No idea! I saw that thing and was out!
I didn't even stick around to take the pic!Not a fan of the silent critters. I gotta hear you coming or I get freaked out!
Critters and wildlife in your area - post your pics
- Thread starter Oh Little Oji
- Start date
I didn't even stick around to take the pic!Not a fan of the silent critters. I gotta hear you coming or I get freaked out!
You never see cardinals? They're here all the time. They're as common here as a sparrow.
Spocksdad
Member
Removing final blinds, etc. from front windows in prep for window replacement contractors arriving this morning for today & tomorrow. So now Dobes Neo & Lola have a full view out both LR and Kitchen windows. No sooner than I completed this, of course then this happened, causing both Dobes to go ape$hit barking. We've passed this same pair (siblings?) several times in neighborhood on walks without any lunging or barking, but Dobes act differently when "defending" their home turf.
I love our cameras....get a chance to see the wildlife who visit!
Wow that looks so unnatural in a neighborhood like yours. Is there a Preserve nearby?Removing final blinds, etc. from front windows in prep for window replacement contractors arriving this morning for today & tomorrow. So now Dobes Neo & Lola have a full view out both LR and Kitchen windows. No sooner than I completed this, of course then this happened, causing both Dobes to go ape$hit barking. We've passed this same pair (siblings?) several times in neighborhood on walks without any lunging or barking, but Dobes act differently when "defending" their home turf.
This was a while back on June 13th. We were coming home and in the farmers field in front of our home we found this little one. We stopped to take pictures and he (she?) never moved. I said that head is like The Exorcist.
He followed us as we drove past, twisting his neck seemingly all the way around!
Lol..."redrum!"Wow that looks so unnatural in a neighborhood like yours. Is there a Preserve nearby?
This was a while back on June 13th. We were coming home and in the farmers field in front of our home we found this little one. We stopped to take pictures and he (she?) never moved. I said that head is like The Exorcist.
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Somewhere I read that deer are most expanding into suburban species...
Cant find it but any search engine will bring up numerous explanations...
I was back home in Far-North-of-Normal for awhile helping care take of my Mom, and walking miles for exercise- the urban deer in parks on both sides of the river are so healthy and bold they ate up the old community garden by the river, go up into neighborhoods to eat back yard gargens, crap apples, and decorative plants and tender shoots of grass.
For several years the City has had a lottery for urban hunting deer by bow only.
Sells out overnite.
The wild turkeys are almost as bad...
Mmmm...roast venison and roast bird!
I suppose we continue to populate their Wilderness too. We built our last home on an acre plot where most everyone had an acre. It was fairly vacant when we bought the property. And then nine homes went up in 2 years! I remember the thrill as a herd of deer would race through our backyard. All I can think of was this was probably their area that they always passed through. And now they have to deal with homes and dogs.
This guy went marching by our front door at 3am - love having camera's on the house! Caught him here, and in our driveway....I sent it to my neighbor, and she sent back her ring camera with him going down her driveway! And he didn't touch my garden cucumbers that are coming in!
Spocksdad
Member
Wow that looks so unnatural in a neighborhood like yours. Is there a Preserve nearby?
This was a while back on June 13th. We were coming home and in the farmers field in front of our home we found this little one. We stopped to take pictures and he (she?) never moved. I said that head is like The Exorcist.
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Yes, we have a large "natural" park only a block from our house where the deer herds reside. They come through the neighborhood during evening to eat our Jasmine ground cover and other people's plants. It's not great situation, as occasionally deer get hit by cars and can be seen limping around with a damaged leg...
Many times Mama will birth the new fawns in some front yards, then leave them during day in flower beds, while the mama doe is nearby. I have to watch the Dobes don't bark at the deer on walks as sometimes the mama's can get protective and come kick a dogs azz! On one walk a doe followed us down street, maybe because she smell my treat pouch bag. I had to use zapper to warn her off so Neo wouldn't bark at her.
So our ground squirrels are back this year after not seeing them for 5 or more years. Back when we did have them we used to always hear their call and I thought it was a bird mimicking a cell phone. I tried my Merlin app the other day and it wasn't a bird at all but the ground squirrels. At any rate, I get a kick out of them and they are pretty loud.
I'm afraid this creature is one of the very few that I'm happy to dispatch. The are here by the dozens, they get in the engines of vehicles and eat wires ($$$), they've tunneled under the stalls in the barn until the floor is collapsing and of course raid the chicken feeder. I don't enjoy killing anything, but these guys are not welcome on the property and are on constant un-alive status.
Husband left the hedge trimmer outside last night, in preparation of some guys coming over to trim some Mt Mahogany. This little surprise was all coiled up, enjoying the sun. Husband picked up the trimmer, set it on the tailgate, and never saw this little guy.
