Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Wildlife

I've mentioned before how much I love all the animals we see in our neighborhood. The proximity to portions of Jeffries Creek makes this a great part of the county to live in if you want to see many varied mammal, bird, amphibian, and reptile species. We didn't realize it would be that way when we bought this house, because we're right off busy Hwy 76 and less than a mile from the center of the city. What a lucky break! When we lived way out in the country back in 2007-2010, we reveled in the wildlife and the quiet, but the 40 minute commute to work (which we couldn't share because we had very different schedules) got to be too much. It was a pretty place, though, and we were sorry to leave.


When we first found this house and bought it we liked the fact that even though it was off a main highway, it was tucked away and had no through-access. It's a half mile loop that's tucked away with woods and creek bottoms on one side. We've seen all kinds of animals, from large turtles to owls to foxes. Then there's the deer. We see two or three deer several times a week on our early morning/late evening walks with George. One neighbor, we discovered, was feeding some at her back fence early, early in the mornings late last fall. We would always stop and look for a minute, then move on. But we hadn't seen them lately.

Then yesterday morning as we walked past this neighbor's house, her dog was in the back yard for a change and barking loudly at us as we passed. Just as we both were about to say "So much for seeing the deer today..." we realized two does were standing at the fence, behind the fiercely barking dog, completely unfazed and apparently waiting for their breakfast! The dog obviously didn't mind the deer and vice versa. We couldn't believe our eyes! Then the woman walked out, saw us looking, and waved. All the while the two does stood there patiently, looking back at us. How cool is that?

We see two and sometimes three deer at night in other parts of the neighborhood, too. I'm sure it's the same ones. When we see them, we always stop for a minute and look and then slowly move on. They never seem afraid, nor do they bolt. They just look back at us and watch us pass. It's almost like we have neighborhood pet deer and I love it so much! A close encounter with them always gives me a few moments of pure joy. Those are few and far between these days, so I savor them.


20 comments:

  1. that's the way the deer act in our back yard. nearby is a county park and they spend most of the1r time feeding there.

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  2. I have to much wildlife to mention here. I should just hanging a shingle with Petting Zoo on it.

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  3. I am so happy for you. When we first moved into the big house we had all sorts of native creatures. You take me back to the first fall, mom spotted a deer across the creek at the end of the yard. All day we watched it, until at evening it strolled off. Thirty odd years of wildlife was wonderful.

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  4. I live in a development and still manage to see a lot of wildlife locally. Deer, foxes, possums, groundhogs, many bird species. And as you say, it's lovely, very needed right now.

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  5. How lovely for you. A woman who lived a few miles from me in Illinois put out corn for the deer. They often stopped for a snack. Once I saw a baby who still had his spots.

    Love,
    Janie

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  6. Our dog, Billy, loves to chase after deer, not to harm them but as a Border Collie I imagine he wants to round them up. I see it as part of his daily exercise.

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  7. It is wonderful that you have all that wildlife around you! We used to have much more than we do now due to the neighborhood growing and more homes being built. It sounds like the deer have a breakfast bar worked out with your neighbor! That is really cool!

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  8. Every time you mention your deer encounters, I wish I could see them, too! Of course here, so close to the town center, there are none; we have the typical town/city wildlife here, mainly birds, red squirrels, and occasionally I spot a hedgehog (not this time of year). There is probably a modest fox population around as well, but they don't show themselves to me. And car owners report cable damage from martens every now and then.
    It's a very different story where O.K. lives, naturally: The Black Forest close by plus the shelter of orchards and vineyards means we sometimes spot deer when we walk or run in the woods, and the presence of wild boar is obvious without us actually seeing them.

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  9. We used to have deer on our property in Connecticut. They simply walked out of our woods. It was always exciting. And we learned how to discourage them from eating our shrubs!

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  10. That sounds like a good place to live.

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  11. That's great that you see so much wildlife where you live. Nice that the deer are so tame. Here on the fringe of Belfast there's little wildlife except for loads of squirrels. Oh, and a few cows and sheep.

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  12. Having deer come into our yard is such a beautiful thing, They are such graceful animals. The squirrels and raccoons and rabbits and birds are cute, too, but the night we hade a snake on the front porch I had to scrape Carlos off the ceiling, so, yeah, maybe no snakes?

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  13. I know that feeling of joy when I see deer. They are such lovely creatures. We see many in our woods in the winter when there is snow on the ground. Last week we had over a dozen romping around and having fun chasing each other.

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  14. You and Gregg picked the perfect house in the perfect place. I know your search was long and frustrating but now you are home.

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  15. I'm glad you are so happy in your home.

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  16. That's great! I love wildlife in whatever form. We used to see deer around my mom's house in Florida. I think animals are pretty smart in terms of knowing what's a danger and what's not. Clearly the deer are so experienced with this dog they know it's all bark and no bite.

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  17. How nice. There is something very special sitting quietly and watching nature.

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  18. It's lovely that your local environment is better than you thought it would be - like a natural extension of your house. Can you hear the hum of traffic noise from the highway?

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  19. no deer around these parts. we had many back in MI. They ate everything.

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