I LOVE your posting, your picture, and your wonderful comment - "In the end the garden is far more than a collection of plants, it's an environment". Thanks for sharing!

Wow - he is gorgeous! I too, love the garden partly because of all of the creatures it shelters. Our mature trees & big bushes are FULL of song birds - every time I go out there I get serenaded. Of course, we have the full range of birds, including hawks from time to time! The other day a Cooper's hawk was standing in the middle of our driveway for at least 5 minutes. All we could think of was that he flew into a building or tree limb while stooping on the little birds, as he looked stunned. After a while, he flew up and sat on our fence, and 10 minutes later when I went out he was gone. First time I ever got such a long close up look at one of those.

Jackie

We also have hawks on occasion, their call is truly moving, isn't it?

What's the most unusual or memorable animal that's come to visit your garden?

Nothing unusual here, but considering I live in the city, I get my fair share of wildlife! Skunks occasionally visit, and raccoons used to come and destroy all the plants in my pond! I installed motion lights, but that didn't stop them at all - they just continued to throw the plants around for fun, and munch on the water hyacinths, all the while smirking at me watching them from the kitchen window! I stopped buying the water hyacinths and they didn't bother to return. A very pregnant groundhog (I think that's what it was) waddled into my yard one day and I sprayed her with the hose until she finally came charging out from under a rosebush in the corner, right at me. She looked a tad upset, so being the big chicken that I am, I dropped the hose and ran inside. Never saw her again either. Not too exotic, I know, but the best I can come up with in our area LOL

Judith

In 1983 some punk kid drove a stolen car around back of our place and set it on fire. Now we have fencing around the back yard, only get rabid raccoons.

Carol

If we had a problem with punk kids around here I can assure you that we'd get traps.

There was the bear that climbed the New Dawn trellis to get at the bird feeder. While it was sturdy enough for New Dawn, it didn't pass that test.

I really thought that a bear landing on New Dawn would make a squeak or something. It only thudded.

Oh, I wish we had roadrunners -- so wonderful. There are some in the hills just south of us, but they don't make it here.

Last fall, October 1, to be exact, a mountain lion spent the day in our yard, lying under chaparral plantings on the steep hillside at the very back (I only have 1/3 an acre, but lots of plants, no lawn). I only discovered him in late afternoon (looking for my mysteriously absent cats who had, understandably, been lying low all day). I inferred when he had entered by the tremendous thud I had heard -- but could not explain -- on my roof around dawn that morning (he also left a paw print and nose smudge on my front picture window). He didn't eat any cats, never made a peep as I puttered around the yard during the day, and refused to budge when Fish and Game tried to chase him out that night. The decision was made to just back off and see if he would leave, and he did.

Other than that, just birds, birds, birds and the usual suburban "wild" life.

Just after I took this shot he let loose with the most incredible dove like sound.

Taxonomically road runners are cuckoos. I'm not surprised to learn the road runner makes a sound resembling a dove (or maybe the "cuckoo" of a cuckoo clock?)

Despite living in a city in the early autumn I sometimes see the very occasional peregrine falcon. Never ceases to move me! Oh, and in the autumn of 2009 while waiting for my morning commuter train I'm sure I saw a juvenile bald eagle perched on the roof of a building about two blocks away (until the crows chased it away).

No bald eagles here! And nor, no roadrunners, either -- though I think they're groovy. :-)

Years ago, we occasionally saw families of quail, but those are gone, as are most of the great blue herons who occasionally overflew our garden.

But! Not to whine! We see the occasional red-shouldered hawk, kestrel, and any number of red-tail hawks. We do get flocks of ring-necks and mourning doves, and periodic possums and raccoons (neither particularly welcomed by neighbors who keep chickens).

Happily, the coyotes have mostly moved back up into the hills, where we can enjoy their singing, at night.

Jeri

We love listening to their singing, as well. There's something reassuring about their howls and yips, a reminder that not much has changed around here in eons, just the way we like it.

Enjoy their singing??? Y'all come up to the mountains - 'singing' is more often a cacophony because they've found dinner. As my friend said, I wish they'd just get it !#$%! over with.

