Suburban living means easy access to every needed creature comfort. Growing up in Houston, I lived in a bustling city. Most weekends, we’d head to “The Farm”, my dad’s ranch in the beautiful, remote Texas hill country. Living in suburban Connecticut reminds me of both. I’ve woods in my back yard, but am only a few minutes from “town”. With city-life nearby, it’s easy to forget we’re surrounded by woodland creatures calling the area home, too. Taking my dog out, I’m hearing more birds, signaling spring’s on the way! It’s this time of year we start to see more wildlife moving around, too.
Quail Run Ranch, Harwood Texas, 2011
Holy guacamole! It never occurred to me that you lived in an area where there are so many wild creatures. We might get an occasional deer, moose, raccoon, and (thankfully!!) no snakes, but would LOVE turtles.. We have lots of owls and hawks in my neighborhood. I live in a semi-rural/suburban area of Washington state. Yes, the amount of housing developments is going up and the animals are continuing to feel the brunt of it.
One night, while I was still living in my old house, I heard a movement in my living room. Back in those days, I used to leave my back door ajar for my cat if she didn’t come in when she was supposed to. Anyway, there I was walking down the hall in my pj’s and a LARGE raccoon walked out of my living room and out the back door. I had left a bowl of nuts on the coffee table and she had come by for a midnight snack! So much for the habit of leaving the back door ajar…
I no longer let my cats roam at large. I have a contained area for them to go in the warmer months. You have to understand that everything seems to be part of one food chain or another!
Loved the pics, especially the ones of the bobcat.
Jan,
Love your story about the raccoon in the living room! What a shock I bet that was! Good thing he let himself out, the little bandit!
As for moose, I’ve heard that there are some migrating back to the upper Northern part of Connecticut. Whether or not that is true, I’m not sure yet. I’ve heard they can be aggressive at times, too. Thanks for sharing! -Nicole
Hi there,
Having grown up in Brooklyn, N.Y. (lots of cement, a few trees and grass, pigeons & sparrows) you can imagine my delight to live in the country. I’ve seen a red fox trot by, and one coyote, a hen-turkey, red-headed wood peckers, rabbits, bats, migrant birds, hawks, many Canada Geese (stay year round), many types of ducks, bats, cranes, then chipmunks & squirrels, possum, our local raccoon family, & groundhogs and moles. The deer are seen less as more homes were built and same for the one pheasant I was lucky to see. We rarely see some owls. This is very comforting to me to see this wildlife trying to survive around us.
Take care, Ellen O.
Hi Ellen,
You didn’t mention where you moved to from Brooklyn, but sounds lovely! I love seeing the groundhogs here, they are so adorable. I also once saw what I believe to be a wild mink, but that was when we first moved here and were still one of the only houses around. We don’t see pheasant anymore, either. My father reports that the roadrunners, quail, and tarantula spiders we always saw when I was young up at the ranch have also disappeared largely due to the fireant population increasing. Enjoy, and thanks so much for commenting. -Nicole
We have LOTS of deer and raccoons that roam around where I live, plus a bunch of other woodland creatures 🙂 🙂 We keep our garbage cans shut…and they don’t lock, but we have these really heavy stone slabs on top. Those work really well. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of CAlifornia, Heather 🙂
Heather, that’s a good tip. I never thought about putting something on top of my garbage can lid to keep critters out. Something once got in mine…the cleanup was awful! Thanks for reading and for the tip! -Nicole
Nicole! WHAT are you feeding that squirrel?? 🙂 What a chub!
Here in Virgina we have all the animals you mentioned, in addition we have been having fairly regular sightings of bald eagles! YAY!
Meredith – I know, right? That squirrel was a butterball! Guess it was all my pumpkins from the fall…
I’ve only seen a bald eagle flying overhead once, and it was so large and majestic. Lucky you that you see them regularly! Thanks for reading! -Nicole
Nicole! WHAT are you feeding that squirrel?? 🙂 What a chub!
Here in Virgina we have all the animals you mentioned, in addition we have been having fairly regular sightings of bald eagles! YAY!
Meredith – I know, right? That squirrel was a butterball! Guess it was all my pumpkins from the fall…
I’ve only seen a bald eagle flying overhead once, and it was so large and majestic. Lucky you that you see them regularly! Thanks for reading! -Nicole
Nicole, Read your new blog and it brought a tear to my eye. It brought back memories of all the trips we took to Quail Run and how you grew up in the wilds of Texas. Really enjoyed your new blog… very informative to new comers in what some folk. Just to let you, know Quail Run is still wild. I have a picture from one of my trail cameras of a big mountain lion with a 12 point buck by the the neck he caught under one of my feeders. Keep up the good work. Love you, Dad
Dad, I want to see that picture! Missing you…love you! Nicole
It’s Ellen again: Oh,I forgot to say that I am now living in Ohio! I’ve been in the Air Force and once lived in Rhode Island. Our little house there in the woods had a mudroom where I kept our potatoes and apples. By morning the apples had a bite out of one or two and they were strewn all over. Turned out to be the raccoons pushing open our outer front door. Like Heather, we wound up putting heavy bricks on our trash cans too. Cute looking, but wasteful & pesky animals.
To actually see a bobcat is such a rare experience. There are a lot of them around here, but I’ve never laid eyes on one. Texas and Connecticut are a long ways’ apart in about every way :o) I feel fortunate to live in a place where native animals still live here also. I bet you do too. I love my wild neighbors.
Hi Shery, you are so right, I do love the wildlife around me. As for the bobcat, I’ve heard no more reports in the neighborhood of sightings. Jane was lucky to get those pictures! Take care and Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi, Nicole,
I enjoyed this blog and the pictures are so impressive. I liked the pictures of the bobcat. Impressive, and that is a very chubby squirrel! Is the bird feeder the vintage hummingbird feeder you told me about? We have bears and coyotes here in northeast Georgia so we are warned about leaving food outside. I am so proud of you. Love, Mother
Hi Mom! No, that is not the vintage hummer feeder I just got. That’s an old picture. As a matter of fact, I don’t use that type of food anymore, but make my own. The vintage bottle feeder will come out in a few months. Miss you and love you, Nicole
I grew up in a suburban area, and when I had children we moved to an agricultural reserve just 3 miles from a big suburb–it’s funny how that short drive can make a world of difference. We had goats, ducks, mini horse, and such a wonderful place for our children to learn about the animals.
Hi Melissa, All those animals sound like Heaven to me! My family and I love animals and I would love to have goats and ducks, and a mini horse! Thanks so much for reading and commenting! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I’ve seen bobcats several times while hunting, but not on trail cams. I believe Kari (I Don’t Wear Pink Camo to the Woods) had a fisher on her trail cam last year. Pretty sure it was her.Cool shots of the yote! We’ve got tons of them, but have never captured one on camera.