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Figured there was a nest in the neighborhood given the hunting activity by a pair observed at various times in last few weeks.
Still have not located the nest but a pair of fledgelings were out stretching their wings, flying from roost to roost.
Very interested in Bonnie, the birds hopping from foot to foot, circling heads in vertical movement up and down like you might see in monkeys.
Momma gave them a lot of trust, circled back after a half hour to check in. We tool a few pics at extreme range on iphone 16 telephoto but otherwise gave them space to hunt all the mice and gopher in this area, where coyotes often pass thru, pounce and fig for mice.
Still have not located the nest but a pair of fledgelings were out stretching their wings, flying from roost to roost.
Very interested in Bonnie, the birds hopping from foot to foot, circling heads in vertical movement up and down like you might see in monkeys.
Momma gave them a lot of trust, circled back after a half hour to check in. We tool a few pics at extreme range on iphone 16 telephoto but otherwise gave them space to hunt all the mice and gopher in this area, where coyotes often pass thru, pounce and fig for mice.
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Just like on gophers, coyotes and other interesting birds in forest and shore, I encourage Bonnies awareness, interest, and use that hunt/prey drive for training and rewards.
What I do is allow interest, reward for "alerting me" but restrain her from chase. Its both a practical matter to respect laws on some species, like terns in nesting season,
And create and build and maintain a bulletproof recall off leash. This has been the primary purpose of dogtra device since day one- off leash recall at 100% no matter what the attraction, what hyper focus over threshold...and train to move compliance up to thrreshold so she and I are always able to make a good decision together.
Humble brag: this takes a lot of practice but so worth it. Only once have I had to stim her on a recall, declined "over threshold" when her excitement at a coyote passing tempted her to break off leash walk to run towards it.
She broke it off, headed back, turned to the songdog and got stimmed again. That was it...so far. We have seen that and other coyotes and she honors the "leave it" and "come" off leash, but of course I am always prepared should she fail.
She is very aware of the owls and other raptors hunting and roosting in the urban forest, and other birds as we "hunt" together for pictures, etc. I dont allow her to pursue birds, especially raptors and shore hunting egrets, herons,
As the talons and stabbing bills would easily out out an eye in defense or worse. Great horned owls have the second strongest talon grip second only to golden eagles in NA. I once saw one take a barn owl off a branch thirty feet away in the twilight, swooping in like a B2 stealthbomber in a glide, a bustys of feathers. A shriek, and a lifeless owl in its talons...silently without so much as a wing beat to break the glide to a roost 200 meters away to consume its prey...truly magnificent hunters.
So last night I encouraged awareness, allowed her posturing and gaze to point me to the target, praised her, enforced a leave it or a come, and generally shared in her enthusiasm for the hunt.
With ironclad leave it, same as on rattlesnakes, bee hives or swarms...
Bonnie is getting to be quite the trail buddy.
Next will be some hiking and camping in cat and bear country.
What I do is allow interest, reward for "alerting me" but restrain her from chase. Its both a practical matter to respect laws on some species, like terns in nesting season,
And create and build and maintain a bulletproof recall off leash. This has been the primary purpose of dogtra device since day one- off leash recall at 100% no matter what the attraction, what hyper focus over threshold...and train to move compliance up to thrreshold so she and I are always able to make a good decision together.
Humble brag: this takes a lot of practice but so worth it. Only once have I had to stim her on a recall, declined "over threshold" when her excitement at a coyote passing tempted her to break off leash walk to run towards it.
She broke it off, headed back, turned to the songdog and got stimmed again. That was it...so far. We have seen that and other coyotes and she honors the "leave it" and "come" off leash, but of course I am always prepared should she fail.
She is very aware of the owls and other raptors hunting and roosting in the urban forest, and other birds as we "hunt" together for pictures, etc. I dont allow her to pursue birds, especially raptors and shore hunting egrets, herons,
As the talons and stabbing bills would easily out out an eye in defense or worse. Great horned owls have the second strongest talon grip second only to golden eagles in NA. I once saw one take a barn owl off a branch thirty feet away in the twilight, swooping in like a B2 stealthbomber in a glide, a bustys of feathers. A shriek, and a lifeless owl in its talons...silently without so much as a wing beat to break the glide to a roost 200 meters away to consume its prey...truly magnificent hunters.
So last night I encouraged awareness, allowed her posturing and gaze to point me to the target, praised her, enforced a leave it or a come, and generally shared in her enthusiasm for the hunt.
With ironclad leave it, same as on rattlesnakes, bee hives or swarms...
Bonnie is getting to be quite the trail buddy.
Next will be some hiking and camping in cat and bear country.
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