home loose in a stripped out van. He didn't even have a barrier to stop the sheep from joining him in the front seat. I have often wondered how he made out with them on the trip home. I have a vision of a ewe sitting in the passenger seat looking out of the windshield. Imagin the reaction from other motorists! ;)

[Tammie]

Well, you can tell it's spring. There's a new critter in the yard these days. :eek!: We also now have waaayyy too many squirrels and so far, only one chipmunk but I'm sure that will change!
I suspect a groundhog or two will be around within the month as well.

[amasara]

Nice kitty Tammie! I'm taking a survey - does anyone else LIKE the odor of this creature ? My brother , my hairdresser and I actually do - not too strong though!

[Tammie]

Nice kitty Tammie! I'm taking a survey - does anyone else LIKE the odor of this creature ? My brother , my hairdresser and I actually do - not too strong though!
Sara, that is very brave of you to admit! I've never heard anyone say they like the smell of a skunk before! You'd love my yard right now then. There's a constant altho' mild, smell on the front steps of the house from the few weeks he was hanging around.... can't really say I like it tho'! :(

[amasara]

I've been chasing a squirrel off my front yard feeders - I saw her approaching again this a.m. and tapped on the kitchen window - SHE promptly sat up on hind legs and showed me all her swollen tits as if to say "I need that food!" So I gave up and she has free reign!

[Tammie]

We had a very unpleasant experience during the night. We were awakened at 3:00 this morning to the unmistable reek of skunk!! I'm betting the neighborhood stray dog got a little too close to the 'nice kitty', as Sara called it! Unfortunately, it was awfully close to my yard! :( My husband can still smell traces of it in the house when he came home from work tonight. I don't notice it now unless I go out to the driveway. Nasty!!
Sara, somehow I don't think this is what you're talking about when you say you don't mind the smell???!! Not when it's so strong it wakes from sleep!! :eek!:

[amasara]

We get the "kitties" wandering around our house at night - OK if windows are closed - that SLIGHT odor is my preference. Once a real cat of ours (black&white) also had a bonafide encounter!! That was too much - used the tomato juice bath on him - only to have a black&PINK cat who still stunk!! The vet has odor busters that work better now.

[marianna]

This summer there have been many many many squirrels around my feeders...fox squirrels, gray squirrels and all the younguns'! They really go through alot of seed....and are very persistent when it comes to getting into any of the feeders!

I have tried spreading the horse feed that I buy for the deer, under the birdfeeders, and that helps some. But I have mostly tried to just enjoy their antics and let them alone. (When it's so hot, like today, it IS amusing to see a fox squirrel or two just lay flat on the dirt and stretch out all four limbs in an attempt to cool off!)

However, there is added to this crew a little red squirrel....I think he must be new to the territory, as I haven't seen him before the last couple days. He is absolutely a HOOT to watch! I have never seen a critter so hyper! He just buzzes around, jumps with abandon onto the tray feeders from the brushy saplings nearby....and just generally is a little whirling dervish! He is just about the cutest littly guy....he was so eager to jump onto a tray feeder that was occupied by a rather sedate fox squirrel, that he jumped right on top of him!

There was much smacking around, and the red squirrel ended up upside down, hanging onto the bottom of the feeder! He waited (not being still, though) around until it was clear, and whooshed back in. Very entertaining!

[amasara]

I agree - you just have to enjoy their antics - almost impossible to keep them off the feeders. What is the difference between a "red" squirrel and a "fox" squirrel? I've only seen grey squirrels and the larger fox squirrels that have a reddish color. My daughter in Nashville has an electrified feeder that they really enjoy watching their squirrels get zapped repeatedly!!

[samuel walker]

This summer there have been many many many squirrels around my feeders...fox squirrels, gray squirrels and all the younguns'! They really go through alot of seed....and are very persistent when it comes to getting into any of the feeders!

