A magnolia tree on campus near the Rotunda. For three or four days in the early spring its breathtaking. Image of one of the flowers

Kittywhiskers, it's a 2.5 mile hike just to the trailhead and along the way there is a home and some kind of camp. The peacock was at the camp. There were two of them. This one on the ground, another in a tree right above the roof and the main building.

When I was in the Sierras last month I stayed in a friend's RV three nights. The next RV over was a permanent resident/employee of the campground. As such, they built trust with some of the local wildlife. This fawn, its sibling and mother spent every night sleeping in their yard. Jodi- This post was edited by jodi_in_so_calif on Thu, Sep 26, 13 at 18:20

We had a big black snake climb into a shrub several years ago. The only reason I saw it was because a pair of catbirds with a nest in the shrub started screeching. It was a big snake and I didn't want to handle it, so I sprayed it with the garden hose on full blast. The snake left the shrub and my husband took the snake for a walk into the woods (and let it go unharmed except for the cold shower). :)