Not sure where to post this, so I'll stick it here:
Since moving to Massachusetts, we've encountered a lot of wildlife in our yard. The second or third night here, I could hear owls just outside the house. One was on one side of the house, and another on the other side. They were talking to each other. I checked out what kind of owls they were, and based on the hooting of the owls in the area, it matches the great horned owl.
There are also rabbits. Not only did I see one outside the living room window one night, but I have found their droppings in the yard.
This morning I saw a fox trot across the street. When I looked in my neighbors backyard, following the path of the fox, hoping to see it again; I saw a rabbit, cotton tail up and in flight, dart across the yard and hide under the neighbor's house. The fox trotted on by, looking for it but the rabbit hid well and it went into the woods behind my yard.
My wife has seen a full flock of turkeys (12-13) waddling around in the morning just down the street on her way to work (this was shortly before COVID-19 started locking down the state). I too have seen them waddling in yards or crossing the street in the morning in groups of 2 or 3.
Our second week in our new house there was 7 deer in the backyard. I took my oldest onto the deck so she could watch. She thought they were big dogs and kept saying "Hello woof woof" over and over again. This spooked them and they cautiously retreated in the woods. Watching us from afar as they left in an orderly fashion.
On another day, feeling cabin fever-ish, I took both girls outside. The oldest was walking around, while I had the youngest strapped to my chest. we were hanging out by the side of the house with the water and power meters, when I turned around and saw what I thought was a squirrel facing me. I took a couple of steps towards it (it was about 40-yards away) to see if I could get closer, but instead of turning tale and running, it sucked its head back into the ground. It was at that point I realized it was no squirrel, but a gopher! I walked over and sure enough it was a hole. I talked with one of the neighbors today, trying to see what they do to keep the animals off their lawns, and she said gophers are not known to be around here and it was probably a vole or a woodchuck. Looking them up and the vole seems too small for what I saw (it was just a head) and the woodchuck seems too big. So who knows what it is.
There has also been a fairly large flock of seagulls circling the street since we moved in. About 30-40 seagulls in total, just a big dense circle above our street. Not sure why.
Based on the neighborhood app we have installed, there is a pig farm between our town and the town next to us. Depending on which way the wind blows, sometimes just walking outside smells like a farm...or sewage. Apparently when the wind blows the opposite direction, the other town gets to "enjoy" the smell too. This has caused both towns to complain but as far as I can tell nothing can be done since its private property. Its going to be fun going outside in the summer, depending on which way the wind blows...