Wish I had seen the bear land on New Dawn!!!

Otoh, we do enjoy all of the above wildlife (except the road runner) including bighorn sheep (THAT's a sight!) and the occasional bald eagle (which, btw, if you didn't already know, keep to areas with a water source for fish).

Well -- To be specific -- I DO enjoy the coyotes singing -- when they "sing" up in the hills.

When they moved down into our elderly neighbor's derelict avocado orchard, and took to "singing" right outside my bedroom window . . .
Let's just say my enjoyment pretty much disappeared.
I never knew I could wake up that quickly.

Jeri

If that were to happen to us I fear we'd soon be joined in bed by one cat and two dogs.

And the dogs sleep in crates.

I have no doubt they could bounce like crazy when properly motivated.

Raccoons, opossums and skunks are in my very urban Sacramento neighborhood. They do love water hyacinths and I, too, have given up on having them in my little pond.

One very cold, wet spring, some Western tanagers took residence in my bottlebrush hedge. I was late for work the first morning that I spotted them because it was such a rare, brilliant sight! I was sure that I'd only see them once, but they stayed about a month, until things warmed up.
Anita

At first glance I thought you said "Western teenagers" and I was going to recommend some traps (I've done research).

I'm not quite awake yet...

Cecil, I read it that way first, also!!!

Cecil, what a great photo of the road runner!

I love Ingrid's and your approach to garden with nature and not against her and welcome all the wildlife that wants to visit or stay at your place. "In the end the garden is far more than a collection of plants, it's an environment...", I couldn't agree more.

Thanks for posting!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

There's more in most gardens than just the roses!

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Awe....some. The owl is almost spooky but in a beautiful kinda way.

One time I had a turkey buzzard on top of my pine tree- wings outstrtched warming in the sun. Another was on the telephone pole doing the same. It was fantastic how large they were but I freaked out when I saw my cat on the roof going toward him. I ran and got the cat treat bag and tried to get him back while trying to keep an eye on both birds. Later I learned that buzzards won't bother cats. The size of the birds was impressive to see up close.

"If we had a problem with punk kids around here I can assure you that we'd get traps." Heh heh. Funny man.
I envy you your roadrunner, a wonderful bird whose habitat is much reduced.

In my yard, a large, white, feral, crested Goffin's Corella. We call him Larry. He has lived with the local flock of crows for over 25 years. Larry hates people, and if I call to him when he's nearby he screams bloody murder at me with his crest flattened against his head and takes off to higher ground. He's just about my favorite creature in the world, after my husband.

Renee

We had a heron in our yard. I didn't see it, but DH did. At one point I saw fox and heard owls, but not recently. We do have a lot of hawks. Unfortunately I regularly see them swoop down and kill other birds :( I see a deer now and then if I'm up early and look out in the yard. Once one was right outside the window and we both stood there staring at each other for awhile.

You are right there is so much more than the garen out there. I am pleased that because of our wild rambler plantings the bird population has increased. There are even traveling birds that stick around that I had never seen before. The wonderful diversity of life is one of the things we can learn from a garden. Thanks to you and everyone else also for the great photos.

"I am pleased that because of our wild rambler plantings the bird population has increased."

Just dawned on me, another reason to look forward to my babies getting large.

Our favorite critters that go through the yard are the Calif. Quail. Just la-la-love their little toppy-knots ;-) Also love to see the little families on the move with mom and several little chicks all in a row. Too cute!

They're mega cute. We had a family with about 20 or so little ones hanging around a while back. Watching momma lead the babies around made ya want to melt...

You could hear the "awwwww"s all the way to LA, I swear.

