Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The wildlife in my yard.

If it's not the squirrels mocking my every attempt to provide food for the songbirds, it's the coyotes behind my house bringing me out of a dead sleep at 4 in the morning. (Sound only, because it was, as I said, 4 am.)

39 comments:

  1. How funny, as I have some similar photos awaiting a post. I've only seen a coyote a handful of times in my life, and I don't think I've ever heard them. That would be annoying.

    Nice to see some grass though!

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    1. I actually love hearing the coyotes, I just prefer it before I go to sleep!

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  2. Can't tell for sure from the pic, but those look like some fat squirrels, I'm sure they're thankful.

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  3. Do you think the coyotes found a squirrel? We have daily squirrel attacks on the feeders. They are very acrobatic. Wow green grass. I haven't seen that in months.

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    1. I don't know - squirrels can stay safe in the trees.

      Fortunately, green grass is the norm here, even through most of the winter.

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  4. well that will keep you awake at night...ha...
    i still love the squirrels...

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  5. The squirrels I would love. The coyotes? Not so much.

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    1. I like having the coyotes - as long as they don't get too close!

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  6. I’v never heard the sound of coyotes before (with the possible exception of movies), so thank you for that. Squirrels I don’t like much, they at bird food twice as fast as the birds do.

    Soon I’ll be woken at an ungodly hour by songbirds. At first that’s lovely, by April it gets to be a nuisance.

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    1. You're welcome.

      I like my squirrels, even if they are greedy. But songbirds never feel like a nuisance to me - I don;t get tired of their sound, no matter how early.

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  7. No squirrels here because we live on what was a small prairie between wooded low hills. We have rabbits, deer, skunks, rattlesnakes, and the occasional bobcat. We have plenty of coyote, too, and neighborhood pets have been killed when coyote came into fenced yards to get them during the terrible drought we have experienced in recent years. I've had a pair of coyote trail me when I'm out walking just as the sun comes up. Perhaps because my way-out-of-standard pony-sized golden retriever was walking with me, they just trotted parallel to me in the field next to the road, watching me, and never approached, but I cut that morning's walk a little shorter than usual.

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    1. Welcome. I've also got rabbits, snakes (not rattlers), raccoons, deer, and groundhogs at various times in my yard. I've seen coyotes out and about but not the ones who live in the woods behind me. I don't liek the idea of them trailing me!

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  8. OMG...that was so interesting because I've heard coyotes before!

    I think it's so awesome that you live so close with nature as you do, and can experience this.

    And squirrels? Well, you KNOW my LOVE of squirrels. And if I could have one as a pet, I would. They're soooooo cute!

    Love the photo!

    X

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    1. I really do love having so many sorts of animals around me - they all keep me entertained.

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  9. Wow, what an incredible racket! No wonder they woke you from deep sleep. They'd wake me too, for sure. No coyotes here though, only the odd raucous motorbike.

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    1. And that was over a white noise machine and with the windows shut!

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  10. Love the sound of coyotes, but agree with you that it's a better go-to-bed sound than a wake-up sound! Looks like your squirrels are well fed. We have lots of both, squirrels and coyotes, and other creatures that wake us up with peculiar noises in the night. Even though it disturbs my sleep, I so love being in a place where it happens all the time.

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  11. The coyotes are doing a job on the stray cats around here. But there still seems to be an abundance of cats. I've managed to find ways to hang the bird feeder under the eves so the squirrels can't get to them, so... I have a separate feeder for them.

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    1. Oh, that's a little sad, but I know it's the natural order of things.

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  12. The squirrels are always very clever and the coyote's scare me to death!

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    1. I don't worry much about coyotes - I figure they aren't all that interested in me.

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  13. I'm a fan of squirrels too. No coyotes here that I know of: just black bears. No bird feeders because of the black bears.

    I welcome those bird songs too--the sooner, the better. You should see my yard, cs, snow higher than the shrubs. It just keeps coming @&&$@

    Love
    kj

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    1. We get black bears here on occasion, but not in my neighborhood. Yet.

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  14. You have interesting wildlife in your "neck of the woods." Where we used to live we would have coyotes in our neighborhood (mind you just your average neighborhood in the middle of the city, no acreage, etc). It took me awhile to realize what the noise ws when I heard them at 4 a.m. too (must be a popular time for them to howl?) We had to be careful with Koda because even though our fence was about 6 feet high, they could still jump it if they wanted to. We never sent him out without us going with him and a big stick. We would have a coyote watch at the corner of the fence, waiting for him I think. I do miss the roadrunners and quail we had there. Now we get opossums and raccoons.

    betty

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    1. I am sure a coyote would happily snap up a small dog. With larger breeds, they will sometimes mate. I'd be curious to see a coyote-dog mix.

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  15. Darn partying coyotes! We use fans here just for background noise. Then I can drop armloads of books, and the kids upstairs sleeping will not hear a thing.

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    1. I have a white noise machine - I could still hear them over it!

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  16. They sound like a pack of dogs with all that yipping. Makes you wish you could call the neighbors and complain, doesn't it?

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    1. I will take yipping coyotes or barking dogs over someone's loud TV any day,though!

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  17. I could cope with the squirrels but the coyotes?

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    1. I like them - they make the place feel a little wild.

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  18. We have coyote around here but I've never actually heard them.

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    1. I had one at my rental house directly under my window one night. Really startled me!

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  19. Very noisy, no wonder they wake you up :(
    XO
    WWW

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    1. Normally I'm still awake when they start, this was unusually late.

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  20. I'm just ornery enough to prefer coyotes over squirrels.

    Of course, I prefer an uninterrupted night's sleep more than anything.

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