Critter Picture Thread

[ErikB]

I don't think I created an actual thread for pictures of critters I either took myself or were taken by friends or family. I did change my avatar quite a bit when I first joined, and I posted a bunch of animal pictures to the "Douchebag" thread. My intent is to eventually copy those over to here, as well as copy selected digital camera pictures that have survived my lazy sysadmin practices. This should also provide a place for Vicky to upload her video of the bird visitor who keeps attacking her window. For this first post, a quick teaser of what I was able to quickly put together:



Here are two cats I used to have. I have more pictures of them outside before I kidnapped them with have-a-heart traps and brought them inside.
The first one is the mother of the second one. I had her 8 years, and her son 13 years. The son was a Maine Coon mix.

Here is the son as a kitten outside:

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Squirrel!

Blue Jay:

male Cardinal, possibly young since he still looks kinda dark:

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female Cardinal:

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A horse my mom got to ride. I don't remember where she took this:

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Cows in the field next door to the gun club I used to be a member of:

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[ErikB]

While getting that first post ready, I ran into some limits (either file count or total upload size). Anyway, this young bunny didn't make it into the first post.

[StevieP]

This little chap was enjoying my garden last week... I posted this to my twitter but thought I would share it here as well! He had a little drink from my pond then hopped up onto the fence!

[stickyvicky]

So this critter has been hanging around our subdivision lately! One of my neighbors said he feeds it almonds and cashews, so he keeps coming back! lol... He is not afraid of anything.... he comes right up to us when we are walking the dogs and skittles wants to eat him!

[WalterB]

Have you ever seen him open his tail? They can get pretty fantastic.

SKITTLES! DOWN, BOY! lol Sorry.

[ErikB]

This little chap was enjoying my garden last week... I posted this to my twitter but thought I would share it here as well! He had a little drink from my pond then hopped up onto the fence!

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Neat!

Do you get to see many red tree squirrels? My understanding is that the grey tree squirrel is an introduced species over in England and that it is putting pressure on the red squirrels.

[ErikB]

So this critter has been hanging around our subdivision lately! One of my neighbors said he feeds it almonds and cashews, so he keeps coming back! lol... He is not afraid of anything.... he comes right up to us when we are walking the dogs and skittles wants to eat him!
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Very pretty! I like that he comes right up to you. Some of my critters are assertive that way, others not so much. Today I saw a red-headed woodpecker (or sapsucker, I will have to research which), but I failed to get a picture. As soon as he saw me he went to the top of my garage and looked at me from behind it. When I looked up at him, he took off altogether.

Are there wild populations of peafowl there? I looked at wikipedia, and apparently they are native to Asia (2 species) and Africa (1 species). Also according to wikipedia, peacocks are males and peahens are females. Peafowl is the name for both.

[stickyvicky]

I don't know that much about them except that they don't really fly you always see them walking, apparently they can fly but not very well and really only do it when they're in danger or they absolutely have to get somewhere and they can't fly for more than a mile at a time.

I do find it strange that there's only one of them, Where we used to live before there was always at least 3 of them together..... They would walk all over the streets like they owned them, and yes they would open their tails and show off for everyone and each other! They were absolutely beautiful!!

[greggl]

We used to have a bunch of peacocks around here but never see any anymore. Beautiful creatures but have you ever heard their calls. Sounds just like a woman screaming. freaky first time I heard it

[StevieP]

Neat!

Do you get to see many red tree squirrels? My understanding is that the grey tree squirrel is an introduced species over in England and that it is putting pressure on the red squirrels.

No I don't see many red squirrels at all... and unfortunately I think most people around here consider a squirrel like that akin to a rat visiting their gardens... but I am all for the little furry chappie coming around and having a drink from the pond or whatever he needs to do. He's safe here!

[stickyvicky]

I thought this tweet was amazing

[stickyvicky]

So I was testing my cam the other day and of course the bird is back and now he brought a friend? Why would both of them be doing it? Doesn't it hurt?

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[WalterB]

My guess is that he sees the reflection of what is behind him, so thinks he is flying off into the wonderland. It's comparatively dark inside your place, so the reflection probably stands out. Go out there and close the door and take a look.

[stickyvicky]

I have, there's only certain times of the day where it reflects depending on where the sun is, and that's why I put all those stickers on the door so they are really obvious - they are reflective stickers made for reducing bird strikes. I know they can see through the door because if I'm there or the dogs are there they don't hit the windows.......

[ErikB]

I have, there's only certain times of the day where it reflects depending on where the sun is, and that's why I put all those stickers on the door so they are really obvious - they are reflective stickers made for reducing bird strikes. I know they can see through the door because if I'm there or the dogs are there they don't hit the windows.......

They are Cardinals. The bright red one is male. The dull one is either female or juvenile. It looks like the dull one first makes some sort of appeal to the male. I have seen juvenile birds still ask their parents for food even though both are at my feeder. The juveniles haven't learned yet to get their own seed. I don't know whether females ask for food from mates, or prospective mates. At any rate, after the request, the dull on then starts banging into the window. It almost looks like it could be targeting the stickers with either beak strikes or claw strikes. According to wikipedia, while they are primarily seed-eaters, during mating season they supplement heavily with invertebrates. So, butterflies are bird food. One of your stickers looks like an owl, but it is still the size of the butterfly stickers, so I doubt the birds can tell the difference.

Did the strikes happen before you put the stickers up?

[greggl]

I had a cardinal here that kept doing the same thing. Attacked the same window every morning. Once he hit it so hard he knocked himself out. Woke up about 10 minutes later and flew off into the trees. Eventually he stopped.

[stickyvicky]

Yes Erik that's the reason I put the stickers up! They were meant to stop him!

When I slide the screen over to that side (sticker side), then they strike the other side. (No stickers)

At first it was just the red bird now it's 2 of them. He also does it to my bathroom and hallway window. So I put stickers on those also. My house is starting to look trashy now because of them! They do it to Dave's office window too.

I give up!

[ErikB]

Yes Erik that's the reason I put the stickers up! They were meant to stop him!

When I slide the screen over to that side (sticker side), then they strike the other side. (No stickers)

At first it was just the red bird now it's 2 of them. He also does it to my bathroom and hallway window. So I put stickers on those also. My house is starting to look trashy now because of them! They do it to Dave's office window too.

I give up!

I am stumped. It looked like they were attacking the stickers. If they were doing this before the stickers were up, and they attack the side without the stickers, I can't think of what they're up to. Poor little birdies. You didn't flip one of them off for pooping on your corvette, did you? Cardinals are vindictive as hell...

[LizLemon85]

I take the dog for a walk in a nature reserve a few times a day. There are different animals, mostly birds, but a couple of weeks ago, I noticed some turtles in a pond. I think maybe someone wanted to get rid of them and just put them there, because European turtles are rare and mostly extinct.

[stickyvicky]

Will they make it through the Winter there?