Wildlife in my yard

“Friday afternoon, I was using my gear sled to haul some wood I had cut in the fall up a hill to the house to split. Crampons were essential, as was the gear sled. My Golden Retriever was out running around the woods near me. I called him, but he didn't come right away. All of the sudden, he appears from nowhere and sits down right by my feet.

He had several porcupine quills on his muzzle. I pulled them out and then looked inside his mouth. I pulled about 10 more porcupine needles from his tongue. He didn't wine or whimper once. I put him back inside the house and went searching for where he might have gotten into trouble. I followed his tracks a short distance and found where a porcupine had been killed, probably the night before. There were several sets of tracks, either coyotes or wolves. We hear coyotes all the time in our back yard. There were several clumps of fur, skin and porcupine needles. My dog had apparently thought these would be somehing good to eat. How wrong he was! He also threw up a big clump of fur and porcupine needles while outside before I took him inside.

I called the veterinarian, told them what happened and asked if I should be watching for anything or if there was anything I needed to do for my dog. They said I should bring him right in and they would at least give him some antibiotics. The vet said it was strange a porcupine would be out this time of year because they are usually in hibernation. It was has been fairly warm (40s) during the day for the pas several days. She thought maybe one had come out briefly and had been killed by a pack of something. I pulled another needle out of his tongue while waiting at the vet's office. She said he would most likely be fine, but if any needles are in his system, they may take a very long time to work themselves out. They can get into the lungs, the heart, the intestines...all sorts of bad things can happen. He seems to be fine, though and doesn't mind the big scoop of peanut butter to get his meds.

I went out the next morning and picked up the remaining clumps of fur and porcupine needles so the dog wouldn't get into them again.

On another note, I was letting the dog out last night when I heard a flapping come from one of the trees in front and he started barking. There was a very large owl that flew into a nearby tree. We saw the owl later again that evening and today I saw drops of blood right near a tree where the owl had perched. His hunt must have been successful.

I love living in NH with all this wildlife right outside my door! My dog and I could have done without the remains of a porcuine kill, though.”

“Hi skiracer, i hope your dog is okay, and stays okay! You must live in a great wildplace. What did the owl look like? White or dark? Ear tufts or no? I love seeing owls! Lucky you!”

“I saw a white owl on the ground once..as I was leaving work in my car. I had the headlights pointed at it...I got out and tried to approach it (with the headlights at my back)...those owls have such good ears and eyesight...I didn't take two steps and it flew off.”

“I hope Merlin recovers okay. He probably won't mess with porcupines ever again. :-)

I can definitely relate, Ski. I was out at night walking on my lake and listening to the ice move. Then, I heard a single howl from about a mile off, it's call reverberating through the still night air. Then, I several more joined in. Coyotes. It was really cool to hear.

Earlier this winter, I also came across moose tracks about a half a mile into the woods behind my house. A friend who lives a few miles away had a bear in his backyard recently. I love it here.”

“Oread, it was a dark brown with some lighter coloring in some of the wing feathers. I didn't notice any ear tufts, but I was about 40 feet away and I kept the flashlight from shining right around it's head. I didn't want to completely ruin his night vision.

Artex, I'm not sure Merlin would stay away, but I sure hope so. Smell for dogs is a pretty overpowering sense. I told the veterinarian I was going to clean up the remaining fur and quills and she said that was probably a very good idea, as he might just go right back there. Thank goodness he didn't roll all over them. Dogs tend to like to roll in strong smells. I would have been picking quills out of him for a long time.”

“My dog would've done just that! Glad he wasn't messed up worse.”

“Hope your dog is okay skiracer!

Lately deer have been frolicking all around my house, digging in the snow. Usually there are many deer around, and I've almost hit one in my driveway, but seldom do I see tracks out front like now. We have lots of wildlife (including moose in my backyard) but the best is the sounds of the owls and coyotes.

One day last week a fat red cardinal sang outside my bathroom window. I tried to get a pic but scared him off.

