Following is an article submitted by Orange resident Loretta Smith:
We have lived in our house in Orange since 1970. Our neighborhood is in an enclave between Route 34 and Indian Hill Road, bordering on Regional Water Company. There are just 6 relatively quiet roads here. It’s a nice area to walk in and we have lots of neighbors walking alone or with their dogs. I have gotten to know some of the dogs and if I’m outside and spotted, I need to go pet the dogs so their owners can move on.
The dogs are not the only four-footed animals around here though. We have the usual squirrels (they love the birdseed we put out for our wild birds that sometimes fall to the ground), skunks, raccoons, bears, and foxes.
Chipmunks are also here, attracted to the birdseed we put out. The one below was so cute, I just had to put a little on the path for him.
For me, it’s a real joy to see these animals up “close.” My daughter took the bear picture from our car window; it was in a neighbor’s yard on Indian Hill Rd. And I was out pulling up pachysandra when my husband shouted out the door for me to come in because the raccoon was walking down toward me. He was concerned about its health.
Raccoons are primarily active at dawn and dusk, but if there are no predators in the area, they might be out searching for food during the day, especially in spring when rearing their young. And this fellow was not foaming at its mouth, so I figured it was just curious. I responded to my spouse to get my camera and got a few good pictures. The raccoon just looked at me and then sauntered away.
As for the fox, it was sniffing around one of my flower beds and then proceeded down toward the walkway behind our house. It spotted the mouse I had just removed from a mouse trap in our basement and put out for possibly the hawk, which comes around. When the fox spotted that mouse, he grabbed it and took off like lightning. No hawk was going to get that mouse!
And the bear? It was determined to eat that birdseed.
Keep an eye on your yard for interesting animals.
In another article, I’ll entertain you with the wild birds we attract and then later with the insects that I’ve found here. You may not be a bug lover, but, honestly, some of them are really fascinating.
