The other day a small rabbit decided that my watering can was a good place for a nap! They are fearless and chew up just about everything I plant.

When I lived in Houston we had these GIANT cockroaches and to make it worse, they could fly. We also had these little lizards that would walk along our fence and do "push ups". Every once in awhile one would get into the house and the cats would go bonkers.

What a great thread. Love all of your critter stories. Surprised none of the Floridians have posted having gators in their yards, LOL.

Gee, somehow I've really been missing things in Arizona! In the 37 years I've lived in the Phoenix area (both in the city & outlaying areas close to desert) I've only seen a coyote once close up & that was at my parents home in NE Mesa, just a short distance from open desert area. Roadrunners, gamble quail, lots of hummingbirds, morning doves, a few cardinals, gekkos, baby jackrabbits, hawks,even an egret or two, but never javelina, rattlesnakes, or even a live scorpion.

Karen, the armadillos we've had just kind of wander through the yard, so they haven't been destructive. I suppose they could be if they decided to nest in the area or something--I think they chew things like other rodent type animals. The most destructive critter we have in our yard are the squirrels. They've completely destroyed our patio furniture pads--they tear them open to get the batting for their nests. We've started putting the chair pads inside when we go on trips so we'll have something left when we get back.

After 15 years in Texas, I've never seen a live armadillo. Lot's of ones who have had unfortunate encounters with cars, but no live ones.

Peggy, I know what you mean when you talk about the squirrels being destructive! We can't leave our cars outside or the squirrels and chipmunks will destroy every wire that they can get their teeth on. One time, I was driving down the road and smoke was coming out of my hood. I opened the hood and all around the engine was jam packed with acorns that had caught on fire.

I have a funny animal story...A general manager of a car dealership told us this years ago. It seems that one day his mechanics were working on this car and were told that the lights, windshield wipers and radio would go on and off by themselves. Well, one of mechanics was underneath the car on a dolly to look at the wiring. All of a sudden, he shot out from under the car and said lock the doors. He then announced that there was a huge snake wrapped around the underside of the car. They called the fire department and extracted a 25 foot boa constrictor. The garage called the owner and reported what they had found that was causing the problems. The response?

"Oh, that's where Sadie went. We wondered where she got off to....must have left the garage door open to the house."

How one misplaces a 25 foot boa, I do not know!!!

Hey Vickie...He's the ultimate alligator story. Several years ago our state decided we had too many alligators so there was an "Alligator Lottery". You signed up to compete for a shot( ;) ) at an alligator hunting permit. Well, do ya think my husband could win a million dollar lottery?? Noooooooooooo....he won ( :rolleyes: ) the priveledge of hunting alligators. No kidding!

For this wonderful experience he had to hire a guide and go in the middle of the night to the middle of Lake Okechobee. Needless to say, this princess stayed home. Anyway, when he came home, to say he smelled like swamp gas would be too kind! Actually, Jack had fun and was glad he did it.

Soooo....that is why our state is safe from unwanted Alligators! Most of the time,anyway :ohmy:

Ewwwwwwwww, don't EVEN want to know what that smells like! :eek: LOL

Let's put it this way....After I washed everything Jack was wearing, I thought I ought to wash the washing machine!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally had a chance to look up my mink family photo and resize it.
<img src="http://i8.photobu...t;Image hosting by Photobucket">

Does this mean you now have an alligator bag or shoes? LOL ;)

Not even fried alligator tail for hor d'oeurves!

Since I'm telling stories tonight (refer to FJORDS thread), here's one about my possum encounters:

When I lived in Knoxville, our two-story house had a crawl space. One spring our family room began to have a deadly-sweet odor. We thought a bird had died in the fireplace; so, we built a fire and the odor went away...only to return a few days later. Finally, my husband (at the time), went in the crawl space to investigate. He found two dead possums in the very back behind a support column. The odor was horrible and a neighbor stood in the doorway and talked to my husband as he pulled out the dead animals (hoping to distract him from the awful odor). End of story? No.

The next winter, I heard funny sounds near the heat vents in the kitchen and family rooms, like an animal sratching around to find a comfortable, warm place. When I walked near the vents, I would hear a "hisssss." So, I would stomp near the vents. The animal would "Hisssss" and I would stomp again. I was determined to get rid of whatever was down there. So, I grabbed a pot and spoon, went to the vent and banged away. My family thought I had gone crazy.

