Madeleine Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I've just done a walk in a local country park and saw a pair of Egyptian geese with about 10 little ones, so sweet, but a very early brood. Le'ts hope they all manage to survive🦆 (sorry a duck was the closest emoji I could find to a goose!). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 I've just looked out of our window and seen these in the garden (apologies for the poor quality of the photo as it was taken through the window). There were 6 of them. I'm quite happy to have them as lawnmowers but not so keen when they start eating the pansies from the tubs about the house! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 Are they muntjacs? I don't get them here, but friends who live in slightly more rural areas have lost lots of plants to them, one says they eat her alliums! Could do with them to cut the grass though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 On 2/15/2024 at 2:10 PM, Madeleine said: I've just done a walk in a local country park and saw a pair of Egyptian geese with about 10 little ones, so sweet, but a very early brood. Le'ts hope they all manage to survive🦆 (sorry a duck was the closest emoji I could find to a goose!). Aww! Well it has been quite mild so fingers crossed! 17 hours ago, France said: I've just looked out of our window and seen these in the garden What an amazing view, I love deer. I did not know they’d eat flowers like pansies though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 Think they eat pretty much anything vegetation wise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 We had this visitor last summer who was definitely not welcome in the garden (though he was rather sweet!).! They do a huge amount of damage 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 (edited) My granddaughter and her little boy was out walking in their neighborhood and seen these deer. IMG_7634.MOV Edited February 19 by muggle not 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 18 hours ago, Madeleine said: Are they muntjacs? I don't get them here, but friends who live in slightly more rural areas have lost lots of plants to them, one says they eat her alliums! Could do with them to cut the grass though. No, they are roe deer and there are loads of them around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 What type of deer are those MN? They have wonderful ears! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 7 hours ago, France said: What type of deer are those MN? They have wonderful ears! They are white-tailed deer and are very plentiful in North America. They continually eat my shrubs and flowers. If you turn your sound up you can hear my granddaughter's little boy yelling at the deer telling them to go home. Here are a couple photos I got on the internet of some white-tailed deer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 they're lovely! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 22 hours ago, muggle not said: They are white-tailed deer and are very plentiful in North America. They continually eat my shrubs and flowers. If you turn your sound up you can hear my granddaughter's little boy yelling at the deer telling them to go home. We get fallow deer coming into our garden at night to eat fruit at this time of year. They leap effortlessly over fences and gates. We also have wild pigs which make a real mess digging up paddocks. Neither are native to NZ and considered a pest ( as are rabbits, possums, stoats, ferrets, wild goats and several other animals). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 On 2/19/2024 at 10:45 PM, muggle not said: If you turn your sound up you can hear my granddaughter's little boy yelling at the deer telling them to go home. And they look up as if to say “excuse me?” 😄. I also second @France, they have the best ears. 10 hours ago, poppy said: Neither are native to NZ and considered a pest ( as are rabbits, possums, stoats, ferrets, wild goats and several other animals). That’s a lot of invasive species! I actually didn’t know that you have possums in New Zealand. The most interesting mammals I can get in my garden are foxes and hedgehogs (although I do like seeing both, especially hedgehogs) 🦔. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunababymoonchild Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I've been in my currect address for 50 years and only seen deer, across the road, twice in that time. I'm pretty certain that they would be Roe deer, although they disappeared into the undergrowth pretty quickly I'm glad to say - the NED (Non Educated Delinquent) element in the area would have been very bad for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 We have fallow deer here too, well not right where I live but a bit further out, they are lovely, and some have markings as they are a particular strain which apparently is only found in SE England, also red deer/roe deer and muntjacs but the ones I've seen the most are the fallow deer, they're very skittish though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 13 hours ago, Hayley said: That’s a lot of invasive species! I actually didn’t know that you have possums in New Zealand. Most were brought here by early settlers from Gt Britain, in a lot of cases as food