While the area we live is rural, it’s not completely “out in the boonies” either {I can get to Chick-fil-A in like, 15 minutes?}. We are surrounded by fields and pasturelands, with a decent set of woods as well. Apparently this is the perfect environment for wildlife, as we have seen a wild {pun intended} variety of animals in our yard! I’ve featured garden visitors before, but earlier this year we had a particularly awesome wildlife sighting, and it made me stop and think about how many critters we do see … and I decided to share some of my “nature notes” with y’all. I’ve found the Wildlife Resources Commission to be an excellent resource, so I’m linking to their species profiles for those who want more scientific information.
Starting with the most prolific and/or common sightings, I’ll be working my way up to the most incredible one. As you’re reading, you may notice the absence of squirrels. For reasons unknown, we don’t have squirrels at our house. We’ll see them in the woods, but they don’t come into the yard/around the house. My bird feeders are thankful.
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
Of course one of the most common of the wild creatures is rabbits, and we have an abundance. {Which is even crazier when you realize how many predators we also have}. For the most part, they stay out of the garden, unless they use a bag or two to raise a litter. And a couple times the clover cover crop has been too good to pass up a taste. But they’re good neighbors.
and I love when they get the zoomies.
White-Tailed Deer
We also have so many deer! There are a couple separate herd/family groups that come through, and a couple times there have been “family reunions” with 30+ deer at once. Usually we see a group of 5 or a group of 7, and they also tend to stay out of our garden.
Groundhog/Woodchuck
This fat and sassy groundhog hung around for months, and would regularly come up and nose around in my {very end of season} zinnia patch. I decided to call it Betty, and kept hoping there’d be babies, but alas … no little groundhogs. And no sign of Betty in a while either.
Other Common Animal Visitors
We’ve also had quite a few animals that have not been seen directly, or have not been photographed. There are {very large} coyotes that show up on game-cams, and we hear their howling and yipping frequently. They also poop at the crossing in our driveway {marking their territory}. Another driveway-pooping vandal is the raccoons: during persimmon season, they like to walk right down the middle of the drive leaving deposits. There’s also the possums – we don’t see them very often, but our most recent sighting was an enormous, small-dog-sized possum walking across the driveway. I’ve named him Walter.
Striped Skunk
Fun fact: there are two types of skunks that call North Carolina home. {I can’t confirm, but am sure both smell equally bad}. One summer we had a baby skunk visitor, and while it was super cute and fluffy and waddled like a fat dust bunny, they’re not visitors you want hanging around. Thankfully any other skunk friends around have been staying in the woods and away from the house.
Gray Fox
Several summers ago, we had several Red Foxes we saw on a fairly regular basis. I was never able to get a decent picture of any of them, but we could tell they were different foxes by their tails and size and gait. So when we first saw this little fluffy fox, I assumed it was a juvenile. Not so! Instead, we’ve got a Gray Fox, whom I have named Fancy, and is a tiny fluffy thing we have seen multiple times now. The wildest fact I learned about gray foxes during my research: they can climb trees.
Bobcat
Yes, you read that correctly. We’ve seen a bobcat come through the yard twice this year, and after doing a little research, and watching how comfortable it was walking through the carport, I am 95% certain some of the tracks I saw in the snow were bobcat tracks. This was so incredible, and happened by chance – I was walking by the window, and saw a cat face at the corner of the shed across the driveway. I didn’t recognize it as one of “the family cats,” so stopped to look closer. The head turned and I squeaked “it’s a bobcat! We have a bobcat!” Mr. joined me at the windows, and we watched it walk along the drive, come up through the carport and backyard, before backtracking and disappearing back into the brush. The second sighting was in the same area. It’s the most amazing thing, and I’ve named the bobcat Freckles.
The Non-Furry Visitors
Not every creature that comes through is furry or mammalian. We have so many kinds of birds that I could make a whole separate post, though it would not have many pictures to accompany the list. Our avian friends are particularly noncooperative with the camera. From multiple species of skinks to nasty slithering things, we have our fair share of reptiles and amphibians too. While not all of them will be mentioned here, I’m including some highlights.
Eastern Box Turtle
In a complete mystery to me, we have only ever seen one box turtle here. I was so excited when I looked out the kitchen window and saw it walking through the front yard. Hopefully there are more of them around, and they’re just very shy … they’re more than welcome to eat the slugs.
Common Snapping Turtle
This guy cruised through the garden rows last summer, and has actually been back this year. While we haven’t seen the snapping turtle again, we have seen his tracks wandering back and forth across the driveway. What he was doing, nobody knows.
Rough Green Snake
This is probably the only kind of snake that does not completely freak me out. We have seen this green snake multiple years, always in the same general area, and for that reason he gets included.
Other Snakes
Thankfully we don’t see many snakes near the house, most of the sightings are further down the driveway/going back and forth between fields. The varieties/species we have seen include:
- Eastern Kingsnake
- Racer and/or Rat Snake {I’m not getting close enough to check out their scales and underbellies to determine who is which; they’re large, they’re black, and some have attitude}
- Brown Snake
We often joke that we’re just waiting for a zebra to show up, since we have such a wide array of nature coming through. And this is just the list of animals we have “proof” of! There’s no telling what comes through, especially in the night, when we’re not looking.
What’s the coolest animal you have spotted in the wild?
I’m envious! My rural road has rabbits, deer, and turtles for sure, and nearby water attracts muscovy ducks and has a stable population of white egrets. I keep longing for a good egret photo but I don’t have a telescopic lens and they’re…well, flighty.
