One of the things you learn pretty quickly when you live in the country is that you aren’t the only ones who consider your property home. There are a number of critters who share the land and live on the property full time. Some of them occasionally move into the house with you. A number of them are beneficial. Others, not so much. Here are some of the ones who have been with us for a number of years.

George the Groundhog

George has been here about as long as we have. He has an entrance to his burrow under the remains of an old chicken coop. I usually see George early in the morning munching away on dandelions and clover in the side yard near the bamboo grove. Anne is particularly fond of George because she has less work to do as a result of his fondness for weeds.

Bozo the Side Yard Rabbit

Bozo likes the dandelions and clover all most as much as George. Bozo is pretty skittish though. He goes into his “rabbit freeze” stance at the first sound of anyone stirring in the kitchen. A second sound sends him hauling his little bunny ass back up the ridge to his burrow.

DeWayne the Black Snake and his buddy

Little Wayne

For a long time we thought we only had one snake who moved around a lot. A couple of weeks ago though, we came home around 4 pm and found DeWayne on the deck in back and Little Wayne on the front porch. Both of them spend time in the attic feeding on whatever they find there….birds, mice, insects. Periodically, one of them will climb down the front wall and scare the shit out of anyone nearby. Black Snakes are good to have around as long as you don’t mess with them. I’m told that their bite quote, “hurts like a sumbitch,” unquote.

The Damn Deer

These are two of the four deer who winter with us. In fact, these two were born on the ridge and tried to climb up the front steps when they were fawns. They spent most of the winter about 20 feet from the back door. They also spent most of the winter pruning a lot of our decorative evergreens. During most of the warm weather, they fade back up the ridge. During hunting season, I think they go to Florida.

There is also Rocky, the Demon Squirrel, and That Effing Chipmunk. Both of them have eluded the camera so far. If they don’t leave the strawberries alone, they’re gonna have to evade a fusillade from a .22 rifle. Anyone for squirrel gravy ?