Spotting

Karen, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you! I can't wait to see more pictures of how you are progressing! It's awesome to create spaces for wildlife. We have a family of Red fox that live in the barn in the winter time as we no longer have horses. We get lots of raccoon, skunk, and various other animals through the property as well. We have about 30 species of bird that come to the feeders by the house and I can guarantee that there are more than fifty that do not come to the feeders. I cannot even begin to tell you how many different species of insect we have.

I love living here. Even in the winter there are always surprises, like the deer, pheasant, wild turkey, and other critters that come around.

Thank you for the link to the 'dam beavers' letter!!! :-D

Your property sounds wonderful! We have just over 8 acres but it is pretty much all grass although we are lucky enough to have 1000' of mixed woodland along one side. Our property was let out for years & the various tenants never did anything with the land (probably because they were spending their time wrecking the house!). We moved back last year & have been working on the first phase of creating a wildlife habitat. This year we have planted over 60 native trees & a 300' hedgerow. Next year we are planning to dig a couple of ponds - a 20' decorative water feature close to the house for us & a much larger earth pond for the wildlife! We don't have beavers but we do have a family of gray foxes, raccoons, skunk, groundhog, rabbits & squirrels, & over 40 different species of birds - hopefully the addition of water will bring in a few more critters!
Oh, & in case you have never read the 'dam beavers' letter, here is a link!
http://www.getipm.com/personal/dam.htm
It's a classic!

I saw that. ;-) I did not take offense, and I think most people here have a sense of humor. Or at least I hope they do.

Yeah, we have 12 acres of land here, what's awesome is the variations in habitat. I have koi ponds and natural style gardens up by the house, with about 3 acres of lawn. Then we have a large stand of pine, behind that, open unspoiled field (with the exception of the two lane ways) then we have a small hardwood, with a swamp bottom, then a large stand of pines at the back of the property. the beavers have dammed the seasonal stream along the property line between ours and the neighbors. (unfortunately they have flooded the neighbors entire woods). It's nice because of the abundance of wildlife, and many varying species, that live in the different areas of the property. :-D It's a spotters play ground!

How cool to have beavers in your back yard! BTW, I deleted my comment just in case anyone took offense!

LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just spit coffee everywhere!!!!! Thank you for making me laugh!!!!

I did not catch the beaver today. I did however take a couple logs off the top of their dam, just before dark, so I can go out before day break and setup and be there when they come and fix the dam. (no worries I didn't do much damage at all, just moved a few big logs to allow the water to flow a little more through the space where they allow overflow to go).

Thank you Karen! I was actually waiting at the beaver dam, hoping to catch the beavers going about their business. I looked over my shoulder and saw the light catch this guy just right, spun my camera around and snapped a couple really cool shots.

Nice shot!