What wild animals frequently visit your garden?

If we’re counting inverts, the species count is insane. I think I’m at 278 species on iNat from my yard? And it isn’t like I’ve managed to photograph a lot of the smaller ones or less fequent ones

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I’m lucky enough to have foxes using my property as their reproductive site. I almost never see them directly, but the holes they dig are everywhere, sometimes I find feather trails of the neighbors’ chicken they steal. Their secret is safe with me.
Sometimes I find large groups of snakes (Hierophis viridiflavus and Natrix helvetica) joining together to mate, there’s a good variety of insects (many dragonflies reproducing in my pond, Lucanus tetraodon, fireflies, hummingbird moths), woodland birds (nuthatches, eurasian jays, woodpeckers, owls), hedgehogs, lizards, dormice, hoopoe… All the typical fauna of the mediterranean countryside.
Living near the mountains and far away from the city is awesome.

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Lots of birds and squirrels, snakes, frogs, rabbits, and the occasional porcupine.

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Standard UK answer: pigeons (feral and wood), Eastern grey squirrels (invasive pests!), various other birds.

“A city in the South” means rose-ringed parakeets from the Himalayas. Some lucky people probably get slow-worms (legless lizards) but I don’t.

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/monitoring-gardens-and-spreading-the-message/26094

Join the discussion :slightly_smiling_face:

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What do you mean? They’re beautiful natives! (I am from the USA.)

Gray squirrels are native to the Eastern US and considered invasive elsewhere. Even here in the US, many people consider them pests, and try to discourage ir even eradicate them, while others love them and actively feed them.
I myself find them cute and entertaining, but do nothing to actively discourage or encourage them in my yard (except by having bird-feeders, which are never as squirrel-proof as they claim, and provide plenty of scattered seed on the ground.)
What I dislike about them is that they are stupid, and are the most common roadkill I encounter - like deer, they “freeze” in the middle of the road with oncoming traffic.

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What I love about this topic is seeing the creatures that don’t inhabit my part of the world - especially when I can use the links to observations, and see where they have been made.

When I am IDing I only ever look at observations from my area, so I don’t encounter the true diversity of iNat except through the Forum.

I know I could use the Explore feature to do the same thing, but it’s more fun to look at the observations of people whose user names I recognize, and who have taken the time to post here.

Thanks for the topic!

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I know, I was making an observation about how different places can have different views about a species.

Regulars: European Rabbit, European Jay, Magpie, Blue Tit, Robin, Slow Worm, Black Bird.

I live near Fairbanks, Alaska, adjacent to lots of wild country. Since it’s winter, I’ll just mention the current winter regulars: moose, red squirrels, flying squirrels, boreal red-backed voles, red fox, snowshoe hares, porcupines, ravens, gray jays, black-capped chickadees, boreal chickadees, pine grosbeaks, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, boreal owls, great-horned owls, ruffed grouse and spruce grouse. No active invertebrates right now! Got this big boy in 2022 along with a cow and calf https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192513193

and this nighttime regular (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192664896)

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Wow flying sqiuirrels! My grandmother who lives in North Pole saw some once and I’ve always wanted to see some.

F.S. have you ever thought of putting up a trail cam? I bet you’d get some neat stuff, like the kits around the den.

Do you have any big spruce trees near your house? Flying squirrels are actually very common in Alaska although we rarely see or hear them. They are very easily habituated and I’ve had a few feed from my hand. We put unsalted peanuts in the feeder after dark to keep the red squirrels at bay. Here’s a link to ADF&G’s information: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=northernflyingsquirrel.main

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We have quite a few big spruce trees in our yard.

I looked at the map in the link you posted, and it looks like the flying squirrels aren’t found on the Kenai Peninsula, where I live.

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You’re right. I didn’t look closely enough. Maybe your grandmother could set up a camera if she’s got spruce trees near her house! (You basically need a forest though, not just a few trees). It’s interesting that flying squirrels aren’t on the Kenai Peninsula. I wonder why – it seems like there would be plenty of habitat. I did my Master’s thesis on the Kenai Refuge canoe system and that is one giant spruce forest.

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Wow, that photo really captures that moose’s majesty. The first time I ever saw moose was in Alaska, and I was astonished at their size. The wonder of that experience is still with me, decades later.

I see moths frequently in my garden :slightly_smiling_face:

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Groundhogs (Marmota monax) wishing for greater upper body strength/longer legs:


Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus):

American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis):


Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris):


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