I don't really garden to attract wildlife other than birds .... but some critters just seem to find their way into my garden. Some I don't mind whatsoever, others like snakes really scare me, especially the venomous type. Florida has lots of wildlife including the Black Bear, Coyote, Fox, Bobcat, Panthers, Snakes of all kinds, Lizards (both small ... and very large), and of course Alligators. Although some folks in Florida have found a Gator in their swimming pool at times I've been fortunate to never have that happen! I've seen Bobcats a few times over the years and a Coyote once or twice in the southern part of the state but I've never seen a bear, and that's fine with me, LOL. I'd be happy if I never saw another snake while on my hands and knees weeding flower beds but somehow they seem to be around at certain times of the year. The following are a few of the more docile critters I've had visit my garden/yard.

Armadillo .......................... Black Snake


Six Lined Racerunner Skink ... Green Anole Lizard


Anole Lizards are good to have around, they eat ants, roaches ... all kinds of bugs! A few years ago I put an anole lizard egg into one of my terrariums where it hatched, Since it was winter time I couldn't put "Lucy Lizard" outside because she would have surely died in the cold. So, we left the porch light on every night to attract moths which we caught and fed to little Lucy. When spring arrived I released her to the yard. If you look closely you can see Lucy Lizard on a leaf in the back of the terrarium:


We have a few different types of turtles here too that sometimes show up in the garden.
Gopher Tortoise ............ Florida Box Turtle (eating banana's)


And ... of course the squirrel's! A lot of folks think they're nuisance animals, and they do raid the feeders ... but they sure are fun to watch:

Armadillos - Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

No turtles here in my yard although I think there are plenty of turtles in NY state in general.

Armadillos really creep me out. They are just too ugly.

Be glad you don't have them in your yard Rita! You go out in the morning & it looks like someone threw 100 grenades in your yard! I HATE armadillos.

I know what you mean, Ann. Most wildlife I like or tolerate. But the armadillo...its whole purpose in life is to dig in the yard. I don't want them dead, but would like them GONE! Nice pics, Lin! Build it and they will come!

More critters down south than we have way up north here. Really glad it is not Armadillo weather up here. Creepy, ugly creatures.

Linda, is your house on slab? How about when the "B"&*%%#@ start digging under your slab? ARRRRRGGGGHHH

Very nice pics Lin! I have not seen an armadillo..so it looks cute to me I would be creeped out by alligators for sure My hubby loves watching squirrels scampering about..and it is okay with me, as long as they are not in my garden

Hmm, the last time I have seen a lizard, would be during my trip back home in the Philippines August last year...I may have shared these photos in other threads, or maybe some may have seen it before..but since we are talking wildlife, might as well share them again: all photos taken at the Taoist gardens in Cebu. See if you can find them:




For today the only wildlife I have seen, is not even wild domesticated sheep in a farm area near our mall area: ah, we do need to have more rain! the poor sheep needs something fresher to graze on..

Great photo's tarev! I'm not sure where the lizard is in the first picture but is it small and on the left of the tree near the bottom? The second picture I see the lizard clearly ... looks a lot bigger than our little anoles and skinks! Also, at the bottom right corner of the second photo .... that sure looks like snake skin!!

Love the sheep!

Ah look again..the lizard on the first photo...on the right side of the tree trunk, follow the brown twig going up a bit and you will see him..excellent camouflage for him isn't it?

Oh wow..the 2nd photo does seem to show a snake skin on the bottom right! Jippers! Am I glad we were way up the wall at that time!!

Aha! There he is ... excellent camouflage is right, I thought it was a little branch!


I don't garden for this type of wildlife either! SNAKES! They really scare me, even the non-venomous ones. I know they have their place in nature, I just wish they would spend time in someone else's yard and not mine, LOL.

This was the largest yellow rat snake I'd ever seen ... last year in my backyard. It was after baby birds in a nest. And the snake skin I found on a plant in one of the flower beds.

DH is an airline pilot (Captain) and as he was taxiing down a taxi way at the Melbourne (beach) airport in FL one year, he had to stop, since there was an Armadillo walking across it. First time he ever saw one.

Snakes always give me the chills. I don't like seeing them in my gardens and yard.

We have pics of eastern cottontails. We sometimes get foxes here, but haven't gotten any pics of them. They're so cute. They look like doggies!

We get a turkey or two in the Spring that come for the birdseed I put out for the birds.

Here's some pics we took of it. I just noticed something; on pic 4 there is a gray squirrel in the left in the back. These were taken April 10, 2008.

We have Red Fox here too but I have never seen a wild turkey.

Very cool photo's of that wild turkey! I don't see them in my neighborhood but I have a friend who lives in an area where they back up to a wildlife preserve and they spot wild turkeys on occasion ... some of her neighbors have seen black bears too.

There's a city here in Florida that has flocks of wild Peacocks walking around the streets ... people don't much like it saying they make a mess in their yards ... but they sure are beautiful. My best friend who lives about 2 miles from me has flocks of wild parrots (small like parakeets) in her neighborhood. It's always fun when I go to her house and hear bunches of them and see them flying around. In south Florida where my sister and brother in law live they have wild parrots all over the place. I remember when I was staying with my mom before she passed 7 years ago ... the parrots would flock to puddles in the road to take a bath after a rain shower. It was so cool to watch them.

A bunch of deer pics over the years. They too come for the birdseed I put out for the birds. Some years I put out whole corn for them. Some (if not all) of the pics were taken through a window. I have more pics of deer, they are in another file, but it will take a little time to find them.

plantladylin said:Very cool photo's of that wild turkey! I don't see them in my neighborhood but I have a friend who lives in an area where they back up to a wildlife preserve and they spot wild turkeys on occasion ... some of her neighbors have seen black bears too.

There's a city here in Florida that has flocks of wild Peacocks walking around the streets ... people don't much like it saying they make a mess in their yards ... but they sure are beautiful. My best friend who lives about 2 miles from me has flocks of wild parrots (small like parakeets) in her neighborhood. It's always fun when I go to her house and hear bunches of them and see them flying around. In south Florida where my sister and brother in law live they have wild parrots all over the place. I remember when I was staying with my mom before she passed 7 years ago ... the parrots would flock to puddles in the road to take a bath after a rain shower. It was so cool to watch them.

Thanks!

We've seen those little beautiful green/blue birds when we go to FL for vacation! Monk Parakeet, I think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

Panthers -- yikes! and armadillos - yuck! Makes me really happy to be living in the north, I can even be happy about seeing snakes because we don't have any poisonous ones. Deer, turkeys, rabbits, maybe an occasional bear, fox, skunk, porcupine (not so good for the dogs) or coyote. and the possums seem to have made their way up here too, but not particularly common to see them. I've been seeing lots of shows on TV about pythons in Florida, not good!

Marilyn, looks like your yard is a popular stop because there sure are a lot of deer. Fortunately, we don't have any here in the area of Long Island were I am. Plenty of deer further out on the Island and out at the East End.

Wild rabbit pics.

We get raccoons and possums here. Ky has poisonous snakes. Hope I never see one and I don't know if I have.