Animalia Updatia

[ellyssian]

Deb saw a badger. Since we don't live in the southwest, Mexico, or central Canada (where they're nearly extinct), and we don't think the little bits of meadow we have qualify as their natural prairie habitat, and because the looks didn't quite convince us, Justin and I believe the critter was a groundhog.

A little bit later Deb spotted two deer - not quite together, not quite apart - both with fuzzy fat antlers. The first had a smallish 6 points spanning maybe 15-20", the second had 3-4" stubs. Well, Deb spotted the first deer, the second wasn't found until later, although it might have been the one Justin saw - she swore she saw a buck, and Justin saw a doe, so that works out roughly with the different headgear they were wearing.

Comments

[patrixa.livejournal.com]

The only badgers I had any knowledge of was in "The Wind in the Willows" and other fictions. So I googled and found that, besides what you stated, they also like farmlands and edges of woods, both of which describe your area. British Columbia was also named.

Groundhogs don't have the facial stripes along the sides nor the sort of pointed snouts of a badger. Dad called g'hogs "whistle pigs" and swore he'd heard them whistle; the one I saw on Drake's Well grounds only waddled. they must be too big for bird's of prey as they move slowly.

A skunk went across the parking lot we used and past my open bedroom window during the night -- the smell woke me up. Happened a week or so ago, too. I hope the route doesn't become a regular walkway for it.

Deb saw a badger

[nebris.livejournal.com]

Well, don't blame the British army.

~M~

Re: Deb saw a badger

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Heh. This one grabbed a mouthful of lawn - it didn't have much of the man-eating thing going on.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Wisconsin and Illinois don't describe it quite so much.

[stormbringer986.livejournal.com]

We see a lot of deer where I live, mostly on the AF base or by the state park. I like seeing them, but unfortunately so do all of the redneck deer hunters.

Today while I was driving over a bridge, I saw a big osprey flying back to its nest with a fish in its claws. It was really cool.

believe in Deb

[noone234.livejournal.com]

A white-tailed deer in July with young, fuzzy antlers is easy to believe. The buck started to grow his antlers for fall.

But the badger?
Whew. How to explain this.
...
This is where I light up a smoke, and start talking about spirit doors and moon phase, I think. Or the time my grandfather and I found a giant squid in Harvey's Lake. Or druids that can take animal form. Anything's possible.

Re: believe in Deb

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah - everyone saw the deer. The two of them walked around the edge of the backyard out in the woods and then came back down along the driveway. I watched them from Justin's bedroom window for a good ten minutes or so.

Had plenty of time to verify the number of points on the first one and to get a good estimate of the length of the stubby antlers on the second.

As for the badger, Deb saw stripes on the head while Justin and I were pretty sure that it was just the effect of dappled light. Looked awfully lot like a groundhog to the two of us; Deb has decided that, while badger is pretty much ruled out, she's still positive it wasn't a groundhog.