What Did You See In Your Yard Today?

[NOBLNG]

Just now, espo said:

You do not want to mess with a Racoon. That cat is in grave danger and doesn't know it, yet.  

I have a 10 second video clip of him. I think he wanted to get romantic with the cat.😍

[espo]

1 minute ago, NOBLNG said:

I have a 10 second video clip of him. I think he wanted to get romantic with the cat.😍

Must be a little slow for male Racoons in the wild then. 

[NOBLNG]

Cat ain’t interested….they might know each other from the ‘hood?

Edited April 19 by NOBLNG

[TonyK]

Seems like a Pepe Le Pew situation. 😁

[JollySipper]

Litter......... lots of litter.  

[Falcon Ranchero]

Saw some Deer yesterday; a mother and a last year's fawn; this I believe is the mother in the photo. They've been hangin' around my grandma's place for about a week, having seen their tracks in the back earlier in the week, and then yesterday morning at 3am I guess my grandma saw them as they triggered the motion sensor lights outside, and then I saw them just after 12 noon yesterday I was raking rocks off the lawn, and looked up and saw them in the back so I slowly walked over there, got pretty close. And I guess they were here again earlier this morning.

Edited May 1 by Falcon Ranchero

[JollySipper]

Saw the first of probably many snakes that I'll see this year today.......... A King Snake, about four feet long. I just left it alone, as they eat the lesser snakes and rats that live in the swamp/creek behind me here......... First snake for Emmett, he was curious, but not afraid!

[johnyrotten]

1 hour ago, JollySipper said:

Saw the first of probably many snakes that I'll see this year today.......... A King Snake, about four feet long. I just left it alone, as they eat the lesser snakes and rats that live in the swamp/creek behind me here......... First snake for Emmett, he was curious, but not afraid!

I get a ton of typical garter and milk snakes around my property, some get pretty big. They don't bother me,I feel they're doing me a favor keeping the mice at bay. My dog harley pays them no mind, we don't know know about Harper yet, she's a "city dog".

[rattle can man]

1/4" of rain. And the usual birds. still waiting for humming birds and orioles.

[ksnow]

Had a couple more orioles at the feeders, and our first indigo bunting of the year.

Spied a large snapping turtle crossing from the creek to the pond, and caught a decent garter snake.

[ksnow]

First hummingbird of the year. And the orchard orioles have appeared again.

[johnyrotten]

35 minutes ago, ksnow said:

First hummingbird of the year. And the orchard orioles have appeared again.

My wife has a bunch of feeders,  she's been trying to get them to eat out of her hand,something she's seen online. She's infatuated with them.

[ksnow]

10 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

My wife has a bunch of feeders,  she's been trying to get them to eat out of her hand,something she's seen online. She's infatuated with them.

My sister was traumatized by the little hummingbirds as a very young girl. She had a Sunday dress on that had flowers on it, and dozens of hummingbirds were trying to "feed" from the flowers. She still doesn't like them 40 years later.

They are amazing little creatures for sure.

[A modeler named mike]

4 minutes ago, ksnow said:

My sister was traumatized by the little hummingbirds as a very young girl. She had a Sunday dress on that had flowers on it, and dozens of hummingbirds were trying to "feed" from the flowers. She still doesn't like them 40 years later.

They are amazing little creatures for sure.

My wife had a few instances with her flowered dresses too. So it's apparently not an uncommon occurrence.

[johnyrotten]

21 minutes ago, ksnow said:

My sister was traumatized by the little hummingbirds as a very young girl. She had a Sunday dress on that had flowers on it, and dozens of hummingbirds were trying to "feed" from the flowers. She still doesn't like them 40 years later.

They are amazing little creatures for sure.

 

14 minutes ago, A modeler named mike said:

My wife had a few instances with her flowered dresses too. So it's apparently not an uncommon occurrence.

They've flown passed my head, sound like small aircraft whizzing by. They're neat little creatures. I would not blame them after the scare, they catch you off guard 

Edited May 12 by johnyrotten

[TonyK]

I've had this little guy running around the last couple of weeks. Yesterday he's out and suddenly quite brave about it. He's eating with the squirrels but they try to chase him off.

I've set out mouse traps and finally bought a small contraption with poison bait in it but he hasn't fallen for any of it. I wait until night when the squirrels aren't around so they don't get into anything and then toss it all back in the shed at dawn.

