We had visitors!

[smwon]

This morning I got up early, as has been normal for me the last few days. I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. I glanced up and saw some elk in the pasture by the river… it was so totally awesome! The bull was putting his head down and going in circles, looked very much like he was playing, but I think he was herding or something. Then I glanced over at the kitchen window and more were getting ready to cross the road. So I got the camera and took pictures… Jim was still asleep and I wanted to show him… I followed the elk into the bedroom and decided to wake Jim… he was excited and jumped right up… They went into the shrubs by the river then came back out… perhaps they were getting a drink? I picked a few to show y’all. Very nice looking young herd.

Hope you enjoy!

Crossing the road on the east side (same side as the kitchen window)


Pasture in front of house across the road


Heading toward the road






Deciding if they want to cross the brambles


There they go!

[Clara]

Fab!

[Thurston Garden]

Excellent photos! I often have young deer in the woods and field by the house, but nothing like that!

[Gytrash]

Fantastic!

We get the odd Roe deer in the woods near our house, but not herds of animals like that! (What species are they?).

[smwon]

Thanks...

They are Elk Gytrash. We have lots of small black tailed deer. The elk we don't get to see that often.

[Mainer in Exile]

Beautiful photos. I saw some like that when I visited Yellowstone.

[oldfella]

That is a sight that I would stay all night to see, fantastic, I envy you

[smwon]

What kind of wild animals do you all get to see?

[Annpan]

Hedgehogs and next door's dog are about the only 'wild' animals we get in our garden.

A couple of weeks ago OH saw a deer crossing the road in front of him as he was driving (about 5 miles away). We get road kill foxes and badgers but since moving from the city I haven't seen a live fox.

[smwon]

Oh you would love the little gray fox that comes up and eats the cat food at night! I bring the cat food in because I don't wish to encourage the cute little things.

[Green Rosie]

We are really lucky here - we regularly see deer, hares, buzzards, loads of small birds, adders, frogs and toads etc.

There is also evidence of wildboar and moles.

And the house is overrun with mice, voles and shrews

[smwon]

We are really lucky here -

And the house is overrun with mice, voles and shrews

Now that would be a sight to see! NOT! Although I see enough evidence of that myself!

[red]

cool pictures.

we see foxes and badgers. occasionally deer( red deer) rabbits, very occasionally a hare

[Millymollymandy]

Those are great photos smwon (how do you pronounce that?!! ). What a lovely thing to see.

Round here I see deer occasionally; used to see hares but think the hunters have killed them all off (even though they are now limited to only one day a year when they can hunt them ), very occasionally a fox and very few rabbits. There are wild boar in France but I've only seen them in a nature reserve.

There's plenty of birds, including game birds, and smaller wildlife around, and we have red squirrels which are really cute! We also get non-native 'escapees' such as muskrat and coypu which visit us because we have a stream and pond.

Then there are the Stone Martens which are a right nuisance as they get inside the house walls and make a real noise - the worst is when they get in your loft, as they are nocturnal and enjoy a good party with lots of dancing!

[Mainer in Exile]

We have a lot of wildlife around here, surprisingly in light of the intensive agriculture. There are roe deer, wild boar, a lot of hare, rabbits, buzzards, wood pigeons, ducks, marten, badgers, collared doves, partridge, and a few others. When they did the "Flurbereinigung", that is, when they consolidated the fields, they didn't eliminate all of the hedgerows, as was the case in other areas, so the wildlife has had a good chance to survive.