Wildlife in your own yard (1 Viewer)

Our house is backed up against a canyon with only a deck railing separating our yard from the canyon so it kind of all runs together.

Things I've seen:
  • Golpher snakes.
  • Wild parrots. There's a large population of wild parrots that fly around San Diego.
  • Coyotes in the yard.
  • Every spring raccoons start a family under my deck. At night they poke their heads out and look at me. Every night they get onto the first step in the pool and then walk across the deck to dry off their paws on my outdoor furniture, ripping it to shreds.
  • Lots of Monarch and other unidentified butterflies. We grow milkweed plants to attract the monarchs.
  • Millipedes and spiders.
  • Skunks in the summer. There have been times where I'm sitting outside in the dark reading things on my phone and look up to see a skunk walking two feet away from me.
  • Owls and hawks constantly flying around the canyon.
  • Rabbits and squirrels.
  • No mosquitoes.
 
Our house is backed up against a canyon with only a deck railing separating our yard from the canyon so it kind of all runs together.

Things I've seen:
  • Golpher snakes.
  • Wild parrots. There's a large population of wild parrots that fly around San Diego.
  • Coyotes in the yard.
  • Every spring raccoons start a family under my deck. At night they poke their heads out and look at me. Every night they get onto the first step in the pool and then walk across the deck to dry off their paws on my outdoor furniture, ripping it to shreds.
  • Lots of Monarch and other unidentified butterflies. We grow milkweed plants to attract the monarchs.
  • Millipedes and spiders.
  • Skunks in the summer. There have been times where I'm sitting outside in the dark reading things on my phone and look up to see a skunk walking two feet away from me.
  • Owls and hawks constantly flying around the canyon.
  • Rabbits and squirrels.
  • No mosquitoes.

did that years ago. planted Milkweed and had a lot of Monarchs. Then had lots of caterpillars.

Then a lot of birds.

no more caterpillars.

So we stopped. lol. I even hung those aluminum pie tins to scare off birds. didnt make a dent.
 
Georgia, north of Atlanta. Black bears aren't scarce, and it's probably new construction pushing them around.

Awhile back, a bear was found wandering around GA400 near Perimeter Mall, if you're familiar with ATL. There're woods over there still, but bear woods?!

North of Atlanta you say? We're in Dunwoody. You
 
We live on a ten-acre tree farm in the middle of nowhere by Mt St Helens. We got critters galore.

Mammals:
Bear
Deer
Foxes
Coyotes
Bobcat
Otters
Moles
Squirrels
Raccoons
Possums
Rodentia of all types.

Birds:
Bald Eagles
Red-Tailed Hawks
Great Horned Owls
Jays
Osprey
Blue Herons
Ducks
Geese
Woodpeckers
Western Tanagers
Ravens
Crows
Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds
All kinds of LBJ's. (Little Brown Jobbies)

Amphibians/Reptiles/Snakes
Rough-skinned Newts
Garter Snakes
Bullfrogs
Leopard Frogs
Tree Frogs (many subspecies)
Turtles
Unknown lizard species that lives in the woodpile
Giant Pacific Salamander

The creek has:
Rainbow Trout
Cutthroat Trout
Chinook Salmon
Coho Salmon
Crawdads
Sculpins

I won't even try to list the other arthropods, but one highlight is the Polyphemus moths, they're huge!
We also get hatches of caddis flies that blanket the back door.
 
Tons of squirrels, raccoons and feral cats.
Unfortunately, we have an issue with skunks here, and my dog has yet to learn his lesson.

We get a lot of white wing doves in the fall, and a crazy amount of cardinals in the spring. Fox sightings are rare, but they do occur. We also do hear the coyotes, but they haven’t infiltrated the subdivision in several years.
 
We were in our previous house about 3.5 years in a well established suburban neighborhood. There is a lot of construction and development going on around that area which has disrupted a lot of wildlife. Many coyote sightings, and at all hours.

Three of our close encounters included waking up to a raccoon that had taken up shelter under our patio, and right outside a master bedroom window.

About a year later, a (or the) raccoon returned. We’d since had the patio removed, and so the cute little bastage decided the attic would work fine, and tore a hole in the chimney to get there.

This led to setting traps around the yard. Snared several opossums, squirrels, and a beautiful and surprisingly docile, fox. No luck with the raccoon, though.

Then there was a visit from a peculiar (to me, anyway) bird. I don’t know that I ever found out what it was. @St. Greatness ?
 

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We were in our previous house about 3.5 years in a well established suburban neighborhood. There is a lot of construction and development going on around that area which has disrupted a lot of wildlife. Many coyote sightings, and at all hours.

Three of our close encounters included waking up to a raccoon that had taken up shelter under our patio, and right outside a master bedroom window.

About a year later, a (or the) raccoon returned. We’d since had the patio removed, and so the cute little bastage decided the attic would work fine, and tore a hole in the chimney to get there.

This led to setting traps around the yard. Snared several opossums, squirrels, and a beautiful and surprisingly docile, fox. No luck with the raccoon, though.

Then there was a visit from a peculiar (to me, anyway) bird. I don’t know that I ever found out what it was. @St. Greatness ?
Even I'm stumped on that one. What state was it in, and what time of year?
 
But you didnt happen to stop in St. Louis and ask directions, huh??? ;)
St. Louis would have been cool, but my destination was Green Bay, after seeing the Lions lose in New Orleans. Had never been to Kansas City, so I went in that direction, courtesy of Siri: 24 nights, 2 Saints’ games and over 10,000 miles logged. Trip of a lifetime, and no moose. LOL!
 
St. Louis would have been cool, but my destination was Green Bay, after seeing the Lions lose in New Orleans. Had never been to Kansas City, so I went in that direction, courtesy of Siri: 24 nights, 2 Saints’ games and over 10,000 miles logged. Trip of a lifetime, and no moose. LOL!
Sorry that was my National Lampoon Vacation reference. Lol
 
We live on a ten-acre tree farm in the middle of nowhere by Mt St Helens. We got critters galore.

Mammals:
Bear
Deer
Foxes
Coyotes
Bobcat
Otters
Moles
Squirrels
Raccoons
Possums
Rodentia of all types.

Birds:
Bald Eagles
Red-Tailed Hawks
Great Horned Owls
Jays
Osprey
Blue Herons
Ducks
Geese
Woodpeckers
Western Tanagers
Ravens
Crows
Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds
All kinds of LBJ's. (Little Brown Jobbies)

Amphibians/Reptiles/Snakes
Rough-skinned Newts
Garter Snakes
Bullfrogs
Leopard Frogs
Tree Frogs (many subspecies)
Turtles
Unknown lizard species that lives in the woodpile
Giant Pacific Salamander

The creek has:
Rainbow Trout
Cutthroat Trout
Chinook Salmon
Coho Salmon
Crawdads
Sculpins

I won't even try to list the other arthropods, but one highlight is the Polyphemus moths, they're huge!
We also get hatches of caddis flies that blanket the back door.

I almost tagged you in the OP b/c I knew you had the goods
 

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