Ysengrin Blackpaw's Journal

I'm certainly now living out in the woods (literally) with a more varied assortment of critters that visit after sundown - the night crew. No good pix as the cellphone doesn't like *that* low a light level.

Deer. They roam the area in general, and I've seen three different groups - a buck and two or three does in each - that occasionally check out what's growing in the yard. They also tend to nibble back new growth in the gardens, now that the mass planting of bulbs from the previous owner are coming up. They're not as cautious as the Texas deer, so I'm assuming there's not as much hunting pressure on them. Or, there's more of a deer population and they come around because of that pressure.

Groundhog. They don't roam as far, and there's one denning somewhere between me and the neighbor to the east and down the hill a bit. This one's a bit grumpy, and climbs onto very low branches (a foot or two off the ground) to eat new leaves and flowers.

Black bear. There's one that makes the rounds the night before garbage pickup, scavenging, and that stays away from habitations otherwise. Doesn't seem to visit this house - I haven't actually seen him - but neighbors up and down the street sometimes have garbage scattered or bird feeders raided. The bear's been spotted in an area from half-a-mile to the west to a mile-and-a-half east. It's not like bears are unusual in the area, either - tweet of a picture taken a few days ago.

Raccoons & Opossum. I'm told both are common. Haven't seen any sign of them on site (yet). EDIT: Skunks - I've scented one, but haven't seen any.

Foxes. There's a vixen and cubs in a culvert up the street.

Feral house cats. Yep, even out here. There's a colony up the street, also based around a culvert. They occasionally come down this far, and I think a mother cat relocated her kittens under our back deck for a while before moving them again.

Frogs. Haven't seen 'em, but their night chorus is *loud*. Guessing from the sounds there's two predominant species with a third less common one mixed in.

Not so much a part of the night crew - the birds. I'm working on identifying 'em. So far our most common visitors are orioles, mourning doves, and a plethora of small "peep peep" birds I haven't identified yet. I've also seen blue jays, woodpeckers, ravens, a bald eagle and several other large raptors (unidentified).