I thought I would try and share some pics of some of the "wildlife" that we share our backyard and neighbourhood with. Unfortunately I don't have pics of everthing that you might find interesting. Missing are pics of mountain lions, black bears, coyotes and bobcats. Mountain lions are very elusive and the last one that hung around was a young male about 2 or so years ago. In the winter we sometimes see their tracks which are quite distinctive. Black bears are frequent visitors especially in the spring and fall but I never seem to have my camera handy. Bobcats are also elusive. Coyotes are common but they are common almost everywhere. We also have moose and white tails a bit higher up and to the east about 50 plus kilometers grizzlies are starting to move back in from further east. We have pockets of mountain goats but not in my immediate area. Also lots of owls, eagles, hawks and during the summer turkey vultures. Black Widow spiders are very common but don't pose much of a danger and we have a small variety of scorpion but I've never seen one although my neighbour got stung by one. They aren't lethal. We have rattle snakes that are quite timid and some other varieties of snakes that are non venomous. We have way too many mule deer and my favourite are big horn sheep. About 7 years ago they contracted a form of viral pnemonia from domestic sheep and about 90% of the local herds died off but they are making a good comeback. My wife and I record sighting and provide the data to the people running the big horn sheep recovery program. Anyway enough of this, on with a few pics. The first are of some sheep in our back yard. Some on the neighbours front yard beside our driveway: On the street at the foot of our driveway: And finally in our back yard again peeking at us from through the trees: Next are a few of a mule deer buck and doe that spent about 3 hours in the yard. These were taken 2 years ago during the rut. And the object of his affection: The next pic is of a rattlesnake that I captured in a garbage pail in order to relocate it. It had been hanging around in the rocks in our yard for about 2 weeks and my wife almost stepped on it twice. On the day of the pics i got home from a short ride and my wife met me and said he's back, you have to catch him, he's sitting on a rock beside my oregono plants. To which I said "thanks, you couldn't do it yourself?" Anyway, I managed to position the pail below it and flicked it into the pail with a rake. Then took the pics and moved it down to an undeveloped area. We've done this once before and I've discovered that rattlesnakes have a rattle that says keep back and then a rattle that says I'm reaaly pissed off and will bite you if i get the chance. The next is a pic of a beautiful liitle non venomous snake called a Blue Racer that was on the path in our yard. Finally here is a pick of a praying mantis. We have quite a few of them and see them in the fall mostly. This one is eating a cedar bug aka a stink bug, that we caught and then fed to the praying mantis so we could take some pics of it eating. We took lots but this one gives you the idea. Hope these are of interest and you enjoy them. Cheers, G
Wow cool pictures...that praying mantis looks wicked wow. As for the rattle sname, man your a brave lad...there's no way I'm getting near a rattle snake :shakehad: Those things are dangerious. I think the rattle noise is cool though :thumb: Great pictures, lovely are you live in.
I live in rattlesnake country and I scream like a girl every time I see one. Those Bighorns are impressive animals with how they scale the mountain sides. Cool pics :thumb:
Hey G, Great pictures. It must be a thrill to live at your house. Praying mantis is my favorite. Thanks for sharing...:worship2:
Nice Pictures! Looks a lot different than the wildlife around my house (alligators, sharks, dolphins, manatees, stingrays, lots of large birds and wild parrots)
Cool pics! Snakes....ugghhh! I have snakes here and they freak me out. Even the ones the size of a pencil. I scream like a girl!
I'm happy that everyone is enjoying them! Ya, the praying mantis is a really interesting creature to watch. As you move your hand around them they swivel their head as they watch you. It took about 20 minutes for it to eat the cedar bug. It started at the head and ate everything. Wings, legs etc. After that I gave it a moth and it took that too and ate the whole thing. I'm not a big fan of snakes either but you get used to them and we find that these rattlers are not very aggressive compared to others we've encountered. They really just want to be left alone and will move away rather than get worked up. One day we were walking in a gravel parking lot at a hiking area and I walked up on one that was under the back bumper of a car. Was almost on top of it before I saw it and I think I jumped about 3 feet in the air (but I didn't scream like a girl lol). It was a big one and it just moved away. My wife just laughed at me. Anyway, thanks for the kind words. G
Oh come on be honest you screamed at least a little :laughing: :laughing: :rollinglaugh: :rollinglaugh:
Beautiful pics!! Thanks for sharing! ahhhh... your brave to relocate a rattle snake!!! I know I would have done my best just to stay out of his way!!! mg: The rest of you guys are cracking me up with the screams like a girl :lol2:
