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ForeverAutumn
05-13-2010, 06:30 AM
When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs, seeing any kind of wildlife other than a squirrel was a huge deal. Even raccoon sightings were rare. There was lots of farmland and forests for the animals to live in. But urban expansion in the last 30 years has been massive and more and more animals are being forced from their hidden homes and into the world of humans.

I still live in the suburbs but a little further outside the city from where I grew up. While farms and fields close to my childhood home disappeared 30 years ago. The farms and fields where I live now have only disappeared in the last 10. Still, not good for our animals.

I've always been a bird watcher. We have a pretty nice feeder system set up with three different feeders designed to attract different birds. In the last three years, I've noticed an increasing number of Redwing Blackbirds at our feeder. A bird that had not been previously known as a backyard feeder is being forced to change it's behavior to find food.

In the last week, I have spotted the following animals within 1km of my home:
A Groundhog in our backyard for three days straight - not so unusual, but not often seen.
A Deer - We spotted a deer on a well used trail while we were out for a bike ride. The trail is tucked in the middle of several housing developments and is not somewhere that you would expect to see a big buck. A very unusual sight.
A Red Fox - The fox was running across the road last night while we were driving home from a friend's house. It made me happy that our cats were inside.

While this isn't the first time that we've seen any of these animals. In the past we'd seen deer and foxes on local golf courses. But seeing them on the bike path and on the road in such an urban environment was unsettling for me. While it was in some respects a treat to spot such beautiful creatures, it is sad to realize the reason for it. And I think that I will get more involved in saving the remaining green space that is left in our town.

I remember, as a kid, when certain landmarks were "out in the country". Those landmarks are either now gone and replaced with condominiums, housing developments, and shopping malls, or they remain in place but are surrounded by those things. And in the meantime our wildlife disappears or is forced into unnatural habitats.

Hyfi
05-13-2010, 07:43 AM
We have a huge red fox wandering our hood and I have captured a few good pics of him/her. One of the largest I have ever seen. Two weeks ago we had 5 young deer in our yard looking tired and confused, one even layed down under an evergreen while they decided what to do. People up the street moved in recently and had several large trees taken out, i now have raccoons wandering my yard and porch. I fight a good battle to keep the groundhogs from nesting under my shed.

3LB
05-13-2010, 11:03 AM
I went to a garage sale last weekend and saw Redd Foxx on 8-track

Worf101
05-15-2010, 12:32 PM
I went to a garage sale last weekend and saw Redd Foxx on 8-track
That was just plain WRONG!!!!!!

Worf