Last night we made a pit stop on a logging road and came across a dead moose. No idea what happened to it.

listening to the ice move
snapping, cracking, popping, groaning - that's the sound of ice making more ice
ice sex, hehe”

“Hey Ski - I'm hoping your dog clears whatever quills he picked up with no more problems.

Ice Sex - Kewl! Interesting thought there.”

“Thanks to everyone for the good wishes about Merlin. He seems to have no ill effects. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.”

“Speaking of wildlife in the yard I'm having a little problem with a raccoon right now. He's currently treed at the very tippy top of the magnolia tree in my front yard; my garden hose doesn't spray that high. It occasionally eats the outdoor cat food and was trying to raid my birdfeeder via the big bronze bell 2 feet away. Not happening, runt, no matter how cute you are.”

“skiracer, maybe it was a great grey owl! If it had no ear tufts. You are lucky enough to have them over where you are. I only got to hear one once...over in eastern Oregon.”

“Hope Merlin makes a full and complete recovery - he da man!

I sat here and remembered the hill and the surroundings as I read the initial post. I had to squint my eyes to imagine it covered in snow, tho.

Bear (no pun intended) in mind that the deck stairs were designed and built to support an 800 pond bear...”

“gojo, that's why you put that 2 1/2 foot gate on the top of the steps...to keep the bears off the deck. Bears on the stairs are fine..I just don't want them on the deck. ;-) We've had a bear cub on the deck before. It climbed one of the supporting posts before the stairs were installed, so it doesn't matter if there are stairs or not.

BTW, the stairs are doing fine. I even stained them this summer.

We hope you and the pooches are doing great!”

“This is another reason I love living in NH:



This barred owl was hanging around right above some birdfeeders strung in the backyard, high above the ground to prevent bears from getting to them. I feed the birds sunflower seed and some seed drops to the ground where the red squirrels get to eat. I'm guessing that the owl was hunting red squirrels. The owl sat on this branch in the snow for well over an hour.”

“SWEET picture, skiracer!!!! Very cool!”

“Awesome.
We used to have one that came around in the fall. Haven't heard it in a while now. :(”

“Great shot skiracer..thanks for sharing.”

“Nice shot, ski! Really beautiful!”

“I just looked out my kitchen window and couldn't spot any wildlife. Something's obstructing my view.


last edited: 3/12/05 2:56:33 PM”

“lmao!”

“ski, wow, nice bird, nice pic! He really blends in with the scenery if you don't look around your yard. I have racoons and hummingbirds from Quince bush that attracts them. Do cats count, lol?

I was walking blocks from my home where a new developement is going up and and this cat comes along and decides to walk right next to my dog like they were buddies.

I thought he was lost and called his tag number and found out he lived near me. Then he followed me home that night and now he shows up in my backyard to visit my dog. They just sit together in the backyard.”

“Artex, it's a good thing you're just renting. It's good to keep the snow away from the siding on the house and especially away from windows, doors and molding. I just used the roof rake this morning and then shoveled it away from the house. The way the snow piles are compacted from the snowblower, I'll be wearing shorts someday soon and will still have piles of snow all over the place.”

“Yeah, even though I don't own the place, I'm going to dig it out tomorrow. It's only proper. Snow is still sliding off the roof, so I want to wait another day.”

“We had a fox in the garden this morning. Pretty cool!”

“my house got tagged last night, freakin urban wildlife, time to buy some paint”

“what happens when one gets "tagged?"”

“grafetti on the house, it reads dang in lime green paint on my shale walls”

“Offer pending on 2.9 acres with these views.
June first move in date if we come to an agreement on price.


”

“Very nice Pathman!”

“Nice, Pathman.

We've had a couple of wild turkeys roaming around our property every day for the past couple of weeks. I guess we need to stock up on cranberry sauce.
last edited: 5/07/06 10:30:14 AM”

“I had a couple of squirrels teasing my dogs for the past few days but thats it...oh we did have a Red Tailed Hawk in the giant oak tree a couple weeks ago.

Whassup Skiracer?”

“sweet pathman”

“Hi, Spam! Things are great here in NH. How's NC treating you?

