Our Wildlife
We enjoy country living, especially our pond and the creatures that it attracts. Fish, frogs and turtles add interest to the pond; they also attract other visitors. Certain times of the year we have groups of Canada geese that stop by for a part of the day. Recently, for example, 48 geese came early and stayed until noon. Several years ago I took some pictures of the pond. Click here to view them.
We also have attracted wood ducks by erecting nest boxes. Several years ago I put up the first one in late December, and by late January a pair of "woodies" had adopted it. We now have eight boxes that house successive nesting pairs from January through May each year. I have kept a journal of their activities for several years, including one for 2001.
A daily visitor is the great blue heron, which normally appears by itself. However we have seen two or even three here at the same time. These magnificent birds are excellent at fishing. Another, less frequent fishing bird is the kingfisher.
A rare sight but frequent guest is the white-tailed deer. I have often heard a buck in the woods behind the pond snort nervously when I walk by. These animals present quite a sight when they bound through the adjoining soybean field and into the woods.
Other pond visitors also are drawn to our deck, where we supply crumbs for the birds. Both raccoons and opossums enjoy raiding those provisions. And they occasionally try to examine the contents of our recycling cans.
During 1999 we built a small garden pond just off our deck and inside an enclosed garden area of the back yard. Several frogs moved into it from the large pond, perhaps to experience the feeling of being a large frog in a small pond. This area sports a number of bird feeders that attract hummingbirds, goldfinches, purple finches, cardinals, dove, nuthatches, titmice, chickadees, sparrows, juncos, and other seed feeding birds. We always have a pair of bluebirds that live in the orchard, where I placed a house for them.
On rare occasions we have seen a fox or a beaver, and shortly after we had the pond built we had a muskrat. Because the muskrat can tunnel into the dam and weaken it, we had to use chicken wire along the dam to keep them away.
Of course we have rabbits and squirrels. In the Fall of year the gray squirrels work over our pecan trees in preparation for winter. Then at night the flying squirrels work late shift gathering their share as well.
In March 2001 we experienced some real-life "City Slickers" moments. I neighbor had bought two calves, and they missed Mom so much that they escaped through an electric fence. We joined an assorted crew of neighbors to try to herd the bovines back home, but to no avail. To show their appreciation, they spent much of the night circling our house and bellowing about how much they wanted to be back home. But the next day they were recaptured.
Last Updated Sunday, April 08, 2001 09:42 PM
