They live among us!

I sometimes feel that here in eastern Ontario, we live on the edge of a great forest. We have scraped away small tracts of land to build our cities and our houses on. But the trees are constantly trying to take back our yards and gardens!














I have to rake up pine cones quickly - to prevent my lawn from becoming a mini-forest.

Animals are still part of this habitat:














Here is one of the rabbits that lives in the neighborhood. One of my neighbors used to complain that they ate all the lettuce in his garden - but now he has made peace with the situation by planting enough for the rabbits and himself... He has even given up putting little plastic wire fences around his garden like he used to do. The rabbits just chew holes in the plastic and hop through anyway!

I'm not sure how these rabbits survive in winter, or where they make their homes, but we still see them hopping around outside on cold, snowy days. I'm not sure if they are a wild species, native to these parts, or someone's pets that escaped ... but they are wild now and manage to survive outdoors.














The most noticeable wildlife around our homes are squirrels...














Some are black.














Others are brownish-gray. I'm not sure if they are different species, or if they are part of the same family with differing fur. The brown ones have bushier tails.

The animals and birds usually ignore each other - though I've seen a crow sit patiently for hours near the nest of a squirrel that had a string caught on its leg. I never did see what happened to the poor squirrel... whether he got the string off or whether the crow eventually got him.

I once watched in amazement as a baby crow and a baby squirrel played together: they would get really close to each other, then each would pretend to attack the other, who would then run away. They took turns running away! It looked like they were having fun... (Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me.)

We also have lots of birds, like blue jays, robins, cardinals, and numerous smaller birds that I don't know the names of. I recently bought a bird book to help me identify them.














Crows are easiest to photograph, because they're large and they walk around.

Two summers ago we saw a hawk drop down and grab a robin in mid-flight, and fly off with him, so there must be a hawk's nest nearby.

Last winter my husband watched in horror and fascination as a hawk - possibly the same one - sat on a low branch near our living room window devouring an animal - possibly a squirrel or a mouse.

The skunks and raccoons that live in our neighborhood are harder for me to photograph, as they generally come out at night. But we know they are there. The telltale smell a skunk sometimes lingers in the early morning air. Raccoons are most often visible on garbage collections days - as they like to tear open garbage bags that have been set out on the curb- especially if they can smell barbecued chicken bones. We also have groundhogs and mice in the field nearby.

Sometimes the groundhogs, squirrels and rabbits end up being hit by a car. But if they do, they don't usually stay on the road long - scavenger birds (like crows) usually eat them up quickly.

All these animals live in our midst. They live among us - or is this really their home - and we live among them?!