Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Thursday's Thirteen: Animals that I have seen around my home.

Thirteen Animals that we’ve seen around our country home:

1. Mice. The darn things keep getting into the house.


2. Rats. That’s something you don’t want to see in the house, but they’ve been here living in the walls and attic.
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3. Possums. Don't let anyone fool you these guys are ugly they look like big rats, as far as I'm concerned they are marsupial rats. And they've been eating the cats food, bit our chickens on the leg which killed the poor chicken from an infection later. Ugh, I hate possums. Two young ones somehow got into the house too. Scared me half to death.
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4. Coyotes. We hear their eerie cries almost every night. They’ve eaten my chickens, ducks and my cats too believe it or not.


5. Ring tailed cat. I saw one on the porch eating the cat’s food. It tore off when I turned the light on and looked out. They’re ingenious to California and it’s rare to see one. And here I had one eating on my front porch.
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6. Raccoon. I saw one dead by the side of the road. Sad.
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7. Skunk. They too like the taste of our cat’s food. I hate when one gets into the habit of visiting our house, they smell up the house something awful. Frabreeze can only do so much.
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8. Peacock. A few years ago I heard a weird call and went outside, and there it was a male peacock with beautiful plumage. It took one look at me and ran back into the vineyard that used to be here.
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9. Boar. It was a white male pig. Big sucker but lean like it wasn’t being fed much. It was running around slurping up the grapes that my landlord was paying to have laid out to turn into raisins back when there were raisin grapes here. My landlord even asked me if the damn thing was mine. Nope. I’m not sure what happened to it, but it disappeared.

10. Goat. I was coming home after I had dropped off my daughter at school and thought I saw a dog with a gummy sack on it head. I stopped the car and got out, but it turned out to be a male goat that had pulled out his chain. It took one look at me and ran hell bent for home. Gee, I sure scare the animals don’t I?
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11. Pheasant. There use to be a lot that ran around here making an odd coughing sound, but I don’t see them very much anymore.


12. Horned and Barn Owl. The barn owl nests on our pine tree out front and I've seen the horned owl roosting on a telephone pole dawn or dusk. I hear them screech or who. One was trying to catch a rat and kept flying into my daughter’s bedroom window. She said, she didn’t get much sleep that night because of the crazy owl and the rat.
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13. Hawk. There are a lot of birds of prey both small and large that hunt around here. One time when I was taking a bike ride I heard a hawk scream and I look up in time to see it dive on it prey. Last year while I was taking my daughter home from school we saw one flying with a snake gripped in its talon.

12 comments:

Hailey Edwards said...

I think mice are adorable... as long as they stay outside and away from me :D

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Hailey,

Lol, yeah me too.

Happy early TT.
Janice~

Ms Menozzi said...

LOL! I'm sorry, but I keep picturing animal after animal after animal running away from you!

Janice: Wha?
Animal: Huh? *screeeeeech of feet on dirt scrambling to get away*
Janice: Hum.

Have you had any snakes fall on your head yet? Try to avoid that. I personally found it rather unpleasant. *ick*

Happy TT!
Ciao for now!

David Bridger said...

We have owls living in our valley and often hear them calling while they hunt at night. Sometimes they come right up close to the house. Never realised before how loud they are!

Inez Kelley said...

We get mice, deer, and the occasional black bear.

Ella Drake said...

Wow, you gots lots of critters.
We get a bunch, too. Live next to a fairly extensive stretch of park that runs along the river all through the metro area. We get all the animals that venture into the city, including coyotes. Those are the ones that I'd rather not have.

Anonymous said...

That's quite a list. Most of those things would make me scream like a little girl. I'm starting to rethink my dream of living in the country. Happy Thursday!

Elise Logan said...

no rats that i've seen here. I'd be hostile about that.

We have hawks of various sorts, bald eagles, raccoons, owls, possums, deer, occasional bear, mice, chipmunks, birds of a wide variety. I regularly have the chipmunks and birds scurrying about in the yard. They're fun to watch.

Unknown said...

Never a dull moment I imagine. I do have to say I don't miss the mice and rats in the country, but I do miss the wide variety of birds. Happy T13!

Paige Tyler said...

I love all of them! Yes, even the mice! So cute!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Alice Audrey said...

And here I thought you meant something completely different when you said your house is a zoo.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Ms. Menozzi,

Have you been watching me? Yeah, it's about like that.

No, but it did happen to my BIL, he screamed like a little girl, lol.

And BTW we do have snakes and lizards here and I would have added them but I only had thirteen spaces.

Hi Dave,

They are frighteningly load aren't they? It surprised me too.

Hi Inez,

I wouldn't mind the deer if they'd stay out of my garden, but Bear? Wow!

Hi Ella,

Me either, but they were here first. I don't mind see or hearing them, but don't eat my critters please.

Hi Sophia,

Yeah, country living may not be for you, lol. And here I didn't even mention that bugs that are out here, now that would make you scream running into the night.

Hi Elise,

Oh a bald Eagle would be cool to see near your home, but a bear? Eek.

Hi Adelle,

There are a lot of birds out here. I've been contemplated a move back into town, but instead of animals to deal with I'd have humans.

*sigh* Ya just can't win.

Hi Paige,

Well the mice and rats are cute from a distance, but not when there eating your or your pet's food and bring in fleas. Itchy, bitie fleas. Ugh.

And when you see them skuttling across the floor you jump, and then when you hear something at night its scary.

Hi Alice,

Nope, lol, "this place is a zoo!"

Happy TT everyone.
Janice~