Our yard is a wildlife sanctuary. By American standards it's a pretty small yard, but it abounds in nature, especially considering how developed the area is. We lack only a consistent water supply (and the $20 processing fee) to be a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat. We're working on that; the water source needs to be accessible to wildlife (so the pool doesn't count) without being a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Lizards and frogs abound, because we dispensed with dangerous pest control services a few months after we moved here over 30 years ago. Snakes are not as plentiful as they once were, because too many people in the neighborhood think the only good snake is a dead snake. :( We have all sorts of birds, from mockingbirds and Carolina wrens to woodpeckers of several varieties to flocks of ibises to hawks, owls, and recently a swallow-tailed kite.
There have been reports of bears in the neighborhood, but actually I'd just as soon they give our yard a pass. It's really too small to accommodate a bear comfortably, and bears have been known to rip down pool screens without a second thought.
The middle-sized animals are more fun. Our current little raccoon is too shy (read: too nocturnal) for me to have caught him on film yet, though I enjoy his company in the darker hours. Here is a pair of friends who allowed me to photograph them this morning.
Thank you for caring for the wildlife. I am sorry to say I have spoken to many people in my neighborhood who would just as soon see them exterminated. They want a "civilized", "sanitized", safe environment, with no frogs, no insects, no armadillos, no opossums, coyotes, birds, crocodiles, snakes, worms, and very especially squirrels. Some even resent the trees because they drop leaves, flowers, stems, branches... "All Creatures of our God and King"...
Very cool. We're not going to see those here!
Oh, the irony. I post about our backyard wildlife sanctuary and what comes onto our back porch this morning, boldly and brassily climbing into our gas grill, but a rat? A big, long-tailed, okay-kinda-cute-but-still-a-rat, rat. This is what comes of letting the snake population decline.
Wildlife lover that I am, rats are no more welcome on our back porch than bears. Now to find a rat trap or rodenticide bait that will get the rat(s) with minimal collateral damage.
