Wildlife

[TxCat]

I had an absolutely awesome crow encounter yesterday. We were driving a rural route into town because I had a doctor's appointment when I spotted two crows on top of a street light. They each had what appeared to be a piece of a hamburger wrapper and were busily pecking it for tidbits. The first, smaller crow finished his and then sidled over to the other.

I've watched birds for a while and most of them are nothing if not territorial about food. They don't like to share and I expected crows to be even more aggressive about it.

The other crow, using his feet and his beak, carefully tore off about half of the remaining wrapper and gave it to the other bird.

I have never seen any other animal in the wild share like that. Amazing!

[TNHawke]

Thanks TxCat for making this thread. I might even close the Guild... dunno for sure yet.

I live in Idaho. Even when I lived in Boise, you didn't have to drive more than 15 minutes to be out of town. Now that I'm in Twin Falls... I've got a little canyon a minute's walk away- or a 5 minute bike ride to get down into it. When I had a car, I could be completely out of town within 5 minutes one way or 15 another. The Snake River Canyon is within bicycle distance of where I live. It's pretty nice here.

I used to do wildlife rehabilitation, and I will do it again as soon as I have a big enough place with a yard, I'll do it again. My favorite creatures to raise or take care of are corvids- crows, magpies, ravens and starlings (although i'm not certain that the starlings are actually corvids), and birds in general. Birds sleep through the night, while mammals don't- and baby mammals need fed through the night. I also like house finches, they are sweet little birds, and I wish it was legal to keep them as pets. I've also cared for a few reptiles and amphibians.

I currently have a pet raven, but he's a hybrid of a white-necked and a common raven, so he's a legal pet. I once heard someone describe pet ravens as "a flying toddler with a steak knife"... and I don't think any description could possibly be more accurate!

[TxCat]

I currently have a pet raven, but he's a hybrid of a white-necked and a common raven, so he's a legal pet. I once heard someone describe pet ravens as "a flying toddler with a steak knife"... and I don't think any description could possibly be more accurate!

That would have been me, talking about Dee's description of his beloved pet. Jenna fell out of the nest and Dee, as an adolescent, didn't know that he probably ought to leave the fledgling alone. He brought her home and hand fed her. Now she's imprinted on him and they're inseparable. I've mentioned before that Dee works for a federal agency; it wasn't unusual for visitors to his office to find him at his desk working case information with the raven either perched above the doorway (and yes, he did teach her to say "Nevermore!") or cuddled into his shoulder grooming his hair while he worked.

If she takes a dislike to someone, she swipes random objects from the desk and bombards the person until he or she leaves (which was a problem when Jenna took a like to his field supervisor).

Jenna initially didn't live here with us; ravens don't inhabit Florida and we were afraid the climate might damage her health. Now, however, after having checked that out and finding that she's okay as long as she's indoors, she lives here. We have a wildlife permit because she is, of course, considered non-release. Here in Florida, there are several levels of permits. The most common, and the one we needed, simply has you fill out a form which indicates you understand the animal's housing needs, its biological cycle, its natural food tendencies, its mating habits, and its companion needs (it looks like an essay test in a biology exam, which in a way it is). If the answers are satisfactory and the animal in question indeed cannot be released, then you are allowed to keep the animal.

Corvids in general are highly intelligent problem solving animals. She likes to play with the Tinker Toys we've got and will actually build things with them.

We do, however, periodically have to go through the house looking for our belongings and reclaiming them if possible. She likes shiny buttons, things that look like twigs (pencils and markers and paintbrushes are her favorite), polished rocks, silverware, hair ribbons, earrings, and barrettes.

She's never shown any inclination to harass the other animals in the house, not even the ones which ought to be considered prey like the rabbit and the mouse, but Jenna is awfully fond of the eskies' fur. It's her preferred nesting material and she won't wait for them to shed it. Once, she plucked Freyja's tail completely bald while the dog slept!

Wildlife companions are, of course, a responsibility and definitely not on a par with having a pet. You always have to be aware that no matter how the animal was raised it is still a wild animal and will behave as such when given the opportunity.

