We've seen all the usual critters, of course--the squirrels, the rabbits, the cardinals, the robins, the chickadees, the blue jays and various little sparrows, murders of crows and little hordes of blackbirds.
Of course, you already know we have raccoons running around as well *humph*
We're also blessed annually each spring with a mallard duck couple who like to stop over on their migration path and use our yard as a safe spot. We used to have a little pond in the backyard that they would claim as their own, but as the pump for it broke a few years ago the pond was more scum than water and we filled it in. I was happy to see that the mallard couple returned anyways--hopefully they will again!
Then this spring while the Big B was home recovering from surgery, he spotted a wild turkey hanging out in our yard.
We've also seen some type of hawk chilling on the light-posts of the nearby freeway, looking for unlucky prey.
Despite all my poking of fun at my husband's lack of knowledge of flora and fauna, he appreciates the wildlife as much as I do, and we enjoy pointing out the various creatures that inhabit or visit our demense.
Our favorite critters by far, however, are the ones we've named.
It all started one day when the Big B told me we had a blonde squirrel hanging out around our house. I scoffed, immediately suspicious of his ability to discern the difference between a grey squirrel and a red one.
"Are you sure it's not just a red squirrel?" I asked, ready to dismiss his claim.
"Yeah honey, I know the difference between a red squirrel and a grey one," he assures me. "This one is the same size as a grey squirrel but it's definitely blonde."
I should note that our squirrel neighbors have a few albinos in their midst. I've seen albinos before on the U of M campus along with the black squirrels that live there but was happy to note we had a couple that seemed to like our yard as a hang-out spot.
The Big B also assured me that the blonde squirrel was definitely NOT an albino either.
Later, the Big B spotted "Blondie" and called me over to the window, where I had to concede that he was right--this was definitely not a grey or albino squirrel, but some weird mutation of blonde.
Do squirrels use L'Oreal box hair-dye? I wonder.
However Blondie came to be, he's been adopted by our household. Since we named one of the little rodents, it didn't seem fair that the others were left out. It's almost a tradition now, since we named the tree we planted last year "Treena" (I wanted to name her Fred but the Big B won out on that by default) and I regularily name my cars.
Why not squirrels?
So now joining Blondie are the small albinos Ghost Face Killa and Whitey and a huge fat grey squirrel I named the Don.
The Big B was excited to discover that Blondie and Ghost Face Killa (distinguishable from Whitey by his smaller size) were nesting in the birch tree in our backyard. I was happy to see that Blondie had found a mate, despite his odd coloring. I was a bit worried for him because I know that not fitting in with the rest of your peers can make it more difficult to find that special someone.
I have no idea which one is the mom and which one the dad, but I'm definitely going to keep my eyes peeled next spring for a platinum-blonde baby!
Ahh..so cute! They eat dinner together often.
Even his tail looks a bit different than a usual grey squirrel tail
A couple of little chatterbox red squrrels playing in our street.
Mr. Chitters--I just decided to call him that.
We theorize that Blondie might be the result of an albino mating with a regular squirrel but your guess is as good as mine. Frankly, I'm glad of the mystery of it--gives us something to wonder about when we enjoy the outdoors this summer.
Cheers to you, Blondie, and your snowy white mate! May your littles be healthy and fluffy-tailed come spring.
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