Garden wildlife

[faroukfarouk]

i think raccoons have logical fear of humans for all the horrible things they do and they are terrified of dogs, they live in constant dread and fear of humans in the urban environment but they are willing to forgive if you gain their trust , they can become just like a pet, even more tame and curious and careful than a dog, more intelligent really. even wild ones not raised as babies can become fairly friendly and domesticated. I started off feeding one corn and then eggs, and dog food and she would come touch my foot to say 'thank you' even wanted to hold my hand all the time. their hands are so soft. they are bitey and do bite but there's a big difference between a 'love bite' and an attack bite. they sort of bite as a kind of social thing, pecking order thing but it's not a vicious bite always. but after you feed them 3 or 4 times they become pretty friendly and non threatning but it good to always be careful. talking to them always seems to make them less afraid and dangerous or just showing your hands, showing them you have nothing in your hands.

Well, our raccoons don't seem to fear humans at all!

 

[HelloFriends]

We have only lost one chicken, and that was before I had their fence completely finished. I think that was a fox or the bobcat that was in our trash dumpster.View attachment 195502
But it could also have been a wolf. These prints were right in front of our mailbox. Huge !!!

true wolves are supposed to be so rare nowdays, you must live up near canada or something but seems like coyotes are thriving in the urban enviroment here. they must be so smart to survive like the do in the city. I read taht despite millions of daily encounters with people there's never been a coyote killing someone which is sort of incredible. many many times more likely to be struck by lighting and that's even in spite of people behaving so aggressively towards them, trying to trap, kill them, they know humans mean death to them but still never attack.

 

[faroukfarouk]

true wolves are supposed to be so rare nowdays, you must live up near canada or something but seems like coyotes are thriving in the urban enviroment here. they must be so smart to survive like the do in the city. I read taht despite millions of daily encounters with people there's never been a coyote killing someone which is sort of incredible. many many times more likely to be struck by lighting and that's even in spite of people behaving so aggressively towards them, trying to trap, kill them, they know humans mean death to them but still never attack.

We are in Canada and we see coyotes in urban areas occasionally. There was a bad incident a year or two ago in the area with a coyote.

 

[~Anastasia~]

i think raccoons have logical fear of humans for all the horrible things they do and they are terrified of dogs, they live in constant dread and fear of humans in the urban environment but they are willing to forgive if you gain their trust , they can become just like a pet, even more tame and curious and careful than a dog, more intelligent really. even wild ones not raised as babies can become fairly friendly and domesticated. I started off feeding one corn and then eggs, and dog food and she would come touch my foot to say 'thank you' even wanted to hold my hand all the time. their hands are so soft. they are bitey and do bite but there's a big difference between a 'love bite' and an attack bite. they sort of bite as a kind of social thing, pecking order thing but it's not a vicious bite always. but after you feed them 3 or 4 times they become pretty friendly and non threatning but it good to always be careful. talking to them always seems to make them less afraid and dangerous or just showing your hands, showing them you have nothing in your hands.

In our cabin in the mountains they weren't afraid at all. Mothers and babies would come around the cabin, even while still daylight. I fed birds on the deck railing, and coons would often come eat the bird food - I have videos of jays divebombing the coons trying to run them off and the coons just ignored them.

I had another house with a sliding patio door out over a back porch. A tailless coon started coming up to beg for food, and I put a little out for her. A few months later she started bringing her babies too, and they'd line up and look in, even tap on the glass door, asking for food.

Only problem is that now I keep chickens. My coop is very secure. But I wouldn't encourage coon visitors now.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Speaking of coyotes, I wondered at the animals that I ran into in Texas.

In Cali, there were lots of coyotes. Small, maybe 35 pounds, hunting in packs, but shy.

In Texas ... yikes. HUGE animals, beautiful, and not at all coyote-like in the muzzle. I trapped one and had to shoot it. Visually it looked in every way like a wolf. I actually consulted a wildlife officer, though afraid I might get in trouble. He said that I'd killed a coyote, but let's just say the way he said it and emphasized the word, I knew he meant something else. (It was ranch territory, and to be honest, when livestock are killed, the officers are usually on the farmer/rancher's side.) But there shouldn't have been wolves there, even from Mexico. I've always loved wolves, and would hate to think I'd had to kill one.