Wife keeps saying it's a rat but I don't think so. Rats are really ugly and this just looks like a giant mouse. I know it's not a mouse because I've trapped those little guys before.

[ksnow]

39 minutes ago, TonyK said:

I've had this little guy running around the last couple of weeks. Yesterday he's out and suddenly quite brave about it. He's eating with the squirrels but they try to chase him off.

I've set out mouse traps and finally bought a small contraption with poison bait in it but he hasn't fallen for any of it. I wait until night when the squirrels aren't around so they don't get into anything and then toss it all back in the shed at dawn.

Wife keeps saying it's a rat but I don't think so. Rats are really ugly and this just looks like a giant mouse. I know it's not a mouse because I've trapped those little guys before.

Looks like the rats we get around the chickens and steer feeders.

[JollySipper]

45 minutes ago, TonyK said:

I've had this little guy running around the last couple of weeks. Yesterday he's out and suddenly quite brave about it. He's eating with the squirrels but they try to chase him off.

I've set out mouse traps and finally bought a small contraption with poison bait in it but he hasn't fallen for any of it. I wait until night when the squirrels aren't around so they don't get into anything and then toss it all back in the shed at dawn.

Wife keeps saying it's a rat but I don't think so. Rats are really ugly and this just looks like a giant mouse. I know it's not a mouse because I've trapped those little guys before.

I've had some pet rodents, although I haven't had any gerbils, that's what that looks like to me! If it's friendly, it definitely is one........ They're very social critters. Are there many kids in your area? They may be missing their pet..........

[johnyrotten]

58 minutes ago, TonyK said:

I've had this little guy running around

Looks like a juvenile black rat. I've heard them called "roof rats".

[slusher]

3 hours ago, TonyK said:

I've had this little guy running around the last couple of weeks. Yesterday he's out and suddenly quite brave about it. He's eating with the squirrels but they try to chase him off.

I've set out mouse traps and finally bought a small contraption with poison bait in it but he hasn't fallen for any of it. I wait until night when the squirrels aren't around so they don't get into anything and then toss it all back in the shed at dawn.

Wife keeps saying it's a rat but I don't think so. Rats are really ugly and this just looks like a giant mouse. I know it's not a mouse because I've trapped those little guys before.

Peanut butter and bacon works great on traps… that’s a fat mouse. Cut off his food source so he will go fo the trap..

[johnyrotten]

26 minutes ago, slusher said:

Peanut butter and bacon works great on traps

I get field mice in the garage,  peanut butter works great. 

[TonyK]

I've used peanut butter in the past and get the field mice in a day but this guy doesn't seem interested. The big problem is I have to limit my trap setting at night to spare the squirrels. Can't leave things lying around during the day or something I don't want to injure or kill will end up in them. And my dogs are another thing.

This is why I only set them up at night and with the longer daylight now it's very limiting.

[bobss396]

18 hours ago, ksnow said:

Looks like the rats we get around the chickens and steer feeders.

A few years back, on a summer day, I saw baby RATS playing in the front yard.

Off to Ace Hardware to get some Victor traps. The new plastic ones work better than the OG wood ones.

I set 3 of them out, within minutes I bagged one, finally the count was 4 within 2 days. I did accidentally bag a Robin in one.

I opened up a cat litter container and placed it over the traps, no more birds. I see one rat around now. I back up to a large tract of woods on one side, so I do get a little bit of everything.

I'll try setting the traps again at night, with the container over them. I don't want to hurt the squirrels.

[ksnow]

While eating dinner last night, we watched a bald eagle land in one of the big oak trees on the ridge across our creek. With binoculars, you could see it had a rabbit in its talons. The crows dive bombed it for a few minutes, then left it alone. The eagle ate at the rabbit off and on for about 15 minutes, then flew off with what remained of the carcass. There are a half dozen lakes within 8 miles, and each have an eagle nest on them. 

[bobss396]

On 5/12/2025 at 10:41 AM, ksnow said:

My sister was traumatized by the little hummingbirds as a very young girl. She had a Sunday dress on that had flowers on it, and dozens of hummingbirds were trying to "feed" from the flowers. She still doesn't like them 40 years later.

They are amazing little creatures for sure.

My sister was around 5, she had long blond hair.. a couple of birds thought it may make good nest material. She was scared of them for a while after.