Fauna and other natural things

[apl68]

I've never understood fear of coyotes either.  Some people who've grown up with very little experience of wildlife seem to get easily freaked out by any mammal larger than a cat.

[Puget]

I've never understood fear of coyotes either.  Some people who've grown up with very little experience of wildlife seem to get easily freaked out by any mammal larger than a cat.

Seriously! They are afraid of everything here-- coyotes, foxes, fishers (which aren't even larger than a cat and which they incorrectly call "fisher cats"). Someone even posted wanting to know what to do about a hawk that was eating a squirrel in their yard. Um, don't watch if it grosses you out?
Someone was also incensed that they couldn't get the authorities to do anything about a dead deer in the river, and did not take kindly to me pointing out that the river is not a swimming pool and things die in it all the time and decompose.

 It's like they expect the outside to be  like a theme park or zoo-- populated only  animals of their choice (by cute, non-threatening, living) and no others.

[namazu]

I have lived in this east coast local for nearly 7 years now, having lived most of my life in western locations with actual predators (including bears and mountain lions, aka "danger kitties") and still can't get over the local attitude toward wildlife. Today someone on Nextdoor posted that they are "basically being held hostage inside my home by coyotes". Like, did someone arm the coyotes? Did the coyotes get ahold of dynamite? No? Then leave them alone and they'll leave you alone (and help with our rodent issues).

Someone posted recently to a local social media group about turkey [sic] vultures they had seen in the neighborhood. "They were very bold-- not scared of traffic or of me taking photos. Don't know if they attack small animals (house pets) or not, but just FYI."  A couple neighbors noted that they mostly scavenge and that there was probably no need for alarm.  The neighbor who lived closest to the action, and has lived in the neighborhood many years more than I have, said she had never (!) seen vultures in the area.  (This surprised me, because I see them circling in the vicinity at least once a week.)

We also get occasional coyote or fox posts.  And let's not forget the time someone saw a rat snake in the street!

[FishProf]

They are afraid of everything here-- coyotes, foxes, fishers (which aren't even larger than a cat and which they incorrectly call "fisher cats").

Fisher cat (name comes from similarity to European ferret 'polecat') is something to be quite worried about if 1) It's got your pet, 2) or its got you.  They are vicious (as are all weasels).  They are also very shy, so 1) is unlikely, and 2) requires you being a)stupid or b) being me actively trapping them (which may just be a subset of a).

I am still annoyed/surprised by folks who want to live in the 'wilderness' (really, a suburb) and the NOT want the wildLIFE that goes with it.  Some people still think life is a Disney movie and wild animals are just little people in fur.

[nebo113]

Two turtle rescues this week.

[apl68]

While passing a tree this morning I heard a wham beside me.  I looked over and saw a squirrel that had just dropped to the ground.  It must have dropped down harder than expected.  I've never heard a squirrel drop make that much noise.  Didn't look like the squirrel was injured...but I bet that smarted a little!

[nebo113]

How do raccoons KNOW that the metal can contains bird seed????

[nebo113]

Well.....the raccoon has out maneuvered me.  Cane has bungee cord on lid and two chairs laid over it.  Last night, canine was barking on the porch, dashing around....  Kinda dark at that end of porch so I took broom handle and poked around the can, under the chairs, but nothing felt squishy and nothing moved.  Checked lid and it was ajar so reached over with my hand to resettle it.....and two eyes peered out at me.  Yep.....raccoon hunkered inside the can....lid ajar, under chairs.  Fled when it saw me, over the porch railing, canine barking madly and .....

Gotta think about another strategy.

[AmLitHist]

We worked outside until nearly dark yesterday evening (see gardening thread!), and as we both sort of collapsed in the chairs on the front porch, we were entertained by Rabbit Games!  There were five altogether, some playing leapfrog in the street, some chasing madly down the street north of us, then coming back around the block from the east, some chasing each other around our yard and the neighbors' yards.  They were having such a good time!

[apl68]

While coming back from lunch, I spotted a turtle crawling along the walkway in front of the library.  It was peering over the edge of the curb, and shying away when it decided it didn't like the looks of that drop.  Dropping down there wouldn't have been a good idea--beyond lay a broad asphalt driveway, then a broad strip of grass, then a sidewalk and a busy highway.  The day has been mainly overcast, so I suppose the turtle ventured farther out into the open than usual.

