Backyard Wildlife

In the 3 years we've lived in this house, we've had more than our share of wildlife:

There's been lots of squirrels and tons of bunnies, I saw a raccoon climbing our back fence, and every now and then we hear an owl in the tree out front.  The first couple of weeks we lived here there was a rooster just hanging out.  When Ollie was around, he would catch little shrews or moles, and eventually, he got taken by coyotes (we think) and Jordan even heard coyotes howling while she and her friends had a fire in the yard.  We always see robins, crows and even hawks and a couple bald eagles!

Here's a bunny Ollie caught and brought in 😬

So far this spring, we have seen our wildlife up a little closer:  

First, it was the snake--yikes.  I HATE snakes...like really hate them.  I was working in the garden and was walking to the front to throw some trash away when I saw a garter snake on the grass.  I'm sure I screamed, then I headed inside because I'm sure at least some of the family would be excited to see it.  Tyson, Mike, and Summer were out there instantly!  Summer even wanted to keep it--no way!  I was thrilled when only a few hours after making a home for it, she decided to let it free...oh but not before feeding it a worm I found in the garden.  I sure hope I don't see any more snakes in the yard.

 Next was the baby bunny.  The very next day after catching and releasing the snake, the cutest, tiniest little bunny hopped into our yard.  Summer, Mike, and Callie spent at least an hour trying to catch it!  Finally, they managed to grab it.  It was a little hurt (probably from escaping from Callie and running under the patio) so we put it in a box.  Summer REALLY wanted to keep it.  She named it Cocoa and decorated it's box.  She kept it overnight and then we told her she had to let it go free.  She was really upset about it, but finally, let her go.

Lastly, a couple days later a bird flew into our backdoor.  When we went out to see if it was ok, it was laying on our patio chair.  It looked fine but wasn't moving.  Summer ran and got her nest and we put the bird in it.  The poor bird just sat there, not really moving.  I was worried it was just going to die and Summer would again be traumatized, but after about 20min it flew away as good as new!

I think that's enough wildlife for this entire year, but I am sure Summer wouldn't agree!  She certainly loves her animals:)