Wildlife Around Your Home (post pics if you've got 'em!)

Fifthelement

No, it wasn’t a pet.  It was more like a friend.  He worked in the forestry service and just had an amazing way with animals.  He died when I was young, but I remember him as a really kind soul.  I was entranced by the magpie that would sit with him as he did his paint by numbers under a big tree in the yard.  

vogonpoetbythelake

Another lucky girl you are...thank you for sharing...

rhanishane

this is another baby magpie that turned up to work randomly one day. would steal keys off my desk and sit on my laptop. They are the cutest cheekiest little things and it was not a pet. He came and went as he pleased usually at lunch time he would fly in for a snack then fly off again after terrorising the offices. we named him morty but hes gone now.  They grow up and do adults things. Some are savage at breeding time and will swoop the hell out of anything nearby. They dont forget a face so if you're familiar they wont hurt you. My family of magpies have jad 5 sets of babies since ive lived there.  this time they had 3 babies and they steal the dog and cat food everyday so i five them extra haha

rhanishane

Fifthelement said:

rhanishane said:

Magpiesfeed your noisy babies.. made a huge mess of the spaghetti

The magpies of AUS/NZ look so different from the magpies in the area where I grew up in western Canada.  I always loved them when I was growing up in the city, although I know that a lot of farmers do not like them.  My uncle had a tame one that would sit on his shoulder or on the table beside and visit with him.  They are a curious bird, much like the crows and ravens in the area where I currently live.

images from:  https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/bkbmag1/introduction

these look like our Australian bower bird. some are all black and some have bright yellow where the white is on these. Some are brown but have piercing cobalt blue eyes and they collect anything blue to decorate their ground nests. usually blue pegs and blue bottle caps.

brianlux

Nice to see the love for our avian friends here! 

Fifthelement

rhanishane said:

this is another baby magpie that turned up to work randomly one day. would steal keys off my desk and sit on my laptop. They are the cutest cheekiest little things and it was not a pet. He came and went as he pleased usually at lunch time he would fly in for a snack then fly off again after terrorising the offices. we named him morty but hes gone now.  They grow up and do adults things. Some are savage at breeding time and will swoop the hell out of anything nearby. They dont forget a face so if you're familiar they wont hurt you. My family of magpies have jad 5 sets of babies since ive lived there.  this time they had 3 babies and they steal the dog and cat food everyday so i five them extra haha

That is such an awesome story. The circus family has so many cool birds.  So social.

My parents had a Rottweiler that would bring out mouthfuls of dog food to feed the local magpies.  They became quite friendly with him and trusted him enough to eat the food right beside him.  Unfortunately, their next rottie wasn’t so friendly with them.  They learned quick though 😳🤣

rhanishane

Fifthelement said:

rhanishane said:

this is another baby magpie that turned up to work randomly one day. would steal keys off my desk and sit on my laptop. They are the cutest cheekiest little things and it was not a pet. He came and went as he pleased usually at lunch time he would fly in for a snack then fly off again after terrorising the offices. we named him morty but hes gone now.  They grow up and do adults things. Some are savage at breeding time and will swoop the hell out of anything nearby. They dont forget a face so if you're familiar they wont hurt you. My family of magpies have jad 5 sets of babies since ive lived there.  this time they had 3 babies and they steal the dog and cat food everyday so i five them extra haha

That is such an awesome story. The circus family has so many cool birds.  So social.

My parents had a Rottweiler that would bring out mouthfuls of dog food to feed the local magpies.  They became quite friendly with him and trusted him enough to eat the food right beside him.  Unfortunately, their next rottie wasn’t so friendly with them.  They learned quick though 😳🤣

i bought a maremma pup especially so the natives around here would be comfortable in my yard. She still play chases them but she would never hurt them and as you can see they are not afraid to bring the babies to the dog food dish haha.

Fifthelement

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

eeriepadave

Fifthelement said:

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

took me a few seconds to spot the other one. Nice pic.

Fifthelement

eeriepadave said:

Fifthelement said:

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

took me a few seconds to spot the other one. Nice pic.

