Wildlife Sightings 2011

It's always interesting to see wildlife because it is, well, wild.  And particularly for those of us in urban or suburban areas, it is refreshing to be reminded that we live within nature -  something we did not construct out of drywall and brick. 

Take deer for instance. They are beautiful. We love seeing them until they take out our flower gardens or until we have car-deer collisions like my son's friend up in Cherokee County.  He managed to have 5 vehicle collisions with deer in a span of one year. This is why there is an Urban Deer Management Plan in the state of Georgia.  Hunting is the main way that we control deer, but unfortunately, you can't hunt suburban areas. It is a problem. But, hey, they are beautiful.  

Here's a wildlife creature we seem to have plenty of - the chipmunk! I have seen an over-abundance of chipmunks this year. They are all over my backyard and evidently have an elaborate underground network of hallways, dining rooms and bedrooms throughout my hosta beds and beneath the strawberry begonias that are in the raised beds on the slope. I thought I didn't mind them, but that was before they took up residence in one of our gardener plots at the community garden. They dug an enormous entrance hole among the tomatoes and cucumbers, thus adding to the 1 or 2 other holes we already knew about along the fence. They scurry without shame all throughout the vegetable garden helping themselves to the fruits of our labor. Our garden manager this year, David Cox, set up a Hav-a-Heart trap to humanely remove the little varmints since they are protected by Georgia law. He says he has re-located only one so far. I hate to think how many re-locations we have to go. This will be ongoing, I think.  

I never tire of seeing the red-headed woodpecker and they can always be seen near piney woods. The most unusual bird sighting I've ever had was at the Alpharetta Community Garden at Wills Park this past winter. I had gone to turn the compost pile and as I put my shovel into the pile, out walked a little quail with that un-mistakable little quail plume on his head.  

I have had 3 snake sightings this summer; all of them recently. The first was at Leita Thompson Park when I walked the coonhound over to the little creek so he could get a drink on a particularly hot day. There I saw a water snake slide off the rock ledge, into the water and out of sight. Another sighting was at Webb Bridge Park a few weeks ago. I had stepped off the path to take a look at my favorite waterfall on the 1/3 mile spur and saw a young copperhead. They always seem to love the water. My third sighting was a warning to me not to be foolish about the presence of snakes. I took the coonhound on a walk, this time to my secret walking place. (I have permission - that's all I will reveal). I had neglected to change my shoes and was walking in flip-flops. The day was hot, therefore snakes were active, and as I was walking along I came upon a very young copperhead in the middle of the path. I was well within his striking distance with those flip-floppers on before I realized I was standing next to a venomous snake. That sent shivers. Note to self and to all reading this blog:  don't walk in a snake's territory without proper shoes and clothing.  

None of this snake talk spooks me about walking and exploring. Snakes generally stay out of sight. They don't want to see us anymore than some of us want to see them. Of course, you do have situations like my friend over in Oglethorpe County who has shot 3 rattlesnakes this year because they keep getting in her yard and biting the dogs and will bite her given the right situation. Don't worry though, I don't think rattlesnakes are a problem here in these suburbs. As for the non-venomous snakes, they are protected by the state of Georgia, so you can't kill those fellas.  

I did see a fox, a dead one, on the side of Rucker Road. That reminded me of when we lived in Knoxville, TN when the kids were little. We loved to go to the McDonalds on Kingston Pike because out back, at the dumpster, we would often see feral cats and foxes scavenging for bits of pieces of burgers, fries and breakfast biscuits and doing all this peacefully and in co-existence with each other. It was an unusual and subtle nuance to survival of the fittest.    

I did hear that someone spotted a bear in Johns Creek and I'm jealous. Not that I want to come upon a bear, but what a great story it would make. I would no doubt learn that I still have the ability to run at an exceptional speed. I suppose the coonhound would probably be attempting to tree the bear. Well, either that, or he would be far, far ahead of me in an attempt to get away.