Having grown up in apartments in the city, spouse and I were ecstatic to move to our 1,200 sq ft house on an acre wooded lot. Oh, the giant old oaks and pines, the fall colors (maple), the deer, the chipmunks, the birds!
Six years in, we have learned that nature does not conveniently stay in the backyard but constantly tries to move in with you (carpenter ants, wasps, even lady bug infestations have happened more than once!)
One time, I found a pound of dirt on the inside of the attached garage as my husband was complaining that his hiking boots (also in the garage) were filled with bird seed. Turns out, our friendly chipmunk has dug a tunnel under the driveway and set house in the lower level, using the hiking boots as barns.
We have had a garter snake curl up on the rug under the desk in the home office on the lower level (spouse had forgotten to close the garage door).
Deer and wild turkey reign over our yard, and once I saw a (what looked to me like a) giant groundhog standing on the front lawn.
It was only last year that I saw my first fox, but it was gorgeous! Also, red tailed hawks like spying on potential pray from the big trees in my yard and landing upon the unsuspecting victim as it crosses the back lawn (which is really a clearing in the forest).
Overall, they are all quite enjoyable and I have made peace with the regular sessions of deer excrement collection I have to perform on the yard (5 year old kiddo loves running barefoot on the grass). My warm feelings do not apply to the ticks (I live in the NE, so no fun), which cost me 300 dollars a year in spraying and the wasps, who seem to love building 2 ft long nests under the steps of our deck (and who also cost me 200 bucks every two years or so in pest control).