 

[Humble me Lord]

true wolves are supposed to be so rare nowdays, you must live up near canada or something

Yes, I do live in the far North, and wolves are not rare here at all. Although I haven't seen them on my property, I run across prints. On my drive to work in the summer, there are tons of deer killed by cars, and often see wolves feeding on the carcass'. Their impact on other wildlife is evident. There is a state park 45 minutes from me that is mostly void of any deer and other wildlife. Someone I know with a plane claims he flew over and saw a pack of 18 wolves. Wolves need 3.7 pounds of meat per day minimum to survive, and around 10 pounds average. This area used to have a healthy moose population, but are now rarely seen. Research suggests it's a combination of health issues and wolf predation.
It is sometimes unnerving when you are in bed sleeping with the windows open and a pack of wolves start howling.

 

[Kenny'sID]

i think raccoons have logical fear of humans for all the horrible things they do and they are terrified of dogs, they live in constant dread and fear of humans in the urban environment but they are willing to forgive if you gain their trust , they can become just like a pet, even more tame and curious and careful than a dog, more intelligent really. even wild ones not raised as babies can become fairly friendly and domesticated. I started off feeding one corn and then eggs, and dog food and she would come touch my foot to say 'thank you' even wanted to hold my hand all the time. their hands are so soft. they are bitey and do bite but there's a big difference between a 'love bite' and an attack bite. they sort of bite as a kind of social thing, pecking order thing but it's not a vicious bite always. but after you feed them 3 or 4 times they become pretty friendly and non threatning but it good to always be careful. talking to them always seems to make them less afraid and dangerous or just showing your hands, showing them you have nothing in your hands.

My coon period started by my leaving the back door open for some fresh air, and one passing through the living room to the kitchen to eat the cat food. Then a webcam reveals she had brought her babies a few days later. I eased the cat food bowl to the bedroom where I stayed much of the time until they all would come up into my bed to take food from my hand.

The only time I was bitten from actual aggression, was when one of her babies, brought its babies over a year or so later. While sitting on the back porch, they were eating, I playfully barely nudged one of the babies a few times with my foot to see if it would play back...she ran over and bit my foot, didn't break the skin. Yet she stayed after she knew she had put me in my place. I didn't get aggressive back at all because it was classic "don't mess with an animals babies".

Pretty sure I've posted this before... the original 4, mom with nearly grown young (Huey Dewy and Louise) behind her at the bedroom door.

Disclaimer, there is always the possibility of rabies with any wild or even domesticated mammal.

 

[Kenny'sID]

As to coons being afraid of humans. They were naturally shy, and a little afraid, but overall, compared to other wild animals, not so much. Of course I've always thrown food out there for them, and they had to have seen me.

However, as mentioned they may well be afraid of dogs/humans in areas they are hunted, by that method.

One thing I had never seen, even on TV, and likely only saw it because this was soon after we became acquainted was a raccoon (assumeably mom) in the tall Bahia grass in the front yard catching/eating grasshoppers. Wish I could have filmed that.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Wow, did they ever mess up anything in your house?

When I was a teenager, my best friend's mom brought home a pair of baby raccoons. We raised them, bottefed. Lol, they would get impatient. One time I had them both, feeding one, and the other started sucking on my neck and left a mark. I got teased a lot for being given a hickey - by a raccoon. (Didn't help in convo that they were named Peter and Paul.) But one day they got out of their cage during the day and absolutely destroyed everything in the house. My friend's mom found them a new home right away.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Wow, did they ever mess up anything in your house?

When I was a teenager, my best friend's mom brought home a pair of baby raccoons. We raised them, bottefed. Lol, they would get impatient. One time I had them both, feeding one, and the other started sucking on my neck and left a mark. I got teased a lot for being given a hickey - by a raccoon. (Didn't help in convo that they were named Peter and Paul.) But one day they got out of their cage during the day and absolutely destroyed everything in the house. My friend's mom found them a new home right away.

LOL on the hickey.

I guess the deal was, mine were wild, and when they came in, they came straight to my room for food, then left. I suppose one could say they weren't relaxed to the point they didn't mind their manners...they never even attempted to explore. They really respect territory to, and I suppose the ones you mention were in enough to where that was their territory.

Long before what I mention here, I watched a huge coon try to get some food from the dish as one of my cats fed. The cat was an old hoss, but the coon 3 times his size, and could have torn him to pieces, yet a simple slap or hiss from the cat kept him at bay because it wasn't the coons territory. I want to say the cat was stupid still, but they know things we don't about what goes on in the night, and quite possibly understand territory, that while it can be challenged, is universal with animals.

But, yeah, I hear they can be destructive, but I would guess they could be trained to the point they could run loose in the house.

