Backyard Critters
- Thread starter JoeThePop
- Start date
GuyK
Junior Member
The usual visitors to my yard are the standard bushy-tailed tree rats, aka Eastern Gray squirrels, and long eared yard rats, aka Eastern Cottontail rabbits, which I tolerate but don't especially like. But today was different and exciting. Early this evening, for only the second time in nearly 26 years, I saw a squirrel native to the region in my yard. A Douglas' squirrel! These are only 'bout half the size of the Eastern Grays, and have outsized personalities. Quoting John Muir "He is, without exception, the wildest animal I ever saw,—a fiery, sputtering little bolt of life, luxuriating in quick oxygen and the woods’ best juices."*
The Mountains of California, 1894
The Mountains of California, 1894
There are five less groundhogs in our little hamlet* as compared to last autumn.
That's about all I have to say on the matter.
I'd tolerate them if they wouldn't dig large and inconveniently-located holes in the yard. The electric poultry fencing around the vegetale gardens seems to deter them (and they don't seem to bother to tunnel up into the gardens any more, for whatever reason).
They're more than welcome to the field(s) around the house... just not the yard.
mfrench
Senior Member
@mhardy6647
We have a local rodent that I call Sage Rats. AKA,.. Beecheys Marmot; Cal Ground Squirrel. They are cousin relatives of the Groundhog, and slightly larger than the average tree squirrel.
They are incredibly destructive tunnel diggers.
In one instance, they dug into a slope in front of my house; the leading edge of the lot grading. The builder pushed soil out to an edge, and that created a slope out front. The whole area is covered in 3/4" crushed rock, gravel.
The Sage Rats dug into the face of that slope, below a native shrub, about 2' below the graded dead-level edge. They went back likely further than 10' (house to edge of graded slope is perhaps 20'), and 10' wide.
I found this out by backing my 3/4ton truck onto this graveled area, with a heavy load of gravel. When I crossed their den, it collapsed, and I sunk up to the pumpkin of my rear differential/axle. And it was with both wheels.
I had to break out my highlift farm jack, which fits into the tow hitch. I lifted the truck, and had to start using the load of gravel to fill in below the lifted axle, in order to finally drive out of this stuck situation.
It took a few loads of fill soil in order to fill the void. And its still trying to sink out even now, a few years later.
We have a local rodent that I call Sage Rats. AKA,.. Beecheys Marmot; Cal Ground Squirrel. They are cousin relatives of the Groundhog, and slightly larger than the average tree squirrel.
They are incredibly destructive tunnel diggers.
In one instance, they dug into a slope in front of my house; the leading edge of the lot grading. The builder pushed soil out to an edge, and that created a slope out front. The whole area is covered in 3/4" crushed rock, gravel.
The Sage Rats dug into the face of that slope, below a native shrub, about 2' below the graded dead-level edge. They went back likely further than 10' (house to edge of graded slope is perhaps 20'), and 10' wide.
I found this out by backing my 3/4ton truck onto this graveled area, with a heavy load of gravel. When I crossed their den, it collapsed, and I sunk up to the pumpkin of my rear differential/axle. And it was with both wheels.
I had to break out my highlift farm jack, which fits into the tow hitch. I lifted the truck, and had to start using the load of gravel to fill in below the lifted axle, in order to finally drive out of this stuck situation.
It took a few loads of fill soil in order to fill the void. And its still trying to sink out even now, a few years later.
Monarch butterfly caterpillar (one of the first we've seen this season).
what appear to be aphids being herded by* a couple of what appear to be genuine "ladybugs" (ladybird beetles), as opposed to those invasive lookalikes.
______________
* or, at the least, closely watched by
mfrench
Senior Member
My rodent conflict continues. Last night: four rats, and one mouse eradicated.
I run a surveillance video to monitor the rodents.
These two images are from one single 10 minute file. The Rat started the file, sitting on bait seed.
Then about 6 minutes into the same file, an Owl dropped down into the Gallery, had a look around, ate a beetle-like insect, then flew off.
The Rat
The Owl
I've got an Owl watching my back.
I run a surveillance video to monitor the rodents.
These two images are from one single 10 minute file. The Rat started the file, sitting on bait seed.
Then about 6 minutes into the same file, an Owl dropped down into the Gallery, had a look around, ate a beetle-like insect, then flew off.
The Rat
The Owl
I've got an Owl watching my back.
mfrench
Senior Member
This is the video, edited only to content length (part of a 10 minute file). There are no pauses or breaks in the timeline.
The vid starts with a Rat. Then at 21sec, the Owl drops in, and immediately bags a beetle-like insect on the ground. It looks around for a moment, then flies off. It missed the Rat by mere seconds.
The vid starts with a Rat. Then at 21sec, the Owl drops in, and immediately bags a beetle-like insect on the ground. It looks around for a moment, then flies off. It missed the Rat by mere seconds.
JoeThePop
Brussels Sprout King
Well that’s one way to almost get stung. I was using my little electric blower to clear the detritus from the squirrels, birds and whatever else off my front porch, and while I was at it I started blowing around the door and the eaves to get rid of all the spider webs. How was I to know that a small group of wasps had just started to construct a nest. They were a bit angry but luckily I think a bit disoriented from the blast of wind. I did manage to take one of the little buggers out, and destroy the nest.
I was rather surprised a few days ago to espy this buck out by the septic field with a rather asymmetric rack...
Interesting, what kind of mayhem do they partake in?
Oh, why do they call them whistle pigs? Yes I found out that they actually do whistle, but why pigs if they are supposed to be groundhogs(?) Why did this guy come to mind too?
Holes, holes, holes.
JoeThePop
Brussels Sprout King
I have one that seems to live somewhere in the woodlot behind me. In 3 years I have only seen him 4 times so I’m not sure where he spends his time. I find his tunneling in the common property between my house and the neighbor’s but never have found a hole. Kind of strange.
GuyK
Junior Member
Is this a lil' bitsy Snapping turtle?
Yep, they crawl out of the pond across the street and lay eggs in my yard - we’ve got sandy soil and good Southern exposure. This little guy had just hatched and was braving traffic to get to the water. I found and escorted three of ‘em to the water today. 🙂
That's just awesome, Nate.😊
