Backyard Wildlife and Creepy Crawlies

[Rob'in'To]

Between all the Falcon watching this summer, work and just wanting to be home...  here is a bit of non-bird stuff from the backyard.

Three young Raccoons that visit most evenings of the week.  They love the bird bath basins (I give them fresh water at dusk).


Here is mom.  She was munching on something actually.  Seriously, if she was that pissed at me, I might'a dropped the camera and ran.


We have a regular visiting Skunk who also enjoys one of the bird bath basins.  I shot this around 5:15am, had to crank the ISO up to the max, flash on obviously, full zoom so I wasn't spooking him, and used the picnic table for stability.


Now for some other stuff...

A tiny little Jumping Spider of sorts sitting on a dime.


A staring contest with a Zebra Jumping Spider.


No idea on this species of Spider but love the red!


A Common House Spider with egg sacks.


Same spider.


Someone enjoying a black ant the night of the huge rain storm we had a few weeks ago.


I interrupted a pair of Candy-striped Leafhoppers in the garden.  They are less than 3mm in length!


One more Jumping Spider.

[Bluffs Birder]

Some terrific photos there Rob.  Love the spider on the dime.

Walter

[Leslie]

Love the coons.  I'm envious.  (Mine ran away when I tried to take their pics--and I was inside with no lights, so they must have been really alert.)

[Rob'in'To]

Ya, the Raccoons rock!  Sucks that the evenings are getting darker earlier so the photo opps are disappearing.

We actually had 7 in the backyard 2 weekends ago.  It was nuts!  Mom and her 3 kids, then another mom and her 2 showed up.  And they were all getting along.

[Rob'in'To]

Thanks Walter!  The Spiders were everywhere for about a week and then gone...  or crept away to hiding somewhere.  I want more!  I actually found a Black Jumping Spider in the house last week.  A very small one but I was thrilled.  We had a little session with camera and then I let him go outside.  The lighting was bad as it was almost sun down.  Ah well.