Wildlife we have here in abundance - but I've never seen a "real" roadrunner. How very cool - and what a great photo!
We have all the usuals like deer, black bears, coyotes, and the smaller animals like beaver, fishers and porcupines. One of my favorite little mammals are flying squirrels. Songbirds we have aplenty and regular sitings of bald eagles and hawks, too - (it's all those lakes!) One of my favorite events of the day is when the sandhill crane family flies overhead on summer mornings and the evenings on their way to and from their feeding spots. They are huge birds and make such an interesting clacking/warbling sound.
And the biggest animal we have around here are elk, although it is rare to see them out in the open, but it does happen. One morning on my way to work just a few miles from home I had to slide to a quick stop on the dirt road as I rounded a corner and almost slammed into 3 young bucks, all standing stock still in the middle of the road. I looked out my windshield at the closest one's knees - my, those fellas were huge!

How awesome to see those pictures! One morning I woke up early and as I walked passed my window I saw what looked like a short person in the yard ( second story window). As I blinked away the sleep, I saw that it was a heron! Unbelievable. We have a pond and he was stalking our koi. Beautiful though!
I love the pics of the owls! I ve never seen one in my yard.

Beautiful picture of the roadrunner. I'd never seen one other than the cartoon one.

We have the usual gators, otters, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, and the dreaded armadillo--they tear up my flower beds every night. I love the sandhill cranes, though, that will dance with you. They start with the male throwing a stick in the air, then the entire family hops around and flaps their wings, then they all bow to you. Then another one grabs the stick, tosses it in the air, and the whole thing starts again. If you jump up and down and bow to them, they will do the same thing back. My grandson gets a large charge out of this.

floridarose, that was a wonderful comment about the cranes. I could see the whole thing in my mind's eye. Sometimes nature is truly magical.

Ingrid

Our rural neighborhood has had a pair of roadrunners for about 6 months. I havnt roadrunners since i was a kid in west texas at the deer camp.

My 80 year old neighbor loves them, and she calls them both "big bird". they will get pretty close, and on more than one occasion i have walked right up on one, and it startled the bejeezus out of me.

I catch them with lizards all the time, and the male, well he loves to catch one, then get on the nearest roof and start calling, "coo coo cooooo"

So now i call back at him, its a fairly easy sound to mimic, and he will come trying to find me. its quite an experience with this male bird. I assume hes the male because he has a bright red streak on his head. Im hoping they have eggs and we will see a family in the near future.

I would love to be able to get quality photos but my camera is not too good.

My old Newhall garden was on the strip between a planned community's private golf course and the chaparral. Bobcats; an infrequent mountain lion; ever-present quail, jack and cotton tail rabbits, gophers, rats and mice, ground and tree squirrels and coyotes inhabited the place daily. Over the eighteen years it existed, birds of all kinds were frequent visitors. Several kinds of owls, hawks, my favorite Bush Tits, were daily companions. There was a short period when a trio of Road Runners took up residence. Two males and a disinterested female ran up and down the golf course many afternoons. The two males strutted their stuff while she ran from one insect catch to the next, completely ignoring both of them.

I'd found piles of smashed snail shells at the bottom of the concrete retaining wall holding back the facing hillside capped with homes. I figured they were the result of a snacking possum or something. It wasn't until I was out watering and had the delight of watching one of the males stalking snails in the garden it dawned on my what they were. He'd dive into a bush to snag something, glide across the fire road to perch on the wall cap then smash the shell and gobble its contents. Then, back across the road to resume his browsing.

The males would click their beaks and fan their wings and tails to impress the female in attempts to outdo each other. She always ignored them, continuing to gorge herself on the abundant insect populations drawn to the oasis of lush, luxuriant turf surrounded by the hilly chaparral. One afternoon, I heard what sounded like an injured dog crying. I couldn't find it for the longest time until I discovered one of the males sitting in one of the Mexican Honeysuckles. It was the Road Runner making the sound. I'd never heard them make anything like it before. Another afternoon, I went out to water and the two males were chasing each other from the golf course into the garden along the main path. I stood completely still watching them, until they nearly ran into me. I know I startled the dickens out of them as they hit the breaks like the Road Runner cartoons, turned into a bisecting path until they hit the top of the slope where they each turned the opposite direction and ran off into the brush. They were beautiful, amazing and completely entertaining creatures!

I'd resisted using chemical controls for anything in that garden because of the stream of inhabitants and visitors. These Road Runners confirmed my resolve not to bring in any chemical measures. I hated the snails, but the image of finding one of them injured or killed by something I did was too much to bear.