I carried the turtle to the back side of our lot and into the edge of the woods.  Usually when I interact with a box turtle it clams up tight.  This one showed no signs of that.  It started flailing with all four legs, and kept its head stuck out as well.  It kept trying to fight all the way back to the woods.  I strongly suspect that this is where the turtle emerged from in the first place.

[nebo113]

While coming back from lunch, I spotted a turtle crawling along the walkway in front of the library.  It was peering over the edge of the curb, and shying away when it decided it didn't like the looks of that drop.  Dropping down there wouldn't have been a good idea--beyond lay a broad asphalt driveway, then a broad strip of grass, then a sidewalk and a busy highway.  The day has been mainly overcast, so I suppose the turtle ventured farther out into the open than usual.

I carried the turtle to the back side of our lot and into the edge of the woods.  Usually when I interact with a box turtle it clams up tight.  This one showed no signs of that.  It started flailing with all four legs, and kept its head stuck out as well.  It kept trying to fight all the way back to the woods.  I strongly suspect that this is where the turtle emerged from in the first place.

The first one I rescued last week tucked up tight.  The second one scuttled away and flailed like yours did.

[Thursday's_Child]

Successfully let a large moth escape via the bathroom window this morning.  I think it arrived in the house with the laundry....

[AmLitHist]

I saw the prettiest little doe in a cornfield by Kid #1's house yesterday evening.  I was at her house about 10 minutes, turned around and came back to town--and about 5 miles south, I saw another gorgeous little doe in a cornfield.  I'd bet money it was the same doe.  They can move, especially across open fields when nobody else is around.

[Langue_doc]

While coming back from lunch, I spotted a turtle crawling along the walkway in front of the library.  It was peering over the edge of the curb, and shying away when it decided it didn't like the looks of that drop.  Dropping down there wouldn't have been a good idea--beyond lay a broad asphalt driveway, then a broad strip of grass, then a sidewalk and a busy highway.  The day has been mainly overcast, so I suppose the turtle ventured farther out into the open than usual.

I carried the turtle to the back side of our lot and into the edge of the woods.  Usually when I interact with a box turtle it clams up tight.  This one showed no signs of that.  It started flailing with all four legs, and kept its head stuck out as well.  It kept trying to fight all the way back to the woods.  I strongly suspect that this is where the turtle emerged from in the first place.

The first one I rescued last week tucked up tight.  The second one scuttled away and flailed like yours did.

They are probably programmed to go in a certain direction to lay their eggs. What we see as "rescuing" actually interferes with the egg-laying schedule of turtles and their relatives. I speak from experience. Long ago, while hiking in one of the state parks I and a fellow motorist spend almost half an hour performing what we thought was a humanitarian mission of rescuing turtles that were trying to cross one of the roads in the park. A few weeks later I came across several clutches of hatched turtle shells on the side of the road that we were "rescuing" the turtles from reaching.

[Puget]

While coming back from lunch, I spotted a turtle crawling along the walkway in front of the library.  It was peering over the edge of the curb, and shying away when it decided it didn't like the looks of that drop.  Dropping down there wouldn't have been a good idea--beyond lay a broad asphalt driveway, then a broad strip of grass, then a sidewalk and a busy highway.  The day has been mainly overcast, so I suppose the turtle ventured farther out into the open than usual.

I carried the turtle to the back side of our lot and into the edge of the woods.  Usually when I interact with a box turtle it clams up tight.  This one showed no signs of that.  It started flailing with all four legs, and kept its head stuck out as well.  It kept trying to fight all the way back to the woods.  I strongly suspect that this is where the turtle emerged from in the first place.

The first one I rescued last week tucked up tight.  The second one scuttled away and flailed like yours did.

They are probably programmed to go in a certain direction to lay their eggs. What we see as "rescuing" actually interferes with the egg-laying schedule of turtles and their relatives. I speak from experience. Long ago, while hiking in one of the state parks I and a fellow motorist spend almost half an hour performing what we thought was a humanitarian mission of rescuing turtles that were trying to cross one of the roads in the park. A few weeks later I came across several clutches of hatched turtle shells on the side of the road that we were "rescuing" the turtles from reaching.

The advice I've seen is to help them across the road in the direction they are traveling when possible. They do know where they're going, we've just made it hard for them to get there by fragmenting their habitat with roads and such.