Wildlife abounds in and around your backyard, all you
have to do is take a fresh look. There are many things you may not even notice,
those wildflowers growing in your lawn, attract all manner of pollinators. Butterflies
flutter about and bees collect pollen to keep our tables full of fruits and
vegetables.
Take a closer look at the trees and shrubs around your
house. They are a habitat for birds, snakes, and all kinds of insects.
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| A honeybee hive photo credit D.Carroll |
Have you ever seen a bee collecting pollen? Take a few
minutes and watch nature at work. You can get as close as you like, honeybees
are very docile.
How about hummingbirds? Whether at a feeder or
gathering nectar from flowers, hummingbirds are fun for the whole family to
watch. Hummingbirds can fly up to 30 MPH and when your kids see one fly
backwards for the first time, they will be hooked on the wonders of nature. With
their long beaks and multi-color plumage hummingbirds make great subjects for the
photographer of the family.
If you own a dog, then you know that as soon as he
sees a squirrel it’s game on. Squirrels are everywhere, so why even bother to
watch them? Because they are amazing acrobats. Watch and see the many way that
squirrels will figure out to get into that bird feeder. If you ever have the
opportunity to watch a squirrel bury his nuts, it’s quite a show. He will dig,
look around, drop the nuts in the ground, look again and cover them up. This is
all done very quickly. He wants to be sure that no one is going to steal his
stash of nuts for the winter.
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| A baby dove less than 45 minutes old photo credit D. Carroll |
Do you like watching the military channel on tv? If
you do you may want to take notice of one of the most effective armies the
world has ever known. This army serves at the pleasure of their queen. She
directs what food they need, when and where to go, who protects the kingdom and
who the workers are. These many kingdoms outnumber humans one million to one!
I’m talking about ants. While the workers are out gathering food for the
colony, they march in a single line going both directions. If you watch each
ant will “high five” each one it passes. They do this to pass on information to
each other. If you live in the south and disturb a fire ant mound, then you
will see the fierceness with which this army protects the nest. These colonies
can have up to 500,000 ants. That’s one big army! Ants are fascinating creatures
if you take the time to watch.
Sitting on you back porch as the sun sinks below the
horizon, tree frogs begin to emerge from their daytime hiding places and start
to sing their song of dusk. With the dusk, comes insects, if you watch the
frogs, they will soon start to feed on the gnats, moths and other insects that
gather at the light. The frog is an amazing marksman with his lightning fast tongue.
If you are lucky enough, your frog will eat a firefly, then you can see its
insides every time the firefly lights up.
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| Peacock spider |
Along with frogs, the insects will also bring spiders.
Spiders have an undeserved bad reputation. Very few are poisonous. They eat a
lot the insects that bug us at night. Spiders can be as beautiful as any
creature that inhabits the earth. If you have never watched a spider move in on
its prey, it’s as fast, violent and daunting as a lion taking down a gazelle.
This is just the beginning of the wildlife you can
find in your own backyard. Depending where you live, you could see moose,
gators or bear just by looking out your window. I am lucky enough that at any
given time, looking out my backdoor, I might see bobcats, coyotes, eagles,
ospreys, iguanas and much more.
Our lives are busy, with work, coaching your
children’s sports, and that never- ending honey do list. Most of us can’t get
out on the water or into the woods as much as we’d like. Why not take the
opportunity life gives us to slow down. Take notice of the life teeming in our
own backyard. Afterall that’s where as kids we first discovered the wonders of
nature.
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| Hummingbird at rest Photo credit Jennifer Carroll |