No bobcats, though. One of our locals was attacked by a bobcat while doing turkey calls (evidently he’s VERY good at it), but the cat ran off after realizing he’d been fooled.
https://www.fox10tv.com/2025/04/23/man-attacked-by-bobcat-while-turkey-hunting/
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Oh man, that guy must be SUPER good at turkey calls! And that poor bobcat, I bet it was shocked, ha.
I managed to get a picture of a heron that was chilling in the field {why?} by sheer luck one day, but the birds are so tough!
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When you see a zebra, I will look to the skies to see pigs flying 🙂
What an impressive array of wildlife. That fawn is just adorable. And it’s hilarious you’ve named the bobcat Freckles. Love it ❤
We don’t see much wildlife – aside from many birds – where I live, but my parents see bears, moose, deer, beaver, and all sorts of other things where they are in New Brunswick.
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We live sort of close to the Zoo, and joke that if a zebra ever gets loose it’ll end up here 😉 {There was a very large weird bird that escaped and roamed the county several years ago, so it’s not entirely impossible 🤣}
The fawn was so precious, and such a surprise! Mr. almost stepped on it, actually, not realizing it was right there. After the second sighting, I had to give the bobcat a name! ❤ It's so pretty, and even though I've now got baby chickens outside, I wouldn't mind seeing Freckles again 🙂
Oh man, I wanna see a moose!! I've seen bears a couple times, when vacationing in the mountains {prior to the bobcat, that was my favorite wildlife sighting}, and we see beavers dead on the side of the road sometimes. Our mini-moon to the mountains aligned with the elk rut, and we had a bull elk come across the creek and walk right past us – which was amazing to me {not as much to a newly-minted Mr.}. A moose would be so epic 😀
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this is so good. You can have a petting zoo! My kid would have loved deer around the house. Love this post and pics.
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We really could, especially with all the family dogs and cats and cows and chickens 🤣 I never know what I’ll see when I look outside 🙂
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Wow!! This is awesome and you got such good photos of many. A bobcat!! I was not expecting that one. haha. Great post and thanks for sharing!
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We were not expecting the bobcat either! Mr. did not believe me at first, and when he got to the window he was like “yeah, that’s a bobcat” Like, I know my cats, dude 🤣
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HAHA!! Of course, he didn’t. lol
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Well, that is an interesting collection of visitors you have there, Rebecca. Love the baby bunny! And just so you know, Betty came to my place. And she brought all her sisters with her, lol.
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Oh that Betty 🤣 I’m really surprised there haven’t been more of her kind spotted, because we see them along the roads all the time.
And I truly never know what will come through next! It’s so fun 😁
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I really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife you have! In our area we have raccoons (they destroyed our roof one year), skunks, possums and plenty of bird varieties.
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Whoa, that was very rude of the raccoons! It’s funny how them and possums are very far-ranging 🙃
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Wow you really do get an impressive range of wildlife around your home. It must be incredible to see. The bunnies are adorable 😍 I’m glad they don’t tend to get into your vegetables too and I love seeing deer. I saw a full blown stag once where I walk the dog but it so random as it’s literally the only time I’ve seen one there 😂
Seeing that bobcat must have been impressive. And the turtles. I guess it’s just where I live but it seems unreal to have one of those wander into a yard. The markings on the shell were gorgeous too I agree.
I will say I definitely don’t envy you your snakes though.
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I guess I’ve never realized how uncommon box turtles are for other areas, since I’ve always lived in places where we see them frequently. Even babies, and being able to track the same turtles year after year. This house is the exception for me, seeing only that 1 box turtle in 3+ years!
I am not a fan of the snakes 😬 the green one is pretty, and far from the house 😂
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I guess it’s the reverse for me and I never thought about them in the wild. I just looked it up and we don’t have any wild turtles in the UK, although it says some non native ones have established populations in places. So I figure maybe that’s like what I’ve heard with wallabies – people have had them in private collections and they’ve escaped (or in some cases probably been dumped) and they’ve gone on to survive in the wild 🤔 but anyway it feels unreal to be able to see turtles in the garden, even if it is a lot rarer for you now.
Me either 😅 hopefully they’ll continue to keep their distance.
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Oh so cute, I love the idea for this post and the amount of delightful pictures. Of all the places to be born, a grow bag of peas is so cute! I hope Betty is out there living a great life. I don’t really see groundhogs often but when I do I get excited! lol Omg baby skunkkkkk, I can’t with the cuteness! Skunks are one I see (with my nose at least) more often , there’s a bunch in the area where my parents live and I’m just glad the dogs haven’t gotten into any trouble with them at least for now. quick, find some wood to knock on!
Okay, that green snake is so cute it looks like a cartoon snake haha.
The coolest animal I’ve seen in “the wild” of our city neighbourhood is coyotes or coy-wolves as a neighbour told me they were. I only saw them once from inside the house and in the middle of the night but it was enough to amaze me and terrify me.
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Isn’t it all just the most fun? 🙂 Thankfully most of our visitors are pretty cute, and don’t do too much damage.
Ugh, coyotes are *beyond* creepy. And hopefully your dogs stay away from making skunk “friends”!
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It’s so delightful! 🙂 That is really nice I’m glad you don’t get many scary visitors or trouble makers lol. Yes, they are quite scary and I do hear them sometimes and my parents definitely complained of the hellish noises during mating season 🤣. Also thank you, no skunk friends (as cute as they are)!
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[…] On the Blog:The garden tour for May got an upgrade: a video walk-through! We have made the leap to join YouTube, so definitely check that out and subscribe {there is chicken content over there!}. I also shared my plans to start flower farming, and gave you a peek at our wild animal neighbors. […]
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