OK, let's shake this place up a little

Oh, the critters.  We live in the middle of town and have an occasional deer run through the yard.  Possums, skunks and rabbits.  Last week, our neighbor told me that she heard dogs barking and looked outside to see what the commotion was and there was a buffalo (yes, you read that right) in her yard!  Seems he and 4 family members broke through the fence and came to town.  Their "home" is only 1/4 mile from town.  I was at work, so missed the excitement.  We live in Iowa, so don't have buffalo that roam here.

My other neighbor feeds lots of birds....bird feeders all over their yard.  I get the pleasure of wathcing and listening to the birds, they get the poo. 

When we camp we hear the coyotes howling.  It's such a creepy sound, but I do enjoy hearing them. 

A couple of years ago, the monarch butterflies made a stop in the trees at our courthouse(where I work).  We were outdoors eating lunch when we noticed the trees moving.  There were thousands of butterflies in the trees.  That was way cool.  It was just a pit stop, because they didn't stay long. 

Yes, don't really see IA as a buffalo roaming place.  The butterfly covered trees sounds interesting.  I enjoy watching the critters of life roaming, I do allow the pesty insects to stop at the doorstep.  An evening watching the dogs try to catch flies is as good as TV (at least on most days).  I am hearing cicada's lately, sure sign of fall.

Oh those cicadas.  We camped over the weekend.  They were so loud!  I don't like it when they start, because like you said, sure sign of fall, which also means WINTER is coming.  YUK! 

The insects....the most annoying insect in this world has to be the June bug!  At least they don't live long.  Do your dogs also try to catch lightening bugs?

The migrating butterflies were interesting.  I've never seen them except for that one year.  They must have taken the scenic route all those other years.

sounds wonderful having all those animals around. how big is the town you live in?  i live in one that is 177,000 and the only critters we get are dumped dogs and cats. i hate people who do that.  or people who let their animals roam.  they could get hurt.  also u have to be careful about rabies around here.  i would have loved to see the butterflies.  what is your name. vick

Well our little town only has about 1,500 people, so 1/4 mile outside town isn't too far!    When you mentioned rabies, I realized I forgot to mention the worst critter of all.....bats.  This town is loaded with them!  Just sit outdoors at dusk and watch the sky.   As long as they stay up there and keep eating those mosquitoes, but unfortunately, they tend to find themselves indoors at times.  We've never had one in our house, but I work at the courthouse and it's a common thing to come to work and find one asleep on the wall.  Once in a while, there will be a flyer.  When someone screams in the courthouse, we don't wonder if someone has entered with a gun; we just figure there's a bat flying around.  They set off the motion detectors at night, so often that the sheriff's department just shuts off the alarm and doesn't send anyone to check it out anymore.    I've had a few close encounters over the 28 years I've worked there.  The cleaning lady, who is the one who gets rid of them should get a bounty for each one.  She would be wealthy. 

The butterflies were really cool.  None of us even thought to get a picture with our cell phones.  We were too busy watching them. 

Wanda

I live in a town of just over 9000, whick seems huge, considering I grew up in a town of 430.  One can walk nearly all over town, there are paved bike trails between and through the towns in this area.  Just got back from another outing with the dogs, saw a sugar maple a few blocks from here turning the prettiest deep red.  Should be great in a few weeks.  The local kids started school today, quieter on the streets tonight.

Now Wanda, do you know how good it is to have bats around?  They eat their body weight in mosquitoes each day.  nummmmy.  At least for them.  My hubby is terrified of them as well.  I just honor them and do not try to touch they.  Last year, they routinely used our outdoor umbrella as a hiding place, we, or rather I would gently evict them with a broom handle.  They seem to have a better place this year.  Dennis won't go walking with me at dusk due to the bats.

I tried living in the city life several years ago, well over 20, couldn't take the noise, traffic.  Guess I'm just made out to be a small town girl.  Never rode the bus to school, had to walk the whole 3 blocks.  Mom would get so mad when we wouldn't wear our boots in the winter time.  See my reply to Wanda to get a sense of the town I live in.