For as long as I can remember, I wanted to live in the country. We all have our preferences about everything, including where we live. My main reasons for wanting to be out away from town is that I just don’t feel free when I’m being told that I can’t have a single weed over 8″ (even one stray weed in a flower bed or by the mail box post), or that all cars must be parked inside a garage, or there can be no clotheslines or . . the list goes on. I understand the value of rules, covenants, restrictions but for me, the good life is living where I don’t have any neighbors so whatever I do – weeds, clotheslines, music – I am not bothering anyone else and no one is bothering me.
What I never thought much about was the critters. If we set out a trap, we will catch something – raccoon, possum, skunk.
Last night Vince took Rita out, thankfully on a leash. She immediately started barking. It was dark but Vince said he thought it was a huge skunk. He grabbed the light and went out and it was a porcupine!
Fox
This fox was on one of the trail cams from last night. He had been at the tank getting a drink of water. That’s what it’s there for – wild animals get thirsty too.
When we go to bed, we never know what’s just outside our bedroom windows. Some nights when I have the windows open, the coyotes wake me up. They seem so close and it takes a lot to wake me up.
I guess living in the country, we have wild critters in our yard. Who knows what/who we’ve had in our yards when we lived in town.
lizeagan@swbell.net says
I live in a suburb of OKC (Edmond and not in one of the rural sections of the suburb). So far I’ve had deer, skunks, raccoons,squirrels, possums, hawks and a wide variety of birds as well the standard variety of snakes, spiders, lizards, other bugs, mice, moles, etc. I know there are foxes and coyotes in the area – I just haven’t seen them in my small yard.
My favorite invaders were the family of wild turkeys – mom, dad and the brood of about 12 turkeys walked up the street, checking the lawns for bugs and other goodies to eat.
Tina in NJ says
We live in suburban New Jersey, with two direct ways to commute into New York City within walking distance of our house. We’ve had possums, foxes, deer, even a little bear in our neighborhood! When it’s dry like it is now, they come into our yard looking for green growing things.
vivoaks says
Country living could take some getting used to if you’re not used to it. I’ve lived in the country all my life, and wouldn’t have it any other way. While we do have neighbors on both sides, you can’t see our house from the road, and sometimes we have more animals than we’d like. We’ve had raccoons rip apart our sub-flooring, to the point that our drain from the shower froze solid. We’ve had possums climb on the bed with us in the middle of the night (they got in where the coons had chewed through the sub-flooring) and we’ve had lots of deer, squirrels, and lots of local birds, including the piliated woodpecker. Because we’re in a 50+ year old trailer, we also have our share of moles and mice. We’ve already caught 6 moles and 3 mice, and it’s not even that cold yet!! Never-ending fun!!
Anne says
I live in the middle of the high desert in Arizona. We have lots of critters. I love to listen to the Coyotes sing at night and sometimes they are very close. The other night when I took my dog out (she’s a tiny thing and I always have her on a leashI heard snuffling and snorting and then sure enough I smelled them… javalina. We get lots of ground squirrels and moles and skunks and rattlers and other slithering things, a bob cat here and there and deer as well around and I love it, it’s part of where I live. Owls and hawks are a huge issue out here too!
So I totally understand your critters!
Sherrill Pecere says
I lived in a beautiful house with an HOA and, like you, I knew they were good and bad. I didn’t like having to get permission to do anything to/around the house because I paid for it but I wouldn’t have wanted someone parking their old beater in the front yard. But didn’t want to pay dues for the rest of my life and didn’t need the big house so moved back to the old neighborhood..no HOA but still in town!!
Melody Wathor says
I love your stories about critters. We live in a neighborhood on the edge of town and often have them in our yard. We back up to a small pond.
I love seeing the roadrunners when we visit my sister in Breckenridge, TX. (We don’t have those in Arkansas) She lives on 60 acres. I assume you have those too.
Linda in NE says
Do you have a board or branch or something in the tank and propped up on the edge so if something falls in they can get out?
JudyL says
We have a thing that’s hooked to the edge of the tank with something that resembles a door hinge and that allows the board to rise and fall with the water level. We keep those in all our tanks.