Visitor in my backyard.

[autowasherfreak]

I took a picture of this little guy or girl from my window upstairs, zoomed in as far as I could. I was afraid that by the time I went downstairs, it would have left.

 

[whirlcool]

Is that a Chipmunk? I find those little things so cute and usually they are friendly.
I have a cousin who just bought a house on Chicago's north shore to remodel. It has been vacant for three years. The local chipmunks have taken it over! Chipmunks everywhere. Before she starts a major remodel, she has to get rid of the residents.

 

[autowasherfreak]

Nope, it's a ground hog. Last year there were two that would come out together, but I've only seen one this year.

 

[autowasherfreak]

It's cute the way he looked right at me when I took the picture.

 

[petek]

Good thing my Ben the border collie didn't see it or our old Boots the cat as well cause it'd be a goner. That used to be Bens "job" at our country place out on the prairie..gopher catching and he was very good at it.
He's so mellowed out now since we moved here and into town he doesn't even bother with squirrels or chipmunks now, they could walk right over him LOL

 

[charbee]

Here's a pic of our daily "visitors"...

This year, with the evil drought, we seem to have acquired the job of keeping this little family alive. They come to eat the bird-seed and drink water from the little galvanized trough we have set out for the birds. The creek is dead-bone-dry. It appears to be a mom, last year's now-big fawn, and the li'l baby. This was taken a couple of months ago...the li'l fella is now nearly as big as his big sis, and is starting to lose his spots.

 

[countryguy]

Wow, compared to the deer I have in my yard, those are skinny! I sure hope they find more food and water.

Gary

 

[twintubdexter]

charbee...

Gee that picture is nice. I envy the people on here who have these beautiful, green yards with all of the trees and wildlife. My yard is palm trees, lizards and the occasional roadrunner on the back wall...beep beep!

Deer were/are a big problem in Northern California where I'm from. The nursery was big business for the hardware chain I bought for and customers were always looking for ways to keep deer out of their yards...they love to eat bedding plants. We carried this deer repelent called "Hinder" which according to the sales rep was made from bear urine. Apparently deer and bears don't get along. Don't ask me how they got the bears to pee in a jar...I have no idea.

She built a little nest at the top of some windchimes at my front door.

 

[sudsmaster]

I found two robin's nests in my back yard this past week. One fell to the ground, the other is still up in the Tahiti lime tree. At least I think they are robin's nests, because I saw a grown robin bringing worms and such to the tree on a regular basis a few weeks back. No sign of the fledglings, though, although I'm sure they are about. If the cat got them, there'd be feathers everywhere. And I don't think the cat has ever tried to climb the lime tree - too many thorns.

The nests are quite sturdy. They have a strong clay mud bottom basin, reinforced with straw, and then a nice bedding of more straw/grasses.

 

[sudsmaster]

PS-a good deer repellent is a six foot high chain link fence... lol... but I guess some high tone neighborhoods might not allow such measures.

Deer are a menace in the hills to motorcyclists. Especially during mating season in the fall. Then the hormones lead the deer to lose all fear of cars and bikes and they run amuck. Quite often the human on the bike winds up in worse shape than the deer.

I've hit deer twice in the hills around here. Once, long time ago, a deer ran down a sheer cliff to my right. Fortunately for it, it was a hairpin uphill turn so I wasn't going that fast. Left front of the car bumped the deer - it defecated on the hood and took off.

Next time wasn't as amusing. I was going up a very steep hill on my bike, when a deer suddenly jumped out of the tall grass on the right into my path. I tried to swerve to the left to avoid it but of course it just sped up and took out my front wheel. The road was so steep the bike only slide a foot or two. Sprained my thumb and scratched up the paint but otherwise relatively minor.

But I know a motorcyclist who is spending the rest of his life in a wheel chair because a deer ran into the road in front of him (he was probably doing about 40) and the biker broke his back in the fall.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

I remember seeing a few deer scattered in what looked like a 15 acre lot in which was filled with mature corn stocks and such, but if a deer finds a adequate food source, they can get wide. The deer that I saw in this field were NOT starved in the least.

But while in Middletown I saw this dude pop out of the brush for a minute or two long enough to get a picture of him. I think it is also a Ground Hog. He wasn't still long enough for me to format the camera to my liking.

 

[autowasherfreak]

Cute pictures. Those deer do look a little skinny, I hope they survive the drought. I saw the prettiest yellow bird in the back yard a couple weeks ago, but by the time I got the camera it had left. We also have a cardinal pair that have a nest in one of the trees in the back, they are so pretty to look at.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

The dude above was found at Miami University Middletown, not my backyard.

There are squirrels in the back yard here are pictures of them. Judging by the whimpers of my dog, the fleas from the squirrels are pretty nasty.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

pic 2

 

[sudsmaster]

Squirrel fleas...

Get Frontline Plus. The drops. Works great on my cats.

 

[charbee]

We've had a friend from Minnesota say the same thing about "those are skinny deer"...and yeah, it's true. But on some levels, it makes a lot of sense: It's too hot here for any wild animal to have any amount of fat built up at all. Up there, a good layer of fat has got to be essential for survival.

And as for squirrels, we've had the li'l @@#*%*@#^'s use our potted plants on the deck as a salad bar every day the last coupla weeks...they find African Daisies quite delectible...

To paraphrase one of my favorite posters from my younger years:

"Drought is not healthy for critters, or other living things."

 

[imperialmarkxii]

here's a pic of our daily "visitors"

hey Charbee,

A similar pic could be seen from my sister & brother-in-laws' home in Canyon Lake, Tx.

When they (sister Cindy)first moved there from Ca. (mid 90's i believe) she worked at the post office in New Braunfels, and sent me videos of the deer eating deer corn in their yard. ...

Since then a P.O. opened closer to where they are in Canyon Lake, and she is working out of that office. Have yet to visit them there. What a hoot it would be for her if you went to her window in the lobby, and said "your brother is on A.W. .Org".

Hopefully, the deer still have a water source with the lake running nearby, although we haven't talked about the drought lately. ...

-Russell

 

[charbee]

I'm wonderin' if Canyon Lake is as low as Lake Travis? We haven't seen it this low since 1984. Where the lake used to be right at the level of some of the picnic grounds, now the water is a treacherous hike down a 25-foot rocky slope.