Spoiler

Those pictures are of Merlin, my bobcat hybrid. I got Merlin from a hoarder. She had over twenty cats living in a small Airstream trailer. I'd just lost my beloved Siamese and wanted a similar animal and so I chose him. Merlin always seemed a little different --- the lady couldn't tell me more than that one parent was either Siamese or Burmese ---but I didn't know how different until I had to obtain a permit to take the animals across the country when I was moving from Colorado to the east coast. There's a certificate valid for ten days which you have to have for certain states if you're transporting any kind of animal at all, even a pet. The vet took one look at Merlin and asked if he could send DNA samples to the veterinary college at Boulder in order to find out the animal's heritage. When we got them back, it turns out that he's a bobcat hybrid, the offspring of a bobcat and a domestic breed.

Since the existence of hybrids is still hotly debated in spite of a few other cases like mine in which the DNA has been verified, I don't have to have a permit to keep him. That doesn't make me forget, however, that he's a wild animal. Merlin smells. It's not unpleasant, but it's a wild smell you don't get off domesticated animals. It's a much lighter musk than that of a ferret's but along the same lines. His shoulders and neck are much more heavily developed, as are his jaws. He has fangs, not teeth and when we had to have dental work done on him the fangs had that long root which is only present in wild cats. He does not have slitted pupils; his eyes are round. When he walks, he does so tail down and in that wide slapping motion only seen in bigger wild cats.

The markings, which don't show up as well in the photos, are generally not found in domestic cats either. He has half-rosettes on his stomach similar to those on a bobcat, jaguar, or ocelot. His ears are tufted, like the bobcat and the lynx. He has vestigal cheek ruffs. Even the fur texture is different and he has claws, not nails.

He doesn't engage in any of the domestic kitty behaviors: doesn't react to catnip, doesn't play with toys, doesn't claw the furniture. He can be picked up and held by some family members, if he so chooses, but when he's done he's DONE. He'll ever so gently extend those claws and then retract them just enough to prick skin. He doesn't knead, exactly, and he doesn't purr. The noises he makes range from low chuffing sounds to the full throated scream typically associated with the bob cat. We can't feed him regular cat food; we have to feed him a canned variety which contains ONLY animal products and actual meat, not byproducts or filler.

There's another hybrid who lives outdoors. My husband, thinking it was a cat, just went outside and scooped it up to show me one day. I did a double take and then realized somehow he'd managed to pick up a wild cat. The cat is most likely part of the Department of Fish and Wildlife's feral program. He's been neutered and has obviously been around people but he doesn't belong to anyone. We leave food out for him because I enjoy having him around and I don't want him to eat the birds from my feeder (we leave that to the hognose living in the palmettos).

[TNHawke]

@ TxCat - I remembered it was you, but I didn't want to point out your name with out prior permission.

Today, I realized that having a pet raven isn't so much like having a flying toddler with a steak knife as it is like having a flying autistic 4 year old with a steak knife.

He is HIGHLY intelligent. He's a "hands on" learner. He can't exactly tell me what he needs and wants. He hates change. Change causes him to flip out.
My job suddenly insisted that I have to be there at 6 am instead of 8 am, sooo... I get him up 2 hours earlier 'for no good reason', and he starts cawing and banging around in a temper tantrum... and I'm certain that if it happens again, I'm going to get complaints from neighbors.
Cranky raven at 5am = unhappy neighbors.