Later that winter, my husband was transferred to Roanoke. I was left in Knoxville (with the kids) to sell the house and wait for our new one to be finished. One night, a horrible noise came from underneath our house. Thump...kaboom...screech...kaboom...thud. Something was running and screeching and bouncing off the floorboards. I thought a creature was going to rip through the floor at any minute. I called my neighbor's husband to come check things out. And, of course, not a sound came from underneath our house. I'm convinced it was some type of possum mating ritual.

Later, after we moved, I heard that the next spring the new owners had the same deadly-sweet smell. And, guess what they found in the crawl space? You're right, two possums!

I also have a friend who has a possum for a housepet. However, that is a story I'm trying to sell to a magazine. I'll let you know where to find it, once it's published.

Did you read this story in the newspaper this morning? ~ They captured a coyote in Central Park yesterday!

Betty

Yes saw it on TV last night -

When I was in Boca visiting my friend and staying at her house, we were in the kitchen in our PJ's, she'd just let her dogs out into the yard, 3 Boxers, when there was a ton of commotion. They found a possom in the yard and were having a grand time barking at it and poking it with their nose. She went out to round the dogs up and bring them in when one grabbed the possum and brought the possum in. Were both screaming and the dog did send that poor thing to possom heaven - right in the kitchen. It was awful. Thankfully she lives in a gated communnity and they were kind enough to send maintenance workers to remove the carcass.

Sadie, the 25' Boa, armadillos, minks, alligator lotteries, scorpions, tree frogs, giant cockroaches....!! These stories are great! And the very sad, poor opossums ... they sure do get into a lot of trouble! But, right in the kitchen? What a ruckus & quite a site that must have been!

My dog caught a squirrel & would not let go of it. (I didn't want him to get sick eating some of it!) We tried everything over 30 min.to get him to let go of it. Don tried & tried to open his jaws...go figure..finally I held the dog, while his jaws were locked into the squirrel, over the pool. (Dog is afraid of the pool/water.) Plop! He dropped the squirrel into the pool. Squirrel did not survive the long ordeal. :) Michele

Besides Egrets and squawking Green Parrots.... we get the occasional lost alligator :D

A coyote in Central Park! Did he at least have time for a slice of NY pizza or a Sabbrett hot dog before they captured and removed him?

Hi Kimmi! The lost alligator I can really live without! UGH!

Oh Kimmi I forgot about the alligators - we are surrounded by lagoons and they are full of them - when a dog or cat is missing here people say "oh I bet an alligator got the poor thing" - we had people knock on our front door one night - they were out walking and spotted a 3-4 ft one taking a siesta on the sidewalk - local police came, put it in a garbage can and threw it back in lagoon -

WARNING GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION BELOW

Michelle,

Gizmo (My Lhasa Apso) got hold of a rabbit leg left behind by a hawk on the grass recently. What a prize that was. He'd growl at you just for looking at his precious leg.

Fortunately, I was cooking a steak for dinner that night. Frank held Gizmo, I held the steak piece right above his snout and held on to the leg (using a ziplock bag as a glove). When he grabbed for the steak, he loosened the grip on the leg. You have to out fox them.

Joanna, a few months ago we had a friend in Coral Springs (Sawgrass Mall Area) whose FULL grown beautiful Yellow Lab was killed by an alligator in one of the canals (actually not too far from Sawgrass). Supposedly over 10ft., hasn't been caught yet :ohmy:
We are about two miles from the start of the Everglades and they show up in pools occasionally. It's happening fewer and farther between, Everglades are in a precarious state right now....but that's another story.

Michele, when I lived in Roanoke, my neighbor and I would walk down the hill on our street and out to a country lane. The area dogs looked for us every day to accompany us. George, a golden retriever, was especially faithful. One day, we walked by a dead squirrel. George picked it up in his mouth and refused to put it down. But, he got tired of carrying it. So, he would walk ahead, put the squirrel down and rest. Once we caught up with him, he would pick the squirrel back up and continue the walk.

We must have been a sight in those days as we usually had 5 or 6 dogs along with us (none of them ours). Sometimes, they would fight and there would be this rolling mass of fur in the middle of the street!

Oh these dog & alligator stories! I'm trying to get over the alligator & the beautiful yellow lab one.....so sad.

