Fauna and other natural things

[Morden]

Raccoons are pooping on our roof again.

[FishProf]

A turkey got up on our deck and faced down all three of the cats through the glass back door.  One charge and peck at the glass and the cats fled.  I didn't see them for a few hours.

That was one proud strutting Tom after that.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

SO and I have noticed, what appear to be dead honeybees, on the front porch most mornings for about the past two weeks. By accident, we observed these bees flying around the porch lights at night (11pm EST)! I did some quick googling and the reason they're out at night could be due to a nearby hive being able to see the light from the porch. SO and I tried turning on the lights much later (after dark) to hopefully, deter the bees from being attracted to the lights. We had fewer dead bees this morning, so maybe it worked? Anyone have thoughts on this? I don't want any more bees to die. :(

Do you really need to have porch lights on at night? There are all sorts of reasons to try to reduce light pollution. If you have them for security, perhaps you could replace them with motion activated ones?

We have motion-activated lights on the other side of the house. I think we'll try to turn the lights on well after dark and see if we continue to have improvement.

[Catherder]

4 young rabbits are playing tag on the lawn while the neighbour's  ragdoll cat watches malevolently.

[apl68]

A remarkably tame-acting squirrel perched on my patio rail to eat a nut and left fragments of shell lying on my patio.  Not very good manners on the squirrel's part, but the entertainment was worth it.

[sinenomine]

I just had my first bear sighting of 2021.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I just had my first bear sighting of 2021.

Neat!

A squirrel pulled the suet feeder down and started dragging it away. I ran outside to retrieve it before the squirrel could abscond with it.

[ab_grp]

It would be neat to see a bear (from a distance!) while not in a park.  There was just one in my mom's area recently.  Was it a black bear?

Squirrels are little rascals.  Nice try!

I just received a neighborhood watch notification that a neighbor had been surprised to come upon a herd of black cows in the middle of the road in our neighborhood last night.  I also learned that cows have the right of way here.   Good things to know, I guess.

[apl68]

I just had my first bear sighting of 2021.

You mean you can have multiple sightings in one year?  That's impressive!

Our pastor's wife was on a hunting stand last year when she saw a bear down below.  After it had left, she carefully got back to her vehicle.  While driving home she spotted a pair of game wardens meeting on the side of the road.  She stopped and asked if they could guess what she had just seen.  They had no trouble guessing that it was a bear.  She must have had that "just-saw-a-bear" look in her eyes.

[sinenomine]

Yes, ab_grp, the bears in my area are black bears. And apl68, they're quite common. We also get moose, fisher cats, and bobcats, but they're less ubiquitous. Coyote are all over the place.

[arcturus]

The cicadas are in full hum here. I keep thinking that there is one in the room with me, but I cannot find it.

In other fauna news: the local deer herd is doing well. Two new fawns were born last week in my backyard.

[mamselle]

Wow, the doe must have trusted you.

M.

[downer]

I've let half my yard become a meadow. It is getting to 4' tall now in spots. It's good for the butterflies and insects, and I think there's a rabbit living in there too. Some wildflowers, which are lovely.

[nebo113]

I've let half my yard become a meadow. It is getting to 4' tall now in spots. It's good for the butterflies and insects, and I think there's a rabbit living in there too. Some wildflowers, which are lovely.

Might you say more about your meadow?  I wanted to keep my 'yard' natural, but it is not at all 'meadowish.'

[downer]

I stopped mowing it about a year ago. I mow around next to the fences, so the neighbors will have fewer concerns. It seems to have all sorts of different grasses in it. I do nothing to it.