Art and I lived on the mainland for over 35 years. Whenever people from Hawaii visited us, they would be mesmerized by the squirrels that were making a nuisance of themselves on our chestnut and oak trees. They were also amazed at the number of bunnies that were hoping around everywhere, eating our grass and anything else we planted.
When we went back this summer, Tiffany laughed to see us taking photos of the squirrels.
Granddaughter KC must have wondered why we considered squirrels worthy of a photo.
And of course, there were those bunnies all over the place. Ever since the West Nile disease wiped out a lot of the large predatory birds, the bunny population has exploded.
And the cute chipmunks? They actually undermine the sidewalks and home foundation with their little tunnels.
We ran into skunks too, but thank goodness it was from a distance. They used to live under our deck along with the opposums and I don't know what else.
Now that we're in Hawaii, we don't see these animals, which is why we had fun watching them in Illinois. What do we have in Hawaii? Hmmm...Just birds, I think. Oh... I forgot. There are mongoose, mice, feral chickens and feral cats. That's about it in my neighborhood.
Granddaughter KC must have wondered why we considered squirrels worthy of a photo.
And of course, there were those bunnies all over the place. Ever since the West Nile disease wiped out a lot of the large predatory birds, the bunny population has exploded.
And the cute chipmunks? They actually undermine the sidewalks and home foundation with their little tunnels.
We ran into skunks too, but thank goodness it was from a distance. They used to live under our deck along with the opposums and I don't know what else.
Now that we're in Hawaii, we don't see these animals, which is why we had fun watching them in Illinois. What do we have in Hawaii? Hmmm...Just birds, I think. Oh... I forgot. There are mongoose, mice, feral chickens and feral cats. That's about it in my neighborhood.
When I was still living in my house in the country I completely gave up on a vegetable garden after the year I harvested not one single thing I planted. Rabbits, woodchucks, and deer took it all. I saw turkeys, fox, fishers, moose, coyotes, and once a bear in the field behind the house.
ReplyDeleteThere are rabbits and chipmunks all around the condo where I live now and we did have a skunk family relocated from the area early last summer.
In Florida I had to have someone come to trap an armadillo that had plans to burrow under my house. I have not seen so many bunnies this past few weeks, but the hawks were definitely keeping an eye on things so that might explain that. I have also seen coyotes and bobcats around. Every once in a while alligators make their way into the ponds.
Lots of fun things to watch.
Right now our deer population is exploding. I cannot look out without seeing a field of bucks, does and fawns. When our youngest grandchild was here last, she walked out the back door and was eye to eye with a doe. They both ran.
ReplyDeleteAnd pesky raccoons don't forget them, I heard mothballs can deter them.
ReplyDeleteFunny how that works, the New World never had horses until Columbus arrived.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of squirrels, but now that I don't feed the birds any more, they don't bother me much. They are very destructive. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe notice a few birds and skunks here, but after watching a PBS documentary, I bet we also have a coyote down in the canyon.
ReplyDeleteAww, I love watching any little critter, especially those cute ones. Mice and rats are lowest on my cute meter.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at your picture taking of squirrels. When we visited our daughter in California, we just couldn't get enough of looking at squirrels and took pictures of them too! Even a road kill picture of a raccoon. Quite fascinating - the different animals on the mainland.
ReplyDeleteWe have butterflies flitting around when they emerge from their cocoons. SO glad that we don't have snakes, though we do have huge B-52 flying cockroaches and centipedes. Yuck.
The feral cats in Hawaii are just plain spooky. Yes, all kinds of critters in Chicago. I wish disease would wipe out some of our crows. They rob most of the nests.
ReplyDeletewe have a few bunnies, raccoons, some lizards, hawks and lots of birds...
ReplyDeleteI was on a bulletinboard and everyone complained about the squirrels, raccoons and snakes. Then I went to OKC and saw the squirrels running around and dangit! they are so cute, I was mesmerized. I saw a raccoon and went chasing after it to get a pix, then stopped and thought to myself what are you doing, that thing is HUGE. I retreated. When I saw my first seagull and crow I was freaked to see how huge they really are in real life. I miss some of the mainland's wildlife but I'll settle for our mongoose and feral chickens
ReplyDeleteWe have gray squirrels all over the place, and the bunnies seem to have made a comeback. We have some raccoons we would love to send you. :-)
ReplyDeleteOur squirrels are very busy right now, crossing and re-crossing roads. Maybe one chicken crossed the road at one time, but I always wonder why the squirrels cross the road.
ReplyDeleteWe often have squirrels in our tree, I do like seeing them.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan