I have a love-hate relationship with the animals running, flying, zipping, munching around our yard. Sometimes I want to rid the place of them, but other times I enjoy watching them.
I like most of the birds. Was hoping to attract an oriole this year, but didn’t happen. So far this spring, I’m enjoying baby robins and the return of hummingbirds and goldfinches. I love the goldfinches. We’ve got a robin family just outside my kitchen window that I can see from where I work at my computer. I watched the mom and dad gather material and build the nest. Now, I’m watching the parents bring worms and the chicks grow. There are four babies, and the nest is getting a little crowded! But one year, I also watched a nasty blue jay swoop into another bird’s nest and confiscate/kill the babies. That was heart wrenching. And now I hate blue jays.
Sometimes we have bats. Occasionally we’ll have an owl or two, and I’ve seen hawks grab a meal. But with birds comes bird poop. I’ll just say we may have placed our water feature a little too close to the patio! 🙁
We have a couple of huge, old trees that attract about a bazillion squirrels. Squirrels are destructive. They chew up furniture and break off branches of trees and bushes. They eat through wires. And they make a mess. For some reason, they like to gather walnuts from our neighbor’s tree and bring them over to my house to break them open. The walnuts resemble a small hedge apple. But the nut is encased is a heavy black gunk that gets all over everything.
Another animal that calls our home its home is the garden variety rabbit. Baby bunnies are cute. No argument there. They really are adorable, but they like to eat. A lot. And you never know what plants are going to be their fave in any given year. Sometimes it’s impatiens. Sometimes it’s hostas or begonias. And it makes me crazy to spend good money on flowers that end up as bunny food. The chipmunks are also cute. It can be fun to watched them run around and play and chase each other. But they dig up flowers and tunnel through the beds, earning themselves a spot on the naughty list.
So, I have an ongoing struggle with nature. It’s like that Forrest Gump box of chocolates—year after year, you never know what you’re going to get! What’s in your backyard?
We’ve seen deer, a coyote, foxes, and molehills till we got rid of the moles. And hawks, killdeer, orioles, and many other birds. A turtle, tree frogs, and a toad. That’s what I can think of off the top of my head.
That’s a lot!! We see a fox in the area occasionally. Those deer are cute, but can munch a lot of shrubs and flowers! Good luck!