Although it has never played a big role in selecting where we chose to live, we have been fortunate enough to have chosen to live in a place with a lot of wildlife in the neighborhood or at the least, close by. These are the neighbors who add that something special that other humans cannot offer. The bluebird on the windowsill, the bobcat and coyotes that cruise through as they engage in the daily search for food or perhaps the deer or squirrels that plunder the bird feeder and cause you to run up big bills for seed at Ace Hardware or wherever you buy your bird food. I can’t chase them off, even my chubby little grey squirrel. Lest I forget, the raptors who survive thanks to all the other creatures, which are food to them.
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Here are a few of these marvelous creatures we share the neighborhood with. All of these photos were taken in my yard or within about 100 feet of it. Photo 1 (At the top of this page): A portrait of a young bobcat in my yard. Photo 2: A Cooper’s Hawk that has just finished plucking the feathers from a Gambel’s Quail that he successfully hunted. A Cooper’s Hawk’s diet consists mainly of other birds.
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Photo 3: A grey squirrel stretched out on a limb of the peach tree out back. He’s hanging on with his back feet and using a small branch stub to hold the peach in place.
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Photo 4: A Cooper’s Hawk launching an attack on a young kingsnake in the grass and out of frame.
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Photo 5: A portrait of a coyote coming through our backyard and likely looking for a meal.
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Photo 6: A bobcat heading down into the arroyo to enjoy his dinner of freshly caught rabbit.
