Okay, Nan! A Word About Wildlife!

In response to Nan Ondra's Meme of Critters in the Garden at Gardening Gone Wild, I have to say that my husband and I live in a prime area for wildlife as well. We're located in a hardwood woodland area in SE Iowa. The deer run rampant and the fox below was one of my first visitors after I began blogging. This photo was taken in the roadway ditch, but he (or she) has been in my backyard and the ravine A Lot! I hear the crazy sounds early every Spring. We've also seen a litter of babies almost every year. One day last Winter, I spied her in our backyard. Her fur was the most beautiful shade of red!

I found this tiny frog in the grass

and this little one sitting on the handrail by a deck post.
I'm almost positive this toad is the one I have to carry out of the garage almost every other day during the summer!

A Monarch Caterpillar on the asclepsia Butterfly Milkweed.

A Giant Swallowtail on the nepata catmint.Anglewing, Question Mark? in the leaves.

Anglewings, (opened-wing) Comma on an Oak tree.
Alongside ladybugs and green bottle flies.

Red Admiral butterfly wants in on the action, too!

I think this is a Spicebush Swallowtail.
It's found something tasty here, even if it IS
on a disgusting looking hummingbird feeder!

Now you can see the Question Mark's identification.
Notice the silvery mark on its bottom wing. :-)
Of course, hummingbird feeders should be used for hummingbirds!
We see only the Ruby-throated variety.
I hate to make you look at a Winter photo,
but this is the best I can do for photos of birds!
(One aggressive flicker on the saucer/tray.)
How could a garden fare without spiders?
or snakes?
This is just a little guy. Compare him to the size
of my rake tines. (There's a leaf stuck to his side.)
He was small, but he was feisty.


We see many, many birds! It is so much fun.
I put out several types of food at birdfeeders.

The photo below is not mine. I took it from a site entitled owlpages.com However, if you click on the photo you will be able to hear the sounds I've been hearing these past few nights!

It's wild!
But it's also wonderful. :-)
The Barred Owl's normal query is
"Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?"

Providing a home and/or food for the variety of animals in this world is as important as it is interesting. I've so enjoyed reading the posts of other gardeners that take delight in all aspects of their outdoor environment! We are truly blessed if and when we find ourselves being caretakers of even the smallest piece of this world. For it is cumulative. And it is good.

And definitely not "shady!" ;-)
SG

Anything that hops, creeps and flies... anything of any size

Wonder if she's flown the coop? There was a lot of activity here, but the little wren that had so happily announced her presence every day seems to have finished her business and has left.

This fellow's size may take care of anything that normally would threaten a toad... it looks as though he's quite content to think he's toadally in control. His good points: He doesn't leave, he's not noisy, he's rather cute, and he's reliably on duty.

Little bitty Chorus Frogs are some of the smallest frogs to be found here... several would fit in a teaspoon. However, they make up for their size in the loudness of their call!

They have a "camouflage" tan body with darker stripes running the length of their bodies. You can gauge the size of this little guy by the size of my finger.
I don't know about the fellow below... it looks as though he's sneaking off the corner of the flower bed. Perhaps in hot pursuit of something delectable?Guess that's about all the "wildlife" I could find. Not much "hoppin' " in the shade today. :-)