It all started with a fox. I had fallen in love with the potential of a new house and the property it sat on. During my first visit to the house, I spent over an hour viewing, and when the real estate agent mentioned she had another appointment, she invited me to stay as long as I liked since the house was vacant. She trusted me to lock up when I left.
As I explored the property, a sudden commotion erupted in the woods—the crows were going crazy. Curious, I moved closer, and just as I approached the edge of the trees, a fox leapt out in front of me. In that moment, I was SOLD!
That was the beginning of the wildlife adventure we have been experiencing over the past nine and a half years at our home.
The next interaction we would have is with, no legs (large black snake). That winter, the fox had several pups. In addition to learning more about carpenter bees and pests like bald face hornets, we have a ton of wildlife action at our house. I LOVE IT!
Last week we had an 8-point buck, a flock of 14 turkeys, and best of all, a rare opportunity to view a baby box turtle right in our driveway. There are so many wildlife stories to tell you that, there aren’t enough Fridays to tell you about them all.
Rocky is our resident box turtle we saved our first fall at our new house. She ended up at Duke University where she spent the winter getting over “the turtle cold.” A turtle whisperer lady returned her for release the following spring. I would find Rocky 2 years later living under the ramp to our shed. I stumbled upon her again this past May 2024. The list of birds we have spotted is endless. We have had a ground hog in a tree. (I didn’t know they could do that) A barred owl sitting in a tree over top of our fishpond hunting for goldfish, not giving a care in the world that I was only 10 feet from him. Have you ever witnessed two buck sparing? We also happen to live on the turkey highway. Probably the most bizarre visit, was a duck who showed up for the day and followed us around. It even came to dinner on our patio and hung out in the garage! Then there was the baby doe that some how got inside our fence, all gates closed and was stuck inside with the dog just this past June. Oh, and how can I forget the mountain lion sighting in 2019 that I was so dumb founded at the time, I still feel like a Big Foot hunter who missed the photo op! These are just to name a few of the wildlife adventures, we have been given to enjoy by our God.
I hope you enjoyed the fun!