Who's Having a Wild Time

If you have arrived here hoping to find something racy, then you should be aware that the wild time I'm referring to is represented by a cast of wildlife characters who have decided to visit and enjoy my backyard. The only wild parties I'll be sharing are bird parties, along with the tenacious squirrels who love to crash them. I enjoy watching nature and I love animals. This blog serves as a record of the wild companions I've had the opportunity to meet while residing at my current home.

I live in a suburban neighborhood next to a wild ravine, which encourages a large number of animals to explore my small backyard, especially as I have become more dedicated to backyard birding. I am not an animal expert and am learning how to provide a humane habitat for wildlife, while still allowing the animals to remain wild.

I've always enjoyed observing wild animals which may have come from many hours spent with the family watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom in the 1970s as part of the routine Sunday night viewing. We later became regular viewers of Marty Stouffer's Wild America, and Nature has become my current favorite wildlife show.

Of course, watching wildlife on TV, while interesting, is not nearly as exciting as seeing it up close. What has inspired me most to document my animal adventures are the regular visits of a solitary, wild turkey hen over the past four years, who I like to call Princess. I am always surprised to see her return each spring. I know there will come a day when she will no longer grace my yard and I will miss her. She is a special hen and I'll be sharing her story.

I've also played host to a family of opossums. Every now and then I'll catch one out during the day. I'll never forget finding a crying orphan the size of a hamster in the yard. By the time I went inside to look on the internet for what I should do for it, it was gone.

Of course, what would a backyard be without the silly, invasive antics of a marauding gang of squirrels. I don't mind the family of tree squirrels so much as the chubby cheeked ground squirrels who will rapidly decimate the bird feeders, leaving everyone else in the yard hungry as they scurry away to get fat off their stores.

You wouldn't think they'd be so bold with all the neighborhood cats who love to come hang out. I have to be careful where I feed the birds to make sure I am not also feeding the cats. I'm okay with them controlling the rat population as long as they eat them elsewhere. I don't enjoy having to pick up rat heads and tails.

I have accumulated many bird visitors over the years, and have quite a noisy yard with regular visits from finches, sparrows, kinglets, doves, woodpeckers, crows, and jays. On rare occasions, I am treated to the hooting of owls in the evening. I always enjoy discovering and trying to identify new birds that I haven't seen at the feeders before.

So, if you are also an animal enthusiast, join me on my adventures with wildlife in the backyard, help me identify unknown birds, or explain odd animal behavior. Unfortunately, I am not the most proficient photographer, but hopefully my skills will improve as I dedicate myself to documenting my backyard observations.