This is great! When I arrived home, I hard a noise and looked up at the sugar maple in the neighboring apartment building's alley. There was the cutest little racoon face looking back at me. I spoke to it, it looked at me. Finally, he went all the way into the hole. Then I went upstairs and forgot about him for about 15 minutes. I went to look out my window to see if he was still there and he was. He kept sticking his head and neck out the window and looking down, I thought he was stuck. Then I saw he was looking at something. The biggest possum I've ever seen was down below eating some food that had been tossed out one of the apartment windows. Nasty ratty thing! I was headed downstairs to scare off the possum, but he raccoon is still in the tree. I tried to take photos of it from up here and from the yard, but my camera isn't good enough to get any good ones.
Caught this bloke in the paddock across which I travel each day.
For those who dont know its an echidna NOT a hedgehog. they eat Ants and grubs and other small ground or tree dwelling inverterbrates.
They are an important part of the ecosystem with powerfull claws for ripping open rotting logs and turning over hard packed soil to get at their chosen food. when on the defensive they dig straight down into the soil until all that shows is a mound of sharp spines
Cute! But, not as cute as the raccoon!
lilk....How could I possbly compete with your racoon for cuteness
Would you like o see my cocky?
Sulpher crested cockatoo in my backyard. Yesterday.
Aaaawwww, I visited with two of those when I was in the Byron Bay area. So, is it a pet? Or does it just hang out in your yard?
Not many things can compare to raccoon cuteness! Especially if you've been lucky enough to have met a litter.
littlek wrote:So, is it a pet? Or does it just hang out in your yard?
Not a pet. He was just passing through. Actually I think he may have been a little sick cause he sat there for some time whilst I moved around taking photos. See how in the close up his feathers are sort of ruffled/fluffed up that usually means a bird is ill.
Poor bird! I guess it's like my cat. When he's feeling ill, he doesn't clean himself - he ends up looking greasy and clumpy.
Well, I can't compete with a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, that seems pretty exotic from here, but White Tailed Deer are common in my back yard. Here's a picture of one that visited me last spring.
Rosborne - Is that a young one?
littlek wrote:Rosborne - Is that a young one?
Yes. Yearling or slightly more than that.
littlek wrote:Rosborne - Is that a young one?
I think so. Gunga probably knows more than I do on the subject of white tail deer.
gungasnake wrote:Not as bad as it looks, the deer was apparently playing a deer game with the kid and smelled salt sweat and grabbed the kid to lick some of it. Kid's apparently an aspiring cross country runner.
He's lucky the deer didn't kick the crap out of him. Wild animals are cute, but they are still wild, and often unpredictable.
jespah wrote:Gorgeous photos!!
Here's another visitor that wasn't as cute, but the pic came out well. He weighed about 25 lbs.
I had to stand very still by my feeder to get this one.
More, more, more! Really, these are terrific.
rosborne979 wrote:gungasnake wrote:Not as bad as it looks, the deer was apparently playing a deer game with the kid and smelled salt sweat and grabbed the kid to lick some of it. Kid's apparently an aspiring cross country runner.
He's lucky the deer didn't kick the crap out of him. Wild animals are cute, but they are still wild, and often unpredictable.
I don't picture a deer attacking a human for no real reason. Almost all of the stories you read about deer attacking humans involve somebody stupid enough to get hunting scents on himself and then get caught on the ground. The deer in that case is basically attacking what he views as another deer.
Deer do not have any natural reason to go after humans.
gungasnake wrote:I don't picture a deer attacking a human for no real reason. Almost all of the stories you read about deer attacking humans involve somebody stupid enough to get hunting scents on himself and then get caught on the ground. The deer in that case is basically attacking what he views as another deer.
Deer do not have any natural reason to go after humans.
It was more of a general comment, not directed specifically at deer. Although I've seen the film of the hunter getting attacked by the deer.
I also saw a trained 'friendly' black bear maul a woman on TV.