Quail were interesting and rather annoying. There were many fifteen gallon cans of roses I wished to keep contained and the quail would nest in them for protection. I would begin watering and once I'd get about two feet from the can, several quail would explode in all directions from them like shrapnel, scaring the life out of me. I was always on heightened alert for snakes (NOT my favorite!) as there were Black Racers, Gophers, Kings and Rattlers out there. I met them frequently and did my best not to molest them as I knew they all did their part to keep the rodent population in check. Usually, a strong stream of icy cold water from the hose was sufficient to convince them I was staying and THEY weren't...except for the Black Racers! They were attracted to the water, probably because it meant their food supply would be nearby.

One afternoon, I encountered one of them and began my water assault to encourage him to vacate the place while I was there, only to discover he FOLLOWED the stream of water instead of avoiding it. Once that finally sunk in, I was already impaled on a large rose bush and the hose went one direction while I struggled to head in the opposite! Fortunately, the snake took the watery path so I could regain my composure! That garden was the first place I got to watch a rattle snake catch and swallow a rabbit. It was fascinating, like a science experiment with shivers! The Jays raised a real ruckus in the bush tops while the other rabbit watched his fellow become lunch, until it was over. I tapped with my water wand on the rocks I bordered the path with to encourage him it was time to leave. He struck at the wand convincing me it was time to use a colder, wetter "encouragement"! As he made his way up the slope toward the brush, two Jays dive bombed him while in the open. It felt as if they figured since he'd eaten already, they were safe.

Back to quail... I was flooding a bed desperately in need of some deep water. Toads had excavated several holes into tunnels which collected the water. I hadn't noticed the adult pair of quail with their brood in tow until I heard the noise erupting from one of the flooded holes. A baby quail was dog paddling in the water while the rest of the brood raised all manner of noise. I reached in to rescue it and then worried that perhaps the parents would abandon it because I'd touched it. After drying it off with paper towels, I placed the small bird in a large bucket to keep something from eating him. I figured I could keep him fed until he was large enough to set free, then went back to my watering. In very short order, the mother quail was on the potting bench where the baby was raising Cain to get out of the bucket. The father was on the fire road out from the bench, feigning an injured wing in an attempt to draw me away from the mother and baby to give her a chance to try to free their child.

I'd never thought the parenting instinct was so intense in quail! I studied their tactics for a few minutes, how the father remained just out of my reach while the mother tried everything she could to free her child. The other children were well out of reach under the surrounding bushes making an incredible racket! I carefully made my way back to the potting bench and placed the bucket slowly on its side to allow the infant escape without injury. As soon as he was clear of the bucket and me, both parents raced to him, herding him and the rest of the brood quickly into the under brush. What a relief! I didn't WANT to raise one of those noisy little things, but I felt if I'd caused him injury, I owed him remedy.

Two things impressed the heck out of me about those birds. The intense parental instincts for each and every offspring, and the ENORMOUS feet that tiny bird had! As if he was hatched with full, adult sized feet! The experience was fascinating and amazing.

There was a large, paved area at the bottom of the fire road separating the garden from the landscaped area of the community. Cut worms were a spring event in that garden. We'd find them weeding or planting, collecting them in a bucket to put out on the hot asphalt to the delight of the bazillians of lizards who kept the place swept for bugs. The cut worms would become very active from the heat of the paving while many lizards would watch from the safety of the sidelines until one would break from the circle to grab his choice of bug. The worms were very plump and hard. Occasionally, one would burst from the lizard chewing him and the lizard often dropped it and ran, probably from the surprise of his dinner "exploding" in his mouth! It was a frequent enough event, it seemed the lizards had come to expect the feeding and entertainment. The pleasure of watching their antics was well worth the stiff back from weeding and discomfort of the high heat in that canyon. It was a FUN and educational place!

Wish you could see them, Ingrid.

