We get quite a bit of wildlife in the neighborhood, a small flock of turkeys, a very tame deer; a bald eagle that occasionally perches in our cottonwoods...the little dogs don't like it when the eagle is hanging out.

RJ, is this fluffy little fellow a Chinchilla? Cute.

Love the Swallowtail, Jim!,

And that is one neat looking albino Raccoon there.

After relocating 18!! Squirrels, it seems we may have made a dent into the Squirrel population!!

We do have some pond news! It seems that beautiful Goldfish and the 2 beautiful Comets I have added as his/her companions have been busy in our backyard pond!! I see about two dozen babies!!!!!! They are growing rapidly and I see golden, red, calico (?) and all shades in-between if one can think of a golden colored parent and a red one with some white patches. Oh boy!!

Whee, sounds fun, Ursula. Where are the little fishy pictures?? (when they're bigger?)

Melissa, if you can catch that pretty albino raccoon, the local zoo will probably want it. Albino is not a beneficial mutation in a nocturnal animal, needless to say, so its life expectancy can't be too good. The zoo might even come and capture it for you if you call them.

Elaine, I will try to shoot some pics of the little guys, the pond is still greenish though....I showed them today to the grandchildren/ previous owner of the goldfish when it was still small, and they were delighted!

As raccoons go that albino is neat. Around here no raccoon has a long life span, according to the DNR, almost all are rabid. Over the weekend one was bold enough to come up on my deck to relieve him or herself. UGH, the clean up was not fun. At least snakes kill rodents, I have yet to come up with a purpose for raccoons or squirrels.

Ursula said:RJ, is this fluffy little fellow a Chinchilla? Cute.

Love the Swallowtail, Jim!,

And that is one neat looking albino Raccoon there.

After relocating 18!! Squirrels, it seems we may have made a dent into the Squirrel population!!

We do have some pond news! It seems that beautiful Goldfish and the 2 beautiful Comets I have added as his/her companions have been busy in our backyard pond!! I see about two dozen babies!!!!!! They are growing rapidly and I see golden, red, calico (?) and all shades in-between if one can think of a golden colored parent and a red one with some white patches. Oh boy!!

Baby bunny

Way too cute!

from my visit to Selby the other day...a Yellow Crowned Night Heron








and one of their beautiful Koi

Ooooh, such beauties! My next door neighbor has one that has been nesting in her Live Oak tree for about 5 years now. Lots of babies over that period of time, and a lots of mess in her yard and driveway!
Babies over the years...Pics aren't the best quality. Sorry. Taken through screen doors, and windows.

It's really neat moving to a totally new environment...I am seeing so many birds here in Florida! A couple of friends from MA are avid birders..traveling all over the world to see different birds in their habitat...they are STUNNED that I have Sandhill Cranes walking through my yard with their chicks in tow.. getting the good photo IS the hard part for me...the other day I had a spectacular HUGE butterfly flying around in lazy , crazy circles and figure 8's..it was about the size of a softball. It never really landed...except when it was on the other side of the tree/ bush/ flower..I stood out in the heat for about 30 minutes trying to get a picture of it


This was the best picture of about 500 and I think it's called ( appropriately ) Giant Swallowtail.

Right after I complained about deer on another thread I looked at the window and this is what I saw. I took this photo from inside and I did not have to zoom at all, that's how close it was!!! Not much out there right now, the drought has taken its toll. I think it is the drought that is driving the deer and snakes and all the other critters out, they need water and lush, irrigated, foliage to eat.

That's a good shot of the Giant Swallowtail, Lindsey. I have one that inhabits my back yard and it comes to a little volunteer citrus plant that is right outside the window I am sitting beside at this moment. It stops and lays an egg or two but if I venture outside with my camera all it does is zoom around at warp speed, just like yours. I posted a blurry photo over on the Butterflies forum, and said I had a new sub-species, the Teasing, Taunting Giant PITA Swallowtail. (PITA standing for pain in the a$$ for any who don't know that one)

Nice deer shot, Alice. I feel for you, and your plants! Drought in July is truly painful down here in the blazing South. Worst we've had so far this summer is 10 days without significant rain - while I was away on grandma duty.

Until yesterday, we had been 3 weeks without a drop! Yesterday, our rain gauge registered 5"... Hallelujah! Finally!!!!

We got the Deer camping out in the backyard last Winter and Spring, not lately.

Lindsey, you need to mark your pictures for the next Photo competition!!

Tara, your pictures are still very interesting. I can relate to taking pictures through windows, since the object will just jump or fly away if you come too close.

As I ran down the steps to chase the deer a rabbit, my other nemesis, ran out from under them scaring the heck out of me.

My NC butterflies were much..much..MUCH more accommodating ..they came..they sat.. they sometimes
flipped their wings..

from our walk about at Selby Gardens...here's a Yellow Crowned Night Heron

doing Yoga..

This guy is pretty awesome!

Love the heron yogi.

First FL Longwing I have seen in years.