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To be clear I wasn't complaining. I'm happy to have all this wildlife in my area. I was just making a joke because of the "zoo" that's appearing in my subdivision lately lol
The Center also had a bobcat they rescued. The bobcat was so mean (and we wanted him to be that way so he wouldn't become human imprinted) the workers would draw straws to see who was to go in to feed him. But yea they had lots of venomous snakes too that were less a threat then that bobcat. The day came to release him back into the wild and it took 5 people to chase him into a cage to get him and transport him to the woods where he was extremely happy to be released. They opened the cage, out he shot like a cannon and off he went never looking back.What a great story! When I just started helping the feral cats there was a yellow I trapped that was so vicious in the cage it was just super scary. His tail was mangled so his first stop was to the vet to have his tail fixed. Most of his tail had to be removed so he just had a little stub, hence the name: Bobtail.
I went to see him each day while he was recovering. He wouldn't growl at me...just stare at me as though I had just ruined his life (he was fixed too.) The vet had worked with Lions and Tigers in her younger years and she told me there was no hope of taming Bobtail. She thought it best if he became someone's barn cat.
I have a friend who has a barn, and she agreed to let him be her barn cat. I picked him up from the vet and dropped him at the barn, about 8 miles from my house. Just as I was leaving, I opened the cage door, gave him a sad farewell, and wished him luck in having a long and happy life.
At 2:00 a.m., about nine hours after I left him at the barn, I woke to a cat crying outside my window. It was Bobtail who somehow had made it all the way back to the house after crossing over Highway 1 in California (a very big, very busy highway). He became one of my favorite cats. It wasn't long before he slept next to me every night. And he was a complete lap cat. Never saw a cat give up the "feral life so quickly and so happily!
Oh, I'm not complaining either. Except at night when I take my dog out and I see eye reflection, about knee high, just out of reach of the porch light.To be clear I wasn't complaining. I'm happy to have all this wildlife in my area. I was just making a joke because of the "zoo" that's appearing in my subdivision lately lol
Buy yourself a green "varmint flashlight". It makes their eyes glow from a long distance. Mine is used mainly when the coyotes are howling 30 feet from the back porch, but will illuminate the eyes for 50-75 yards.Oh, I'm not complaining either. Except at night when I take my dog out and I see eye reflection, about knee high, just out of reach of the porch light.
Oh, I don't need a light to tell me they're there. It's just rather scary knowing something is there, but not knowing if it's dog, cat or bear.Buy yourself a green "varmint flashlight". It makes their eyes glow from a long distance. Mine is used mainly when the coyotes are howling 30 feet from the back porch, but will illuminate the eyes for 50-75 yards.
Oh, I understand you there. I have all of the animals mentioned coming in my yard. My property line closest to the house is National Forest. I have a mama bear that likes to scratch her butt on the corner of the house by the bathroom. I have heard a mountain lion a few times, but have never seen one in my yard. I have seen a bobcat marking my car as HIS.Oh, I don't need a light to tell me they're there. It's just rather scary knowing something is there, but not knowing if it's dog, cat or bear.
Actually, any of those is rather scary when you only see eyes at knee height.
Funny you said 2 legged animals. I came home one night and the police were sitting basically in front of my house and another was on the street behind me. I got home around 10:00 pm. There were another couple cars patrolling around the neighborhood. When I asked what was going on they just told me to go in the house and lock the door. Apparently they were looking for someone in the woods. I still don't know if they were caught or not or, the reason they were looking.Mine are all inside or on the screened-in back porch. I have CO2 powered pellet guns to scare the animals away. If needed, I have several firearms handy. I really don't want to hurt any animals, their ancestors were here before me. I am the intruder. Two-legged animals are my biggest worry.
Of course. They just get...advanced...in the direction they are going. There is a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown throws a rock into the surf and Linus says "Way to go. It took that rock thousands of years to get to the beach, and now you have thrown it back"When relocating box turtles off the road - always a good and kindly thing to do, btw - it is critical to move them in the direction they are headed. Box turtles are very territorial and if relocated elsewhere / otherwise will do their best to get back where they were going.
Yes, I'd do the same for desert tortoises in Anza-Borrego... not only out of compassion for the critters themselves, but also as a safety measure for cyclists, wouldn't wanna hit one of those tortoises when going 140 m.p.h. on a rice rocket, LOL. I'd always take the tortoises the way they were headed, walk 'em across the road and into the scrub a bit, then set 'em down in the same orientation so they could carry on their mission. No real harm in a tortoise, but it CAN be a road hazard for unsuspecting motorists & cyclists.I always stop and move them out of the road if I can.
We want pictures when they do.We are in a semi-rural area of New Jersey, close to the Delaware River. Two different neighbors have sheep, in season someone bow hunts for deer on our property, I see foxes. But what I really enjoy
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are the box turtles. This year we had a female nest right next to our front walk. The 4 to 6 quarter-size hatchlings should dig their way out in early to mid-September. Very exciting!