The Bobcat hybrid is nifty. My Pooka is a lynxpoint, and color-wise is a bit similar to yours. Pooka is also huge- 18 pounds and NOT fat. He's very tall and long. I've actually wondered if he didn't have a bit of Bengal in him, but he was born stray, so it's hard to say. I'm afraid your photos aren't doing your kitty justice though. The pupils look dilated, but still slitted, not round. His jaws look more like 'male cat jowls' than 'hint of facial ruff". All the behaviors you spoke of... I've known both mutt and purebred cats who were similar. As to big cats and catnip? Check this out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tklx3j7kgJY
I'm not meaning to cast doubt on the claims of bobcat blood (and that's awesome that you were able to get him DNA tested!), I'm just thinking maybe it's a bit farther back in the lines. Also... I've met a few pet pure bobcats and one lynx, and the size difference between them and a house cat is pretty severe. Think big Labrador X Yorkie, that's the kind of size difference. I'm not sure how they would successfully mate with out some kind of human intervention to help. (which could have easily happened. People are weird)

That said... I wouldn't mind getting my kitty Crash DNA tested. He's little, and a brown tabby, but he's more ticked than striped and on his legs, his stripes are more like slightly elongated spots. He has NO white patches, the bottoms of his paws are black, and his belly and chest lighten up to cream. Right below his nose, the cream fades to almost white. He was born to the local feral colony, but apparently got enough domestic in his genes to make him pet worthy. (he and one sister were, all the rest that I tried to rescue refused all efforts)

Which brings up another topic. I'd always been curious about the domestication of species, and I'd heard various tidbits about the domestic fur-foxes. National Geographic had a wonderful article on it just last month! It's been found that there are actual genetic differences based on simply breeding for personality rather than looks between domestic animals and truly wild counterparts. Suddenly, I think I understand better how you can have two kittens from the same litter, raised together with the same care and love and socialization and food and everything, and one is a lap lover, and the other wants nothing to do with humans.
Here's a link to the article. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/ ... tliff-text

[TxCat]

The photos really don't do him justice. I should find some of the ones we took of him eating (and out of his winter coat). I had actually seen the bobcat on the premises when I went out to rescue him, so I don't think it's all that far back, if it's not a 50/50 split. At the time I was trying to leave Colorado in a hurry and so I wasn't overly concerned with the percentage (though he did say it was over 60%, which would have required me to have a wildlife permit for him there if I'd been staying).

His size is on the small side, but I've found that it's comparable to the Florida bobcat (there's a stuffed one at the Natural History Museum in Gainesville which looks exactly like Merlin, right down to the markings and coloration). Bobby-cat, whom I'd mentioned comes around our yard periodically, isn't much bigger or more dense and that one is definitely no one's pet! His feet are the size of coffee saucers, even though he's slightly built.

I wish I could find the pictures of Bobby-cat but they seem to have disappeared (and no wonder, since I've taken to labeling photo folders with things like "more damned photos" or "I don't know what's in this"). The same for the hognose we momentarily captured in the yard (he was gorgeous!)

OH! And the first humming bird was sighted today. Time to get the feeders back out. I love these little guys.

Some other wildlife typically found lurking around our place:

Spoiler

The first is a common toad. My husband, actually a large boy in disguise, likes to catch the reptiles and amphibians so he can show them to me more closely. This little guy had somehow already found its way into the house. We played with it for a little bit before escorting it outside. I didn't want the cats eating him. They can get to be as big as dinner plates around here but I tolerate them because they eat mosquitoes.

The second is what we believe to be a Monarch butterfly. We got an early rain and found the poor thing straggling in a puddle. Apparently once their wings are soaked, they don't fly well. My husband gently scooped it up in the plastic bowl and then brought it inside so its wings could dry off. When they had, we let it go.

The last is what we believe to be a young corn snake. We found it twining its way around the posts of our front stairs one morning. Pretty markings!

[ShenziSixaxis]

Indeed a corn snake. Probably a yearling, hatched from last year's breeding season since right now all the corn snake breeders are pairing their adult up.




There's not too much in the way of wildlife here, but I'm in the city. Mostly I see house sparrows, mourning doves, common pigeons, season finches, a family group of bluebirds, some robins, the occasional earthworm, some beetles I don't know the name of, crows mainly in fall, hawks, and the occasional owl. I also believe I've seen some sort of falcon, but I didn't get a good look at it. It may have also been a young hawk, as it was half the size of the hawks we normally see.
In the warmer months there's all sorts of spiders everywhere.