I was sitting at my desk working on a client's server remotely the other day. Something hit one of the windows in the office and I turned to look. It was a small bird, quickly followed by a hawk which picked up the bird in it's talons and flew away with it. I'm not certain, but I think the hawk chased the small bird into the window.”

“saw a fox the other night in the neighborhood. He crossed the road ahead of me and at first I thought "DAMN what a BIG cat!" then i got closer and said, wait a minute - thats a FOX!.

Very cool.

Couple of weeks ago, I saw mule deer in these folks front yards - theres a wildlife area right here in the middle of suburbia.”

“hey roam hows life”

“hey there yourself - life ain't bad. You gonna come out west sometime soon?”

“There was a fatass 'possum "running" down the alley a few nights ago.

I gunned the engine and flashed the brights and you shoulda seen him kick it!!”

“I have a TON of deer in my yard. They eat EVERYTHING (killing everything)& like sleeping in the mountain laurel. NOTHING has worked in keeping them away. Yesterday, I purchased some highly reflective crinkly mylar tape.Hang it in 2-3 foot lengths. Spooks them & noisy in a breeze. My yard looks like a Christmas tree but NO deer for 24 hours. Wonder how long it will last?”

“If that doesn't work just get a few of these for your yard.
http://www.wildlifetech.com/pages/necoyote.htm
I haven't seen a deer in my back yard for about 5 years since they moved into the neighborhood.”

“THe next door neighbor must be getting into the dating scene seriously. She was suntanning this weekend.....WOW. Gonna be a great summer.”

“we've got a blue heron that has made a temporary home on the lake behind our house...got to see him very close this morning as he flew right by me...i just hope he doesn't "let loose" over my house”

“TH, I have a blue heron who likes to try and snipe my koi fish. My neighbor's house is his favorite perch. THe roof is covered with about 50 2 foot long white streaks.”

“it's like someone dumped a quart of white paint from a plane!!!”

“Had one.

Best dog I ever owned. A friend from out west brought him to me. He was half Shepard/half Coyote. Named him Kyute. He'd chase my car down the road at speed. Once I heard him yelping when I was out about a mile or so on the lake our house was on. I was in a cheap inflatable & believed he was going to sink us when I hauled him in. Didn't like being left behind. Used him on the job.

Everybody & every thing backed away when he bared those hooked fangs. He used to s%^$ in my shoe when he got mad at me as a (ferocious)pup. Then tear up my favorite books & LP's. I've only seen one other dog as smart my entire life. I'd take another.”

“The pole holding all my birdfeeders now has a metal slinky going around it...an idea from a friend on the other side...and the nice folks who manufactured my live trap are sending me, for free, a new rod that holds the door open. It was bent irreparibly by the last raccoon I trapped...I am at WAR!”

“someone just told me to lay chicken wire on the ground in front/around the flower beds... according to them; deer don't like walking on it. The deer pretty much cleaned me out already this year.”

“The only thing that saved my flowers this year from the furry pigs was deer netting...I put it up the moment the snow melted...I'm seeing flowers I didn't even know I had...it is WAY kewl....”

“I have
- whitetail deer
- wild turkey
- mourning doves
- squirrels
- cardinals
- blue jays
- Downy woodpeckers
- crows
- cottontail rabbits
- groundhogs
- skunk
- raccoon
- robins

a couple of years ago we also had some hummingbirds”

“If you want the humming birds back, make a super sweet solution. It CAN be just sugar & water, but as much sugar as the solution can hold. This has worked for 100% of the folks I told it too.They do like the red color, so a little food coloring helps. Word gets around among their crowd. Once they find it, they become territorial, chasing other birds (even their own kind).

We stopped trying to attract them because, they'd buzz us on the patio. You have to change the solution often (so smaller is better) & clean the (usually flower)feeder holes often so they don't breed bacteria.”

“2 years ago during the deer hunting season, I had a few deer in the backyard. They must have been spooked out of the woods. Last summer, I had a black snake in the yard too.
last edited: 5/08/06 8:32:48 PM”