Me too, tbh.  I only saw her after I herded the dogs inside and she finally moved.  Dude deer was staring them down protecting her as she is injured.  Not sure if she will survive, she wasn’t putting her left, front hoof down.

brianlux

Fifthelement said:

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

That is one very plump deer!  Ours are usually pretty scrawny out here.

mcgruff10

Fifthelement said:

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

Mule deer? What state do you live in?

brianlux

No pics to go with this and though cows are hardly wildlife, I found this fascinating:

Today I learned that cows eat acorns. My wife and I were on the walking trail in town today and at one point there were a half dozen or so cows beneath an oak tree foraging in the dry leaves. So I told them in a very authoritarian voice, "Um, hey guys, that's all dead leaves. There's nothing green there to eat."

So my wife say to me, "They're eating acorns."

"No way! Really?"

"Oh yeah, they like them."

So I held an acorn out to one of the cows and she stuck her big fat tongue out and took the darned thing and ate it! LOL, I sat there for ten minutes throwing acorns from our side of the fence over for them to eat.

Happy cows!

Fifthelement

brianlux said:

Fifthelement said:

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

That is one very plump deer!  Ours are usually pretty scrawny out here.

They’re usually smaller cause we’re on an island, but it’s autumn so he’s bulked up for rutting season I guess.


.mcgruff10 said:

Fifthelement said:

Not the best picture quality, but cab you spot the deer?  There are two.

Mule deer? What state do you live in?

I believe so, or a type of mule deer at any rate. We’re on Vancouver Island.

Fifthelement

brianlux said:

No pics to go with this and though cows are hardly wildlife, I found this fascinating:

Today I learned that cows eat acorns. My wife and I were on the walking trail in town today and at one point there were a half dozen or so cows beneath an oak tree foraging in the dry leaves. So I told them in a very authoritarian voice, "Um, hey guys, that's all dead leaves. There's nothing green there to eat."

So my wife say to me, "They're eating acorns."

"No way! Really?"

"Oh yeah, they like them."

So I held an acorn out to one of the cows and she stuck her big fat tongue out and took the darned thing and ate it! LOL, I sat there for ten minutes throwing acorns from our side of the fence over for them to eat.

Happy cows!

Oh my god, that is adorable.  I love cows.  My favourite ones are . . . 

wasa1971

These two running through the yard the morning.

rhanishane

wasa1971 said:

These two running through the yard the morning.

wow. Beautiful! 

Fifthelement

Spotted this little fella walking behind his mom as I was leaving work.  He was was soooo tired.  Really dragging his ass, but really watching me closely. 😊

brianlux

Fifthelement said:

Spotted this little fella walking behind his mom as I was leaving work.  He was was soooo tired.  Really dragging his ass, but really watching me closely. 😊

Deer youngsters are so cool.  Sweet!

PJ_Soul

This fat gal is always around, and so are her babies. She is a fully urban raccoon, so she is well fed. She's got a real personality. She and her kids live in the tree right outside my apartment. We've had unusual weather lately for the region - snow and cold - so I am happy to see her doing well!

Fifthelement

^^^ she’s adorable!

Hi!

lastexitlondon

Wow what is that?

rollings

Looks like an eagle

Hi!

Yes, a couple bald eagles I came across on a hike today. The nest is huge, I thought it was kinda spooky. 

Kevinman

Hi!

Kind of a shitty picture, but was able to get a quick one of this owl after it flew about 4 ft in front of me. Pretty badass. 

rhanishane

just thought you might be interested in seeing our beautiful Aussie parrots. I get the king parrots, scaley breasted lorikeets, rainbow lorikeets, rosellas and crimson rosellas, pink galahs, corellas, sulphur crested cockatoo and black cockatoos here at my house. Many of these birds tragically perished in the fires and the thick smoke along the east coast as you can imagine. They are the sound of the bush and sometimes it's deafening here with all the bird calls. My patch of bushland survived the fires and more birds have moved in from the surrounding burnt forests so there is an influx of colour and noise in my neighbourhood.

lastexitlondon

Wonderful

wasa1971

The height they get while moving through the snow is incredible.