sources, I imagine. The possums were introduced from Australia. They're protected there, I understand, but thrive in our climate and decimate our native forests. They can also carry TB that can infect cows. They are quite cute though, but make a fearful screeching and hissing noise. They climb onto our veranda roof at night and clamber around, making those noises. Causes quite a start and since I keep the bedroom windows open (it's summer), I'm always half expecting them to come clambering in! The rabbits and deer don't really cause us problems so we enjoy seeing them 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 12 hours ago, poppy said: Most were brought here by early settlers from Gt Britain, in a lot of cases as food sources, I imagine. That makes sense. I wonder whether the stoats and ferrets were introduced to keep the numbers of rabbits down. 12 hours ago, poppy said: They are quite cute though I also think they’re cute 😄 although I’ve never seen one in person, only in pictures and on American TV shows! I didn’t know about the screeching either though! I like the way the babies ride around on the mother’s back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 11 hours ago, Hayley said: That makes sense. I wonder whether the stoats and ferrets were introduced to keep the numbers of rabbits down. I also think they’re cute 😄 although I’ve never seen one in person, only in pictures and on American TV shows! I didn’t know about the screeching either though! I like the way the babies ride around on the mother’s back. Yes, rabbits had already created problems for farmers by the 1870's. There were so many in some parts of the South Island ( we're such an imaginative lot with our place names 🙄) that there was no food left for sheep. Unfortunately ferrets and stoats are devastating on birdlife. Possums here are different from American ones. Ours look like this ... And this is the noise they make. Right outside (an open) bedroom window in the middle of the night gives you something of a start 😁 I had one once that was scratching on a bedroom window. I couldn't see anything so opened up the window only to discover it was clinging to the window frame and swinging backwards and forwards as I opened and closed it! The have very sharp claws, you don't want them running up your leg, as I did once with a pet one 😅 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Very strange noises! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 On 2/22/2024 at 10:18 PM, poppy said: Possums here are different from American ones. Ours look like this ... Ok, that is extremely cute! The noise is not so cute (but does sound a bit like they’re complaining after a long day 😄). On 2/22/2024 at 10:18 PM, poppy said: I had one once that was scratching on a bedroom window. I couldn't see anything so opened up the window only to discover it was clinging to the window frame and swinging backwards and forwards as I opened and closed it! That is hilarious . Sneaky possum. On 2/22/2024 at 10:18 PM, poppy said: The have very sharp claws, you don't want them running up your leg, as I did once with a pet one 😅 You can keep them as pets!? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 11 hours ago, Hayley said: You can keep them as pets!? You're not supposed to, but some people do. I've never had one myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 (edited) Many of you have seen photos of bears that used to visit my back yard when I lived in Virginia. I will post a few of them again for those that haven't seen them. I used to sea a bear almost every day in my back yard eating sunflower seed from the bird feeder. I got to a point where I would give the different bears a name. one time when my wife's sister was visiting us and we were having breakfast a bear came and pulled down the bird feeder, ate the seed, went over to our bird bath and took a drink, and then layed down and took a nap. 😀 Today's photo is of a bear that I named "trouble" for obvious reasons. Edited February 29 by muggle not 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 A favorite of mine. Mama Bear and her 2 cubs. The cubs are probably about a month old. The Mama Bear and her 2 cubs were also at my feeder about a month later when something scared the cubs and the one cub ran to mama and the other cub scooted up a nearby tree faster than the devil. Enlarge the photo to get the best view. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Wow! That looks even more alarming than when we get too close to wild boar who are generally shy and stay away - except if something has annoyed them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 I looked out of the kitchen window earlier and right outside on the grass was a peregrine falcon devouring (I think) a pigeon, might have been a seagull, hard to tell but we've had a very pretty black and white pigeon visiting regularly which I fear is the victim. Quite a sight though to have a peregrine right under my nose, even if it was quite gruesome! It did move to another bit of the garden and then flew down to the end, probably away from my gawping eyes! I think it's left the remnants under a bush at the bottom of the garden, lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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