I have tried spreading the horse feed that I buy for the deer, under the birdfeeders, and that helps some. But I have mostly tried to just enjoy their antics and let them alone. (When it's so hot, like today, it IS amusing to see a fox squirrel or two just lay flat on the dirt and stretch out all four limbs in an attempt to cool off!)

However, there is added to this crew a little red squirrel....I think he must be new to the territory, as I haven't seen him before the last couple days. He is absolutely a HOOT to watch! I have never seen a critter so hyper! He just buzzes around, jumps with abandon onto the tray feeders from the brushy saplings nearby....and just generally is a little whirling dervish! He is just about the cutest littly guy....he was so eager to jump onto a tray feeder that was occupied by a rather sedate fox squirrel, that he jumped right on top of him!

There was much smacking around, and the red squirrel ended up upside down, hanging onto the bottom of the feeder! He waited (not being still, though) around until it was clear, and whooshed back in. Very entertaining! While watching the feeders I saw my two regular chippers near the base .The hose with spray gun was near-by.I've thought of several solutions to removing these varmits but considered it wrong to trap or kill them.I gave the garden hose a try as a tool to discourage them.It worked for a while.They did figure out the maximum range of the gun and crept up to the edge of it.The treatment lasts about a day.Now I have thrown in the towl and accept that they will take a portion of my seed budget
Sam

[Tammie]

Now I have thrown in the towl and accept that they will take a portion of my seed budget
Sam
Taking a portion of the seed is one thing. What makes me angry is when they take a portion of the feeder!!
I've got one tube feeder on the verge of being thrown out because a squirrel chewed a hole into the lid, got it off the feeder and then chewed the rim down about an inch too!!
THAT'S when I get frustrated with the rodents!! :C

[amasara]

While watching the feeders I saw my two regular chippers near the base .The hose with spray gun was near-by.I've thought of several solutions to removing these varmits but considered it wrong to trap or kill them.I gave the garden hose a try as a tool to discourage them.It worked for a while.They did figure out the maximum range of the gun and crept up to the edge of it.The treatment lasts about a day.Now I have thrown in the towl and accept that they will take a portion of my seed budget
Sam
You ONLY have two chipmunks? I count at least 6 at a time - they are very good multipliers! I do have one that insists on squeezing under the CLOSED garage doors and living in my feed barrels during the day. When I go out to get some seed/corn he always leaps out of one of the bins in front of me. I have had to rescue him plus a few mice so I now have" ladders" in each bin for escape purposes (one "ladder" is a brand new fish fryer for the grill - hope my husband forgets about! )

[marianna]

'Two chipmunks' made me smile, too! I believe the third brood of juveniles has emerged from their nests in the last couple days....they are just as cute as anything....their heads are as big as their bodies, and they are rather timid for a short time...but once they learn the ropes, they are off and running! There are generally 6 to 8 chipmunks under the main feeder area.

The difference between a red squirrel and a fox squirrel is pretty obvious, once you see them at the same time. The red squirrel is tiny...not terribly larger than a full grown chipmunk. His coat is rusty brown, and the belly is white...really white. They move at light speed...are very zippy!

The fox squirrels in my area are quite a bit bigger than the gray squirrels...are a rusty/goldy brown with orangey/gold bellies. They are usually quite calm in their meanderings. There are a bunch of younger ones around right now...as well as several young gray squirrels. They both seem to get along just fine.

This little red squirrel (and others I have seen in previous years) are loners....last summer there WERE two young ones, but soon I would only see one, which leads me to believe they must be very territorial. (read that: don't play well with others!)

I love your "ladders" for your garage-dwelling critters, Sara! Hee Hee! I have released a couple trapped white-footed mice into the yard after I found them with their big eyes, in the bottom of a plastic bucket....they were babies.

[amasara]

Thanks for the info on red squirrels - can't believe we don't have any as our states are fairly close. I release all critters found in bins back to the wild - the little mice are are the cutest!