Suburban wildlife

Most of the time, the only wildlife in my backyard are birds. In the past, woodchucks were the bane of my existance along with rabbits. Between the privacy fence and the dogs, most critters keep away except for one bunny and a few squirrels. So imagine my surprise when I found this opossum in the backyard.

At first, I thought the dogs had killed it, but no, opossums are very good at "playing dead". There was at least one baby on board; opossums are marsupials with a pouch, which this little guy was trying frantically to find. Mom was not helping in the least.

There were a couple more close encounters between the opossum and the dogs, so I thought she would leave. But the other night, I saw Baby wandering around on the deck after dark. They seem to have taken up residence in the dog house.

On top of the opossum, this black squirrel made an appearance. I've seen squirrels with this mutation in the neighborhood, just never in my own backyard. The squirrels (and presumably the opossum) clean up under the bird feeders.


And, not to be oudone, a bunny got everyone excited by making an appearance by the front walk.

The orioles and catbirds have abandoned their feeder for now, so I took it down. I also removed the mealworm feeder, as the only birds using it were sparrows and the occasional bluejay. The local paper printed a photo of a hummingbird at a nearby nature preserve; I hung out my hummingbird feeder, but so far, no takers. I think the robins in the front yard and the wrens in the back are nesting; in another week or so, I may hear some hungry peeps.

The pagoda dogwood has been blooming its little heart out this year. I can't find many photos of this tree on my blog, but I don't know if that is because it doesn't usually bloom so well or if I just neglected to document it.

The hawthorn in the front yard is blooming as well. I can't miss that as I see it every time I open or close the drapes over the picture window.

It seems like it is either raining or I am mowing. Everything seems HUGE this year, even the (doomed) rhubarb.

While the Clematis Paniculata is putting out some new growth, it looks like the 'Jackmanii' clematis did not survive the winter in a container despite my precautions. Now I'm back to the idea of trying to raise Virginia creeper, which covers a section of the privacy fence, in a container. All I want is something to grow on the pergola.