Suburban Wildlife (and a few domesticated critters)

[RAM]

We're fortunate to live in a heavily wooded 50 year old subdivision here in Nashville with nearby heavily forested ridges-but with even closer Super WalMart and a shopping mall, an interstate, and miles of development beyond us. So the presence of the following critters is, in my opinion, really quite amazing. No mountain lions or bears-yet, but consider the animals and a few select birds seen in my yard:

Mammals:
White-tailed deer (up to six at a time. They require arm waving and verbal threats to decide to leave)
Coyote (typically in pairs)
Gray fox (The fox is our neighborhood symbol, appearing on numerous signs. The little rascals have proliferated in recent years-not a good thing necessarily. Had to wait patiently a few days ago for a fox kit to decide just where to cross the street)
Milk cow (a few small farm enclaves existed here in the early years)
Goat
Pony
Raccoon (at times past in plague-like numbers-distemper decimated them)
Opposum
Pine vole (not surprising as it is the most prolific mammal on Earth)
Shrew
Eastern Gray Squirrel (the Devil's spawn!)
Eastern Chipmunk (need a few thousand?)
Flying Squirrel (had six in attic)
Cottontail (Hosta is their favorite food)
Several bat species

Reptiles:
Black snake
Green snake
Milk snake
Skink
Brown lizard (species?)
Box turtle

Amphibians:
Salamander of unknown species-where it came from puzzles me as the nearest creek is several houses away)
Toad (Bufo americanus)

A few notable birds:
Wild turkey
Bob White Quail
Turkey vulture
Coopers Hawk (a bit scarce now)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (saw one today in front yard)
Red-Tailed Hawk (had a nest in our woods with a successful fledging)
Screech Owl
Barred Owl
Blue Heron (cleaned out all koi in neighborhood fountains)
Song birds too numerous to list now

Unusual (maybe not) in my opinion for such an old neighborhood once but no longer at the edge of town.

Bad Bob

[john elder]

So, is this another case like singing "...round john virgin..." ? have I been saying "barn owl" all these years when I should have been saying "barred owl"? .at any rate, you need the services of this guy, BB! Then you can still have the whole family all year round!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJP1DphOWPs

(sorry about the commercial on the front...leave the sound off til they get tired of selling shampoo)


Deke

[Don Champion]

Bob - Our subdivision which is a mile outside of the city limits is only about 25 years old and we have had most of those in our yard also. The most turkeys? I lost count at 44! And right next to the house.

[robert ellis]

I have been taking wildlife pics for about 12 years now, slowed down working on the website all the time. But I need to get back out there! here is my site on old reels, and widlife pictures, hope you enjoy!
http://robertsreelsandwildlifephotos.weebly.com/

[RAM]

Beautiful pics Robert! Thanks for the great web site you have.And you have quite an array of wildlife. I assume you must live in the hills out there! We have bob cats reported in the neighborhood but I never have seen one. No wild pigs to my knowledge. A nutty guy on a street behind us once had wolves and an African lion (among other exotics) in his back yard. When the wind was right we could hear the wolves howl at night. Fortunately he either moved or got shed of them!
BB

PS for Deke: We have barred owls (big birds!) living in our neighborhood, but barn owls do live in our area. Just never saw one. Both eastern critters.

[kingfisher]

barn owl.png

barred owls.jpg

[robert ellis]

Kingfisher, do you have owls Down Under ?

[kingfisher]

Robert,

Yes we have many owls of different species.

At night hey grab the geckos from the window panes while the geckos feed on the insects that are attracted to the lights.
I saw a Tawny frog mouthed owl on the road one night. Thinking it might be injured or soon would be , I walked up from behind and picked it up, got away from the road, opened my hands and it flew away.
A Powerful owl flew straight at me and veered off when it got very close. I could not hear it but I did see it flying at me. Just having fun I guess. The feathers are designed to quieten any wind noise .
http://australian-animals.net/owls.htm An Aussie Owls site
Ray

[robert ellis]

I am very fascinated with owls! I have spent a lot of time searching for them, by looking for their regurgitated casts under trees, or around barns, tall structures, etc. I have taken many pics of the Burrowing owls, and the Great Horned, all though never got a good Great Horned pic! I wrote a short article a few months back on the barn owls here on ORCA here is that link below! Thanks Bob for the use of your post!
http://reeltalk.orcaonline.org/viewtopi ... l+pictures

[Reel Geezer]

This great horned owl and his mate have lived across the road for many years. They have a conversation almost every night.

[robert ellis]

Ya know Bob I may borrow that photo, it would look great on my site I could never get past the brush on those guys!

[RAM]

Another wild critter to add to my neighborhood menagerie-Armadilla's. Been in the area now for several years in very limited numbers but this is the first just down the street. Next-Nutria! No doubt a result of global warming.
BB

[robert ellis]

That would be one that I have never seen! being a wildlife photographer! I lived in one area in Northen California for 35+ years, never saw a coyote, or a possum (correct spelling opossum, never understood the spelling on that one?), and in the last 10 years they started showing up. Now they are all over the place! I could not ever figure out why, NorCal is still not very populated? So you may be right there on the global warming. I just hope my family survives the next generation, I don't care about me! I pretty much have already seen everything! well except for a few hundred reels that I have been chasing!

[Don Champion]

I thought armadilla's were native to the SW. Is it possible someone's pets escaped and started breeding?

[RAM]

Armadillos are indigenous to the southeast Gulf Coast states, but with several warmer than usual years in the past decade they have migrated as far north as Tennessee. I have seen them here for several years but not two blocks away. Probably one of those expanding bio things related to subtle average temp increases. May be other factors involved as well. These things are never so simple it seems. Even black bears have moved into Middle Tennessee, and I doubt warming is the cause.
But what do I know? BB