Rabbits & squirrels must be real canine delicacies! LOL about Kathy's dog, Gizmo, & his tough decision of whether to have steak or rabbit leg!! Yes, one has to think fast with these dear critters! And, I love the fact that George, Donna's doggie walking partner, would always return to pick up his squirrel prize. He worked hard for that delicacy! Reminds me of when our black lab raced me for the rabbit scalp/ears (how sad!) some kind of predator bird left on the grass from having a nice rabbit hors d'oeuvre! :eek: - Michele

South Louisiana critters:
No we don't have gators roaming our lawns - that's Florida! (just kidding Sunshine State friends!)I do drive a tractor, though - Kubota (2 actually - his & hers - his is bigger, of course, but mine has more stuff on it: front-end loader, excavator, belly mower - I had to remove the roll bar, though, because Bubba was afraid I'd get jammed under a live oak branch!).
WE live on 10 acres in the middle of Baton Rouge & we have red foxes, raccoons, possums, owls, egrets (they all love koi, unfortunately!), hawks, Canadian geese (they love our lakes), an occasional snake (king snakes ok, moccasins, not), lots of birds (cardinals, jays, robins, woodpeckers,doves, etc), and a plethora of squirrels who dance through the canopy of oaks like trapeze artists, while scheming on how to break into your attic. One part of town that I grew up in has blonde squirrels, actually albinos with pink eyes - really cool!
We used to have horses & a longhorn steer 2 doors down, but they relocated. I used to see armadillos when I was growing up, but haven't seen many in recent years. I guess they're a little slow on road crossing!
We had standard poodles for years, who are excellent in keeping wildlife at bay - they tag team & attack - very smart dogs - FYI!
I'd love to have some exotic chickens, sheep, miniature horses, etc., but that's just something else to be taken care of when I travel (which is becoming more frequent)!
I'm still working on getting the last 2 kids out of the house!
:)
Peggy

Helloooooooo from Arizona!!!!!

Oh, my. I just finished a project in Palm Beach last week(12 weeks) and started one in Tucson this week that will probably last through the year. (Monday to Thursday) So far, two nights in the hotel and I have not slept well AT ALL!

Checking the floor before I step on it... Checking my shoes before putting them on... Inspecting all thresholds...
etc, etc, etc.

By the way, this Courtyard by the airport leaves a lot to be desired. Looking to stay at a Marriott property as I'm Platinum. Where's the best "neighborhood" for restaurants, etc?

And if you were wondering, nope, it's not a good commute from Boston. ("You can't get there from here.") Besides the 9.5 hours to get here on Monday, then the full work day, I felt like I landed on another planet when I got here.

I asked 2 guys at the office.. they said they haven't checked their shoes for a long time. Well, I'M CHECKING MINE!!

Poor Kim!! If you have a fridge, put your shoes in there!! Or maybe you can think of the scorpians as little dry lobsters.

You crack me up, Karen! Those are both excellent ideas!

Kim, Here is a night-time scorpion tip that you could probably live without, but... Keep at least a nightlight on and when you get up watch the floor for shadows. When we lived in El Paso, I never actually saw one at night, but I could see their shadows very easily! You don't think about it until you actually see it. Like seeing the shadow of a fish in water before seeing the actual fish. Sometimes, the shadow is just more readily visible. Tip 2, don't put your hand under your pillow at night. If you have to, flip the pillow out over the floor first. For some reason, if you find them in or around the bed they are always around the head of the bed. Tip 3, buy a flyswatter. If you do find a scorpion, you won't want to kill it with a tissue or a shoe! Good luck, Debbie

On my first visit to Cabo San Lucas, we stayed at a wonderful resort. But they would come in and turn your A/C and lights off if we left the room for any period of time. Well, one night my ex-husband went to sleep early and I stayed up later in the outdoor lobby with our friends. I got there a while later and the air was off, he was asleep and two inches from his head on the wall were several scorpions. There were NO telephones in the rooms - part of the "charm". We were at the most remote beachfront cabana and my ex was sound asleep, aided by the tequila and all the sunshine from the day. I had to run a 1/4 mile to the lobby to get someone to remove those creepy crawlies.

Kim, the advice Debbie gave you is the same advice we had 30 years ago.Still sends shivers down my spine.

Kathy,
I never forgot the story you told before about your ex! That's what freaked me out the most!
Debbie,
Good advice! And I hope you're right about it not being needed.