Enjoying (Some) of the Wildlife at Our Little House

With cameras on most of our cell phones, it isn’t very often that many of us don’t have one available.

But why is it when I don’t have a camera with me that a great photo opportunity always comes up?

I had just placed a fresh bottle of homemade hummingbird food out the other morning and was standing on the deck waiting for Dakota to do her business when one of the little buggers hovered and then landed on the feeder for at least two minutes, not more than 3 feet away. Of course, I didn’t even have my cell phone with me. Darn!

Photographing wildlife, lizards and cool insects is just one of the many rewards I’ve found of living in the country.

A couple of weeks ago, I was startled by a really high pitched screeching sound. It was night and again, I was out with Dakota. We both scurried back in pretty fast and the next morning, I asked my friends on social media what it could be.

This cool site, which has hundreds of sounds of different birds confirmed it was a screech owl. I had long admired the hooting of our horned owl in our hollow, but just recently began hearing the smaller screech owl.

Of course, we have critters here that are less enjoyable to encounter, such as skunks, poisonous snakes and mud dobbers (I got stung this year, ouch!)

Tomato horn worms aren’t fun either, but at least this year, I got them before they got my plants, and I didn’t use pesticide. As neurotic as it may sound, I took a light to the plants every night as soon as it got dark to scan for them.

Luckily, I found at least 2 dozen and picked them off as soon as they hatched (they were quite small unlike the others I’ve found in previous years already fat from destroying my bounty!) This pack of worms only got a few leaves and part of one fruit before getting tossed into the woods to serve as bird food.

Crossing my fingers that there will be no more, but I do have help, a Granddaddy long-leg has taken up residence on my tomato plants at night. I read they are good for the plant, so it gets to stay.

After 7 years, I finally just might make it through summer with a full harvest of tomatoes that something else didn’t get first.

What are some of the critters you love near your home and what are some you could live without? Have any sounds ever scared you?