Also I've heard some make good pets and some do not, all a matter of personality. I was tempted to just shut one of here babies in the house for a pet, but never did. Mine have been shut out for years now, aside from the little food I toss out there every now an then, I haven't bothered with them, but may again in the future.

 

[tansy]

I do envy you in America with all the amazing wildlife and birds (apart from the ferocious ones like bears, cougars, poisonous snakes etc LOL).

I live in the suburbs of a city and my garden is small. We did have a hedgehog a couple of years ago, but the only birds I've seen here are crows, woodpigeons, magpies, a jay once and a robin once I think. Maybe sparrows. I did put out bird feeders, but then they attract rats (there is a kind of earth alleyway behind our house), so I stopped doing that.
Oh, there are also foxes out at night. I think they live in the school grounds opposite the house.

When I was a kid my parents' house was in the middle of the city and there used to be quite a lot of birds, considering...starlings, hordes of them, but their numbers are dramatically dropping in the UK. Blue t i t s, (had to separate the letters as it put up that 'do not curse' thing!) sparrows, swifts, house martins, robins, blackbirds, jackdaws, crows, pigeons, chaffinch maybe...and probably more that I don't remember.

My daughter's house is more on the edge of the coutryside and there you do see badgers, foxes, slow- worms and hedgehogs, though not by any means frequently.

 

[tadoflamb]

Obligatory bird pic for today

 

[Kenny'sID]

Obligatory bird pic for today

Is that a quail? If so, gorgeous...makes ours look downright boring.

 

[tadoflamb]

Is that a quail? If so, gorgeous...makes ours look downright boring.

Gambel's Quail. (I just heard one) I'm hoping to get some babies soon.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Gambel's Quail. (I just heard one) I'm hoping to get some babies soon.

Do you raise them?

 

[tadoflamb]

Do you raise them?

No, they're wild. Here's a pair with my pet rock ant and my pet rock turtle.

 

[HelloFriends]

just yesterday I was walking my dog in the park and saw a baby owl, looked like his/her first night day out of the nest. not much wildlife left around this area but they have a nest on top of a water pumping station at the park, i've seen the mother carrying a small possum to the nest before.

i just wonder if it will survive, not much food around. hope it doesn't get too cold. we just take for granted they are going to live , survive but they usually don't in these environments unless someone is feeding them, helping them somehow. I kind of wonder if the only reason any animals even still exist in this area isn't because of people finding the babies and raising them. it's a little disgusting they try to scare peole with regulations against taking care of animals and when there are so few 'licensed' animal rehabilitators. I think we could really do more to help wildlife populations like this

 

[Kenny'sID]

No, they're wild. Here's a pair with my pet rock ant and my pet rock turtle.

View attachment 196160

Good looking birds. Ours are a spotted brown, no dual solid coloring or head dress.

 

[Kenny'sID]

it's a little disgusting they try to scare peole with regulations against taking care of animals and when there are so few 'licensed' animal rehabilitators. I think we could really do more to help wildlife populations like this

They say don't feed the wild animals...excuse me? I'll feed the wild animals if I want. Seriously we are as capable as them of knowing the dangers. They should teach the dangers and get over themselves...knowledge to be licensed is not rocket science.

The animals need help, we are taking their livelihood away...educate, don't dictate.

I've never seen a deer here. I live on a creek fed by a spring fed lake, clear cool water, all low because of DuPont using the ground water for processing. When I first moved here, I saw an otter from my yard, the last thing I expected to see, but not enough creek left for that now.

The way the trees are on the sloping creek bed evidently attract hawks and owls. The big creepy owls that warn darkness is near with one of the most chilling calls I've ever heard (at least at first it was). I have a big box turtle that has been in my yard for years. At least I assume he's still here after a past neighbor chose to let his pit bull run loose at night so no one would know he was doing it (took 2 of my 16yr old cats ). Other than that, I saw one fox in my yard a few years back. The armadillo seems to have gone all but extinct, we used to see them everywhere...not anymore. I was shocked to see the one I did see in my yard seveal years ago.

Disappearing before our very eyes, and yes, man is supposed to rule, but we should rule more responsibly/do what we can. Raccoons will adapt, and are protected by the night, the other animals, not so much.

 

[tadoflamb]

That is extremely cool! Does it prevent squirrels then? Or just other birds?

I don't mind providing for whatever birds come. I enjoy watching/listening to them all. There is birdsong all the time. The squirrels would be the problem.

And are there plans, books, whatever for what you built, or did you just design them?

Both very cool.

Here's a link to the place that makes the Cardinal feeder. I used to work there.

Cardinal Feeder

My water feature I configured myself.