Wildlife in Your Life

More a lucky guess :wink:

actually didn't see the wildlife ... but saw the damage !
walking along lake ontario a few days after christmas , we saw that a beaver must have paid a visit !
this is right in our downtown area next to apartment blocks and a mueum and walkway ...
while i do love to watch the beavers in our backlakes and streams , i wish they wouldn't cut down trees right in the city !
perhaps that was their christmas tree .
when you look at the full size pix you can actually see their teethmarks ; they did a very neat job .
unfortunately the tree-tie prevented them from carrying it off ... but they cut off some of the branches and carried off the loot .
hbg

Ha, amazing. I take it you live near a body of water. We're not too far from the Charles River but it's too big for even the most ambitious beaver family.

Oh, and rosborne, I guess I missed the doggie photos before. What a gorgeous beast!

jespah :
this beaver did the tree cutting right on the shore of lake ontario - so it doesn't seem to worry much about the size of the body of water .
they are pretty strong swimmers , so i think they can cover quite some distances on and under water .
we've ben able to watch them in some of our backlakes "beavering" away - an apt expressio .
while they are quite shy , we've been able to observe some by simply not moving for ten minutes or so - perhaps they thought we were a tree .
hbg

saw one of these fellas in the carport yesterday. I tried to get a pic but he moved into the ivy too quickly.
I'm pleased I saw him as he moved across the bare cement otherwise I would have thought SNAKE! We try to encorage them as they are dynamite on snails.

Blue Tongue lizard.




This photo gives an idea of size.

How incredible, I just love this topic.

I had several of these pay me a visit while deer hunting this past fall.

even though it's now minus 10 C with a bit of snow on the ground , plenty of black squirrels are scampering around not thet i particularly like them , but i guess it's their terrotory as much as mine .
and ebeth's dogs will have something to get exited about when they visit .
all i have to do is whisper : "squirrel" and bailey is ready to climb up the next tree .
hbg

Dadpad:

Obviously you're from Australia and lucky to have a blue tongue skink show up in your backyard, something that I would consider a blessing, as they are wonderful animals. I'm familiar with these lizards, and they are quite popular as pets in the U.S. It's easy to see why because of their docile personality.

Have you ever seen a shingle-back skink? They are also quite docile, and the open-mouth position is mainly bluff. This is an interesting lizard, and not just because of its appearance. It has been studied and found to use a placenta to nourish its young, internally. It's of interest because in the past herpetologists assumed that all reptiles either layed eggs or retained the eggs--minus the shell--in the body until they were born alive. The study of the shingle-back was one the the first to contradict this viewpoint.
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The bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback since the outlawing of DDT. They're a wonderful sight to see.

We have two birdhouses hanging from the covered patio posts and last summer one was occupied by house wrens, the other by small sparrows. Each had two sets of babies and left. Now, since last fall they are back, sleeping each night in the houses, not having babies, etc.

Is this a little strange, or do birds seek out homes in which to sleep? The wrens never returned, but some of the sparrows squeeze into the smaller doorway of the former wren house. I notice that, ever so often, they clean house, like throw out the poop, and rearrange the bedding.

Has this ever happened with birdhouses in anybody's else's experience feed and housing birds? Last year, when they seemed done with the houses, we took them down and pulled out the old bedding. I noticed they kept hopping around the house as it lay on the grass, sorta unbelieving, like we'd do if someone broke into our home.

So, well, what gives? I've learned so much about the nesting habits of birds since we have these birdhouses so close to our large window. The wrens are fascinating and their song so beautiful.

That's very interesting behavior. But I guess it makes sense, they feel safe there and there's a food source they know about, so why not sleep there? Without the kids, hmm, sounds like your birdhouses are providing a couple's getaway. But they don't like the turndown service.

On my way to work this morning I saw a dead animal on the side of the road. I thought: "Wolverine!" Then I thought: "Wolverine?" I was late or I would have stopped. Instead, I snapped a mental picture. I spoke with my sister later today, she'd seen it too (we both drive the same route, but in opposite directions). She DID stop and took some photos with her cell phone. We looked up the critter at her house this evening before I went home. I am certain it was a fisher cat, but my sister is less certain. She thinks it could have been a mink. Someone had taken the carcass by the time either of us drove back by it.

fisher:

I was out hiking the other day on some untrodden/hunted private land and a possum walked up the tree in front of me and just sat there, kinda looking at me. I walked a bit further and caught a glimpse of a big old fox looking back over his shoulder before he dissapeared over the hill about 60 yards in front of me. It was really cool because where I live most wildlife is scarce or very flighty but these animals were not hunted or visited by careless people much because they seemed more curious to see a human rather than running for their lives as is usual.

Excellent. Good morning, Prothius, and welcome to A2K.

We just got a visit from one of these guys:



A Cooper's Hawk, according to my bird book. Haven't seen one before, but they're Ohio birds and seem to like the conditions I saw him in (my backyard, semi-wooded, with birdfeeders nearby). Sat there for a while preening and showing off, quite a handsome fella. Good posture.

What a lovely brown eye he's got.

Sharp Shinned Hawk:


We have Coopers Hawks and Sharp Shinned Hawks around here. They are difficult to tell apart. We also have Red Tailed Hawks, but they are much larger. The Red Tails soar a lot and rarely come into the woods. The Coopers and Sharp Shinned Hawks however will fly at full speed through the thickest woods. It's amazing to see them flashing through the trees (without hitting anything).

(Ignoring silly post above)

I live in an area in which the Eagle population was destroyed by the use of DDT. Eagles were reintroduced a couple of decades back and have been doing great ever since. Back in the summer we were boating on the river and I saw one swoop down and catch a fish - incredible.