Eeekkkkkk!!!!!!!!!

Living in the country these past sixteen years, My Sweet Hubby (MSH), TLC, friends and family, and I have seen many, many wild animals. Too many armadillos (that DESTROY our lawn and gardens—we don’t treasure them…); roadrunners; red and grey foxes; squirrels/chipmunks; coyotes; bobcats (MSH was leaving for work early one morning—about six years ago—when he encountered two baby bobcats sitting on our back rock wall near his truck. He came running back into the house to find me—so I could see them. They were gone by the time I got there. I was sad and he couldn’t get over how close he was to them!); many bird species; feral and stray cats; mice; rats; a few random dogs (that clearly are just curious and visiting as they don't even try to stay); snakes (EEEKKKKKK!), including rattle and copperhead; raccoons; deer; skunks; and possums.

We’ve heard, for years, there are a couple of mountain lions in our area. Fortunately, we’ve not seen them. Because, honestly, that would skeer me to death. Truth.

We never, ever, ever tire of seeing these animals. (Well, maybe we tire of snakes. Yes. Yes, we do tire of snakes. And armadillos. Sheesh.)

We’re always so surprised when we spot these amazing creatures. Like we’ve never seen literally hundreds of them before!

(The following pictures are not great quality because all but two were made through a door or window. I can assure you that most of the time I have no intention of going outside to get prettier pictures.)

Last November, this skunk was rambling around our yard on the master bedroom side of our home. In the daytime. Which is normally unusual. He/She was close. Very, very close! Buddy Bear, our Chocolate Lab, has only been (barely) sprayed once by a skunk—in the five years he’s been with us. That’s not bad---considering he’s out and about all over our place. Every day of his life.

About two months ago, this raccoon was having a feast of birdseed at our back door. He/She saw us watching him/her and truly didn’t want to leave. He/She finally sauntered off into the woods. I caught him/her a couple of hours later—having come back for more. I’m certain the birds were not appreciating his/her invasion.

About four weeks ago, MSH quickly ran into our Great Room to get me. I was on the divan. Watching something educational on TV. (Winky. Wink.) He’d looked out one of our bedroom windows and seen these two little fawns!

It was sunset. We think they sensed someone/something was close by—as they’d look up if we even whispered to each other! They didn’t leave for at least forty minutes. At first we couldn’t figure out where their Mama was—then we saw her from our bathroom window.

She, too, looked up a couple of times—in a reaction to us. In our house. Whispering. MSH says they have excellent hearing. We loved every minute of our up-close-and-personal observation.

(A few nights later, when MSH needed to scare off an armadillo ravaging our yard as fast as he could with a shotgun blast or two, I was afraid we’d not see these three ever again. We did! I was beyond relieved.)

This morning, as I was watering our front gardens and our flower pots, I reached down to adjust a birdhouse under a porch table when I almost touched this snake:

At that moment, I’m quite certain I could have tried out for the Olympic high-jumping team. I ran around the house looking for MSH. Who’d been helping me water on the north side of our porch. He’d gone inside. I opened our back door and screamed at him to go to the front porch—south side. “There’s a snake! I nearly touched it!” When he got outside, he decided it wasn’t any kind of poisonous snake. So he kept trying to make it leave. Having suffered a copperhead bite last September, I wasn’t happy with him messing with this little snake. It went into one of my birdhouses. At which point, MSH picked up said birdhouse and shook it over the garden. It slithered off. It was a “ribbon” snake. Not dangerous. Eats bugs. Frogs. Whatever. A snake is a snake. I hope I don’t run into him/her again. Ever.

And, finally, here are two more little “wild” things! Little Leighton and Baby Elle, giggling with each other in Little Leighton’s room a couple of weeks ago. Such pure and utter SWEETNESS. My Angels!

I love ALL of the wild things in our life! (Although I mostly want to see them from afar…you understand.)

Spend some time this weekend looking at the beauty of nature. Look for birds and animals close to you and/or your home. Visit a park. Walk on a trail. These creatures will fill your heart with joy and peace.

ta-ta for now, Sillies…