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Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Wildlife Wednesday August 2017

Wildlife Wednesday is hosted the first Wednesday of each month by Tina at "My gardener says..." Let's take a look at wildlife visitors during July.

We've had the pleasure of hosting a Crested Caracara or "Mexican Eagle" again this summer.  Caracara is an onomatopoetic name if ever there was one with "Cara-cara" cries coming from the treetops along the wooded creek behind our house.  As members of the Falcon family they are raptors which feed on snakes and lizards.  Caracaras are mostly found in Mexico, Central, and northern South America.  They are also observed as year-round residents in Central and South Texas, Southern Arizona, and Central Florida.  We only see them in summer so they must head south when it gets cold here.


Beautiful!


A Red Paper Wasp on Painted Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora).  Our native poinsettia is a cousin to the more famous holiday poinsettia native to the tropics.


Not exactly in the garden and I probably should be embarrassed to show this but I'm not because it is
so pretty.  After spotting this web glistening in the sunshine I left it for a day before removing it.  The spinner never returned and nothing was snared in the web.  Spiders are generally ushered out and most bugs that make it inside aren't as lucky.


While watering potted plants one morning I was startled to see the eye of a newborn fawn stashed here by a protective mom.  Fawns have no scent and are safer from predators if mom leaves them for hours at a time.


She may have been trying to push the little one through the fence.  We've had that happen before.  Spots are obviously for camouflage and work quite well.


Mom was nearby and intervened when the fawn had enough of my attention.



Scampering off to safety.  You have only to look at their tails when they run to see why they are called White-tailed deer.  You'll also notice that this is a suburban neighborhood and not out in the country.


The next day they were back.



Watchful mom resting in the shade.



Water in the birdbath must have been the draw.  With almost no rain since May, water for wildlife is important.


Oh so cute!


If you noticed all the wire cages and upturned baskets, those are attempts to protect plants.  Yes, she has been eating my plants!


We've put a tub with water out behind the back fence for the rest of the herd.  A huge 10-point still in velvet stage for antlers.  Eventually the velvet will itch and bucks will rub trees to remove it.


Magnificent!


There were several bucks back there in July.  They know to stay in the trees to camouflage their antlers.  They'll be fighting soon as mating season starts up again in fall.


For more wildlife in the garden check out Tina's post on her blog.

14 comments:

  1. I know deer are a pain and I'm so glad I don't have to deal with them, but oh those fawns are cute! I love the pho to of the little one behind (or in front?) of the pot. All of your deer photos are dear! The spiderweb is great--so beautiful, I"m glad you included it. Thanks for joining in!

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    1. I enjoy having a reason to post these every month.

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  2. So glad we don't have deer at this house. We've dealt with them in the past and it gets exhausting. Your photos of them are amazing! I love the spider web. We never get nice webs like that inside, just the cobwebby type that let the world know we don't dust often enough.

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    1. I know, those are the ones I usually see too. This one was outstanding.

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  3. What beautiful wildlife! We raised and bottle-fed a fawn when I was just a boy. Sadly, the mother had been run over by a car. The fawn grew up and then returned to the wild and lived out its days in the forest behind our home. Seeing your little fawn brings back a lot of treasured memories.

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    1. Nice story. We do have rescue services in the area to help out if there are accidents.

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  4. You never cease to amaze me with your wonderful wildlife photos, Shirley. What a magnificent creature that Mexican eagle is! And you couldn't craft better shots of the wasp or a spider's web. (Is it already spider season? I thought that was September but I'm walking into webs daily it seems.) The fawn is precious. Even though I know deer create no end of trouble for gardeners, I can't help the fact that my heart melts whenever I see them.

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    1. I find webs in the house almost all year but mostly in the fall for garden spiders.

      We are getting along better with the deer since we fenced the back yard.

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  5. Great shots of the critters, especially the Mexican eagle and the deer. I know they're an annoying PITA, but that shot of the buck with the sun shining on his antlers is pretty awesome. I like the one of Mom peering around the tree, she kind of looks like a great big mouse.

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    1. I have a friend who calls deer "rodents with antlers"! Her mug shot does look a bit too cute.

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  6. Hi Shirley, what lovely photos of the deer and the fawn. I know they might upset a garden, but I think you are so lucky to have the deer visit and have so many close by. Obviously the mother felt your place was a safe haven to leave her baby there.

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    1. As we take in more and more area with housing, they do need to find shelter somewhere.

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  7. What beautiful shots. Your wildlife images are always inspiring. You must have a lot of patience to sit quietly to get these shots.

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    1. I usually run around with the camera while the wildlife, especially deer, sit still!

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