Fascinating wildlife stories, everyone. Nature is amazing. I once watched a small wild rabbit playing with a red Solo cup I'd left lying in the yard. I was using it to spread Osmacote on some annuals. He would pick it up in his mouth and throw it and then run after it, pick it up and thow the thing again. Then he would roll it around with his nose, and then start the same procedure with the throwing again. This went on for about five minutes until he sensed me watching him. Until then, I never realized wild animals played like that. Since then, of course, I've discovered the sandhill cranes playing.

oooh, well here in England, we have a somewhat attenuated list of native flora and fauna (the Ice age) and, as a townie myself, I am even less familiar with wild creatures. Snakes, Mountain Lions! sheesh - the most exciting thing here is an invasion of nasty little muntjac deer (another foreign escapee)or the odd urban fox. I did have a bit of a bird-watching phase during a lull in cat love. In truth though, the animal world continues without my observations (as I am blind, mean and vain and when the last pair of glasses were trodden on, I just got used to living in a vague cloud of fog) To my shame, my first thought on the roadrunner was 'mmm, looks quite edible' (even tho' I am a townie, I have caught rabbit or pheasant with the lurchers - skinning, dressing and cooking, no problem, especially if it is free) Wrens often nest in my allotment shed - they have a sing-off with the resident robins every evening. A bee and wasp phobia is a terrible affliction for a gardener - after many years of catatonic fear, I can cope with them in the open (have had to abandon kitchens, even bedrooms, many times) as long as I can get on the floor and put my T-shirt over my head. Not infrequently sweetheart or offspring have had to walk me home through the streets, still with T-shirt over the head, after a bad public encounter with a wayward bee. I once abandonned my weeping daughter when a wasp was actually stinging her on the leg and I threw my two year old to the floor when one landed on his arm while carrying him. This is also a compelling reason for remaining in an unfocused haze and never buying a new pair of spectacles.

Campanula, I understand your fear of wasps (if there's one anywhere near me I get bitten), but bees? I have never been bitten by a bee. My father used to catch them and hold them down on his knee to force them to sting. He read somewhere it was good for arthritic knees. More often than not, they would be squashed before they would sting. Before you ask, my father is perfectly normal.

The bees don't have to actually do anything except exist. My fears used to be so bad that I could not touch a piece of paper which had an illustration (not even a photo) of a bee or wasp. I think the gardening obsession landed on me to save my sanity (it certainly was unplanned and unasked for - just one thriving plant (lavatera) and I was hooked. How are your dad's knees?

Your fears aren't that uncommon Suzan. My eldest nephew is 17 and a half. He's 6'2" with size 15 shoes, plays football and runs track. Mention a moth and he is a blithering idiot. He is petrified of them stemming from an incident walking to school in junior high. I found a tomato horn worm moth (hummingbird moth) and took it over in a plastic bag and he absolutely melted down! I'm the one who got both him and his little brother over the fears of hideous Halloween masks; being tickled and special effects in scary movies. I'd hoped this would help impress upon him how easily he could rid himself of the irrational fear and how no moth could hurt him, but it wasn't to be. That moth WAS huge and his antics WERE comical! Kim

What a wonderful enjoyable post----Love the stories and pictures----
we have the usual assortment of birds and critters here in the Northeast----one day a groundhog was up on his hind legs peering in our french doors---It was funny but I do have to put little fences around our small roses----the deer the bunnies and groundhogs love to nibble on them--I was quite annoyed with "Bambi" one year when he bit off a long-awaited first bud on my MacCartney Rose---
One day a lady-friend and I were in the yard when a Hawk swooped down and tried to grab a beautiful Mourning Dove but he was no match for two old ladies with rakes----we scared him off and he dropped the Dove--It was quite a sight---LOL
We love all our birds and critters---no chemicals in our garden---
I agree about the Ramblers---all winter long the birds perch in the tall Paul's Himalayan Musk--
Thanks Cecil for the pleasurable post
Florence--

Campanula, well, believe it or not, my dad's knees don't bother him anymore. He's 88 years old and still walks 2 miles a day, every day. He's a grouch, though.

I guess when I think about it, I would have a screamingmeemy fit if a roach crawled up my pants leg.