Anyone have regular garden residents? (animals)

I have several toad houses in all of my beds, and quite a few frogs & salamander's, along with turtles and fish in my water gardens..I also have a black snake that has been living in an old stump now for about 4 years..One day, my sister-in-law saw him sunning among the Morning Glory Vines planted on it..She went to screaming and telling me there was a snake..I said yes, I know.. You just scared him worse than he scared you! LOL..She now watches for him.. Oh, and yes of course I have the rabbits, squirrels, deer,my goats, when they get out (Marigold & Iris).. and the dreaded Armadillo,(actually I love them)..I have one that lives under my deck steps, and every night we have a conversation under the stars..

We have bunches of chipmunks here and they're so cute. Even though they make numerous burrow holes in the ground, usually amongst the shrubs and stone walls, they aren't destructive to any plants and I think they help eat the bugs around here.
We rarely have squirrels, since the dog feels it's her duty to someday catch one alive. I think they got the message...lol.
Somewhere there are some box turtles and garter snakes. We rarely get wild rabbits...resulting from intensive dog chasing duty..lol.
Trish

Hi Larkie.
I used to go searching for Salamanders when I was a kid. A few years ago my best friend and I were talking about going out to look for them ( we overturn rotting trees) and my husband thought we were just changing a word so the kids wouldnt know what we were up to. When the kids left the room he asked in a hush hush wisper "what are you ladies going to do?" and we said Look for Salamanders!
I guess we still havent grown up! Never did find any.
Unfortunatly I dont have anything good here. Would love to see an Armidillo tho. I love critters.
Have a good night.
Janice

They were cute sitting and munching my flowers to the ground-POCKET Gopher-what a pain in the butt! My first garden and the mom was munching down the flowers-her cheeks stuffed full and cute-oh yes! They are suppose to be a solitary animal-we killed(sorry janice)10 of them and one mole that was right under my foot on a path.
I maned the hose and squirted them out and then my dh and ds took over....my 3yr old got one all by himself!!! It was unreal how many there were. My dh came home last summer to find me running across the road with a 410 chasing a woodchuck-I missed! I luv animals-but I luv flowers more!
We do have a bunch of squirels and birds I dont mind sharing a few seeds with! The starling birds are a pain when it comes to the strawberries and cherries. I carry a pocket of firecrackers all summer to scare them away. =]
dori

Dori
LOL about those firecrackers. The birds probably see you and say "that nut with the noisy things are back" LOL. My neighbor had called me once and asked me to remove a mouse from her house that was in a trap. I go over and it trap just had its leg (looked like a new kinda trap- like a fat clothes pin- so I brought it over by my house and set it free. Well......the thing climbed right up the bottom of my foundation and went under my siding. I paniced because I was afraid it was going to get into my house so I got my "guns'..set those 4 cats on the poor little mouse. Felt a little guilty but hey...I never had a mouse in my house in my whole life and wasnt going to start now!! I tell myself that it got away (yeah right) and its living happily someplace else.
Well gotta get ready for work. Another busy day in store.
Janice

Do bad little puppy dogs count? ROFL

Terri

I have a bunny that my dogs have decided needs "protection" It nibbles on everything, but if it doesn't quit eating my roses, it's going to bunny heaven!!

Many years ago my husband and son gathered a 5 gallon bucket of box turtles and brought them home. I thought they would be good for the garden (eating bugs) and set them all loose in mine. I don't know if they ate any bugs or not but they were very fond of the squash and tomatoes. They were finally all removed to the woods.

The only ones I've seen in my raised beds are lizards.They range in size and color,eat almost every bug available,and are fast as lightning.I'm going to build three more beds within the next two weeks.By mid-summer,the gardens will look like a miniature Jurasic Park!

We live in the city, but have set up feeding stations for the urban wildlife. Last year we had both red squirrels and rabbits nest in our yard, and where there are nests, babies soon follow! They were soooooooooooooo adorable. The babies would share the feeding pans, not knowing that they were arch enemies.

Last week I watched four of the "baby" rabbits (now grown) eating from the feeding pan in the moonlight. Gee, do you think I'll have more babies this year? ;o) Yes, they do cause some havoc in the garden, but, fortunately, my garden is huge, so I barely notice most of their nibbling. The exception is my lilies, which they mow down like a lawnmower each spring-the little buggers.

We also have a "duck couple" that comes regularly every summer. They always land on the roof of the house in order to scope out the safety of the yard, and then they fly on down to eat, bath, and nap, usually staying with us for a couple of months. They are quite the conversation piece for visitors.

Having grown up on a farm, it's ironic that I actually have more wildlife in the big city than we ever did on the family farm (must have been the 40 cats!).

Box turtles and baby rabbits? I learned about those critters many years ago:)

If anyone loves slug stew, I have several hundred in my tomato patch and flower beds on any given night in the summer. Just come and help yourself to 'em:) I can't seem to get rid of the darn slimy things.

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Slugs, voles, squirrels, woodchucks and deer. So far the garden and I are still ahead, but it is a struggle!

Oblambert..
Last year, we let our hen out to eat bugs everyday. I keep her in the garden with me only when the plants are established, otherwise she'd eat the seedlings and scratch them out. It's neat to watch her find things. When I turn the soil over, she's the first one to come running over looking for goodies, however, she's not allowed to eat the worms..lol. I wish chickens were more nocturnal, though, for better slug-busting. She'd have a grand time!
Trish

The stone walls seem to have brought voles with them, so last summer, I found a nice, big garter snake and put her down one of the holes. Still have voles, but I don't see them like I was. The rabbits, on the other hand, have destroyed one little apple tree, ate all of the pink pansies last year and worked on the hellebores over the winter. The rabbits HAVE to go!!!!!!

I do have lots of beautiful cardinals in my garden...they don't let me forget to feed them either. A pair of dove, woodpeckers, and lots of others.

Well, lets see, so far I have the neighbors 20 cats, and moles!!!! The cats don't bother the moles (of course). Oh yeah, plenty of grub damage, and the Japanese Beetles were awful last year (moved in too late to take care of any of them, but I will this year!) the cats can hang around, at least I don't have any mice! Julie

I have a virtual rabbit farm. They cavort during the day and party at night. When do they sleep? In addition to the above mentioned choices for meals they also enjoy carnations. And for desert, how about birdseed. I put out feed twice a day on the ground and was quite surprised to see them chomping away. Hassenpheffer anyone? I also have a white dove that comes to feed twice a day. Seems she was misplaced after the floods of Sept 1999. Have birds and mourning doves galore, which are quite delightful.Slugs I take care of with crushed eggshells in my small garden.
Sayre