I'd post some pictures, but I don't feel like resizing them. I'll do that later when I'm not stiff and in need of a shower.

[TxCat]

Indeed a corn snake. Probably a yearling, hatched from last year's breeding season since right now all the corn snake breeders are pairing their adult up.

As the species is native to Florida, I don't think this one came from a breeder. He's probably considerably bigger now, though, as the picture was taken several years ago. I had to work hard to convince my Southern born husband that you do NOT kill snakes on sight. Now he's on the opposite end of the spectrum. The December before last, when I took a trip to Louisiana to see Dorie before she moved in with us he sent me a picture off his cell phone. To my absolute horror, he held in his hands a small pygmy rattler and informed me he'd taken it inside because it was cold.

I sent the photo to one of my friends who has a degree in herpetology and she told me "Make him put it outside CAREFULLY and tell him not to pick any more of those up!"

We're lucky it was a small one, probably a juvenile since it didn't even have buttons yet, because their bites can be nasty.

The Eastern Indigo, which is endangered, is another common visitor to our yard. I adore seeing these guys with their glossy blue-black scales. They eat rodents, insects, and other troublesome swamp denizens. I could do without the black racer, though (it's a dull black opposed to the blue-black and the juveniles don't have the red splashes under the eyes). While non-venomous, they're territorial and we've actually been chased across the yard by them. Their bite is painful.

Tuesday, when we were running errands, I got to observe some juvenile and adult boat tailed grackles in the parking lot of the store. While they're not corvids, they do bear a resemblance to that family. The juveniles are a very pretty buff and brown color, the adults glossy and irridescent black with bright golden eyes. This was a family group, but the adult took offense to one which didn't belong to the group. It was interesting to watch the adult bird, squawking and yelling and all ruffled up, chase the other juvenile off.

Overhead, we spotted some seagulls. I know everyone else considers them pests, but I love to watch them fly. They're graceful. These had completely black heads but were not laughing gulls because the calls didn't match. I'll have to look them up and figure out just what they were. There are at least eleven different species here near the coast and all of them can be found in urban areas as well.

There was a Bobby-cat sighting as well. He likes our dogs and has made himself a den just beyond their enclosure. He was sitting there under the leaves an the dogs were at the fence wagging like mad and greeting him like a long lost friend. If we can manage it, we're going to lure him into the house long enough to get a collar on him. I don't want someone accidentally shooting him.

[GamingGal]

I've been browsing through here seeing as I love wildlife. Could you post pictures of your pet Raven? I think that just sounds awesome.

This morning, my sister and I were waiting for the bus and hear two Barred Owls calling to each other, but couldn't see them. All of a sudden, one flies from the woods and lands on a tree near us. We're looking at it, listening as they keep calling, when the other flies from the opposite direction and sits a few branches above the other. They call a bit more before flying into the woods together. It was pretty awesome.

[Batty]

Some random photos of some Australian wildlife. The following creatures live around my house. (what is the code for show/hide?)

Dtella, a species of gecko that lives around my house. I have dozens of these little lizards living in the eaves.
Dtella by battyden, on Flickr

Rain moth. These always come inside before it rains.
Moth by battyden, on Flickr

Spotted marsh frog.
Frog On Glass by battyden, on Flickr

And finally, a photo I took on my last trip to the coast. This regal fellow is an eastern water dragon. He is *not* a pet or tame, but he felt secure enough to allow the silly bugger with a camera take his photo. He is about 24 inches long.
Eastern Water Dragon by battyden, on Flickr

[TNHawke]

Batty, those are BEAUTIFUL!

I remember on my trip to El Salvador (two week mission trip in summer of 1996) I saw a big wild lizard run down a small canal (not much more than a drainage ditch). It was gone before I could get a photo of it. I'm not certain where basilisk lizards are native to, but that's what it looked like. Big crest on the head like that.

Gaming, I have some videos of Sam on Youtube, it's going to be another week or few before I can start uploading photos. I'm still catching up from real life.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TNHawke?feature=mhum#p/u There we go.