I still continue to be amazed by the things we see and hear out here, insects and animals aplenty.
Whenever we come home, driving up the driveway, I spot at least half a dozen birds in different places doing their birdly duty of swooping down to probably catch some unfortunate worm who’s just trying to put in an honest day’s slink over to some source of nutrients. Hopefully, I’ll find our binoculars soon so that I can engage in a little bird watching and actually see some details.
In the fields, we’ve now seen deer on multiple occasions – they stay fairly far from the house itself, but we can make ’em out. The other night, Linnea kept texting me from her perch on the porch that there were 3 deer – no, wait, 4! – no, wait, 5!!! deer in the field. I rushed out to see – and yes, they were there, though given the current state of the field (not yet planted), and the coloring of the deer (kind of brownish gray), it was like a Where’s Waldo in near monocrhome.
We haven’t yet had – or, at least, SEEN – the return of our raccoon friend from the first night here. I like raccoons, and though they aren’t strongly in evidence on our property, I do have this fantasy that during the day they climb into our dog’s run and hang out with him, having a little jamboree.
Last night I heard a cacophony of yips and barks and maybe honks? I had thought they were geese – geese make an ungodly number of noises, and we do have geese on the fields around here. Linnea said coyotes and their pups. We went out to the porch to get a better listen and I, half jokingly, semi-shouted, “ey, knock it off!” and they IMMEDIATELY went silent. Truly, humans are the greatest predator.
On the insect front, thanks to our ridiculous cold weather lately, wasps and bees and most other insects haven’t been much in evidence. I did see a spider – black, fat, and had an orange triangle on his or her back – which I determined to be a “bold jumper” thanks to the internet. It was hanging out on our grill, but scampered off when I came by. So much for bold.
In the city, I don’t really remember much in the way of animals other than squirrels, rats, pigeons, dogs and cats. There were insects of course, but generally not in quantities one would pay much attention to. It’s interesting how sterile that seems now, compared to out here. It’s taking me a while to get used to the wider variety of living creatures out here, but I’m liking it so far.