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We just had a little fun excitement in my house!

First, a scream that there is a chipmunk in the house from my mom who was in the kitchen, and then my dog trying to catch it, then me restraining the dog, while hubby and mother tried to trap and then coax the critter into leaving through the back door. So, I put the dog in a closed room and held the back door open to make sure that the critter left, and lo and behold, it was not a chipmunk, because its tail was flat and squarish--so we believe it was a baby beaver!...and you thought that we suburban New York dwellers didn't have to deal with animals!!!

...infact, the funniest reaction I ever got was when telling a Southern European about all the wild animals we are blessed to see in our backyard: squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, wild turkey, crows, geese, deer, turtles, groundhogs, (and now beaver)!!! There have also been coyote sightings, but fortunately, I haven't seen one close to my house.

Anyway, he looked at me as if I had told him that I lived in the forest of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale! LOL!

Alice

LOL, Alice it sounds like quite the exciting evening with the animals. A baby beaver? That's pretty neat.

-- John

Yes, it is neat.

I have NO idea how it got into my house...but I will just be thankful that it was not a mouse or even worse, a rat!

Alice

Just picturing it. (the chase that is, not a rat)

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Alice,

How cute! Strange though, I wonder how it could have gotten inside? Are you certain it was not a very small trick or treater a day early?

Jason

lol

Only you Alice - rofl - gotta luv um

Jason....hmmmmm. now that is cute.
I am just glad the little thing didn't run and hide someplace where he couldn't get out again easily.......
CS

A beaver?

A couple of times the odd fox has appeared on our street in Dublin, but has not been known to come indoors. Perhaps some family in the neighbourhood is feeding it.

Don't know the latest news, but there was a half-tame deer living in the largish garden-park at Saint George's Cathedral in L'viv. It seemed both friendly and happy (the latter because the Sisters were feeding it regularly). I think that someone brought the deer when it was quite small - perhaps the mother had been killed in the forest outside the city and the "donor" figured that the people at the Cathedral would feed the baby. Looked sort of picturesque.

Fr. Serge

We are sort of plagued by urban foxes - they can be a dratted nuisance though I do enjoy watching them crossing the roads in the evening .

Squirrels we have a plenty - gray ones sadly , which are classed as vermin . They are tremendous fun to watch though . We used to have great fun watching them swearing at cats .

My husband had built a squirrel feeding table - very high with a large platform on the top of a pole. Surprisingly it was very sturdy and we had to stand on a stool to stretch up and put food on it for the squirrels so they would come down and play.

The cats got mad when they found they couldn't climb it and the squirrels would just sit there tormenting them and swearing at them - fun time BIG time

Fr Serge - beware of the foxes - they do look cute BUT a female gave birth to her cubs under my sister-in-law's house - it was not funny getting them out - took ages and cost a wee fortune

Last year we saw a red fox prance through our backyard for the first time! It was a very pretty creature, but I was sure to call the kennel 1/4 a mile down the street, because they exercise their boarding dogs in the back, and if the fox continued on its path, it would have come to them in a couple of minutes. Needless to say, they were grateful for the warning...


Our squirrels are also grey, and I love watching them...especially this time of year when they have hoarded their acorns, although the outer nuts are underfoot everywhere. In her younger days, it was always alot of fun to see the dog try to catch the squirrels, who always got away though, thanks to the trees!... [/quote]

Alice

On an ecological note, the reason that so many forest animals are showing up in suburban and urban New York is because of the overdevelopment of houses in the past fifteen years...they are being chased out of their natural woodland habitats

Alice,

I take it you live in Westchester? I lived in Greenwich, CT, until recently, and I noticed over a number of years that a species of black squirrel had appeared. It was probably some sort of genetic variant of the grey species, since they seemed to "hang out" with the greys without concern.

Also, about 5 years ago, and then again about 2 years ago, a flying squirrel got trapped in my mother's fireplace in Bergen County, NJ (near the Rockland county line). They are a bit smaller than the grey squirrel, a bit darker, and they have the telltale "flaps" along their sides. We think they leapt to the chimney top, and then fell or climbed down into the fireplace and couldn't get back out. Used a "have-a-heart" trap to capture and then release. They love peanut-butter!

Michael

grey squirrels are actually quite nice. It is the little red ones that you have to worry about.

Dear Michael,

I live in Westchester-- very close to Greenwich, so yes, I know of those black squirrels. The first time I ever saw them was in Larchmont a few years back. Now, I also see one from time to time in my town living harmoniously with the greys.

Flying squirrels?!? How common are they?

Alice