Our Animal
visitors at Rocky Top
All Photos by R T Douse
Updated: June 12, 2018
This little gray fox has been a visitor every
evening for quite awhile
now. The rock he is standing on is about twenty
feet from the front
door of our home. Richard has taken to putting out
a small handful
of Ann Margret's catfood as well as an occasional
mouse or
gopher that Ann captures but refuses to eat. Of
course we bring Ann
in every night so she won't end up like her mice or
gophers.
Another visitor has been this raccoon which came to
drink
at our garden pond. We haven't seen him since the fish
died.
This photo was taken through our bedroom window one
evening.
One morning, when
we were camping in our 5th wheel trailer, we happened to
look over to the East line of our property and saw this
little bobcat who had just leaped over the rock wall we had
begun building. We saw him (or her) again a few days
later and watched while it walked past our trailer and down
the drive.
We saw it stop and turn toward the tall green grass by the
side of the road. It leaped straight up, over, and
down and came back to the road with a mouse in its mouth.
With a flick of its head,it tossed it into the air and
swallowed it in one gulp!
The very same day we saw the bobcat for the first time,
within
minutes, this little girl hopped out from behind some
buckbrush.
Since then, hardly a day goes by when we don't see deer.
Not all our "girls" have four legs!
This little girl just stopped by for a drink.
She has a
nest somewhere close.
And, not all of our animal friends are furry.
I spotted this cute little guy on a rock that borders
our patio. Since he was just a baby, I put him in a
paint bucket and took him to a far corner of our land
and let him go. We see about 4 or 5 every year. If
they are large, they don't get off so easily.
. . . like these two! Actually, if they hadn't
taken up residence by the edge of our patio, I would have
let them be - but they were just too close to home.
Here we have two harmless and really quite beneficial
garter snakes. This pair were also next to our patio.
Making babies, perhaps.
You don't often see Western Fence Lizards fighting.
These two were so angry with each other that they
completely ignored me while I was photographing them.
I hope you enjoy these pictures. I took all of them
around
our home that we call "Rocky Top." If you enjoy them,
then you're probably the kind of person that appreciates the
out of doors and the wildlife one finds there.
You are also, quite probably the kind of person that would
enjoy my new novel, "The
Next - an omen" No, it's not
about witchcraft or that sort of thing. It is an
action / adventure story that shows what can happen when
people, even those with the best intentions, try to meddle
with nature. It is an excellent book for luring young
people away from TV and video games and getting them to
long for more time out of doors. It can be ordered
from Amazon.com.
Now then, here's a few more friends of mine!
The Blacktail Jackrabbit used to be common over much of
the West.
However, many ranchers poison them or shoot them. This
makes
no sense to me. They also poison or shoot the coyotes
that help
keep their numbers under control. I guess some people
just like killing.
Blacktail Jackrabbits are as much a symbol of the West
as
cowboys and coyotes. Let's hope they remain so.
A lot of people would look at this picture and
think this is a
Red Fox. They would be wrong. This is a Grey Fox and
the proof of the matter is that the tip of its tail is
black. Yes,
I know, you can't see the tail in this picture. Just
take my
word for it.
Every Spring we enjoy watching wildlife babies.
This little
Blacktail Deer fawn stayed around our property until
its
spots were gone.
Some wild animals just like to pose. This is a
mature
Blacktail buck who I sincerely hope evaded the hunters
this year. If so, I'll be seeing him again next year!