Home on the range.

The last nine months in our new house have been really great, but the thing we've probably enjoyed the most is watching the seemingly endless parade of wildlife that passes by our back door each and every day. It's been fun for Carrie and I to both see it for ourselves and to see it through the eyes of Park (the dogs however are unimpressed and frankly couldn't care less).

So far at least one of us has seen the following.

• Cattle Egrets

• Blue Herons

• A Yellow-crowned Night Heron

• Ducks, Geese (even some babies this summer)

• An owl

• Woodpeckers

• Some sort of water snake

• Turtles

• A lizard

• A couple of huge frogs (we're talking 16-18" long with their legs extended)

• Crayfish

• Lots of fish

• Hawks

• An endless supply of creepy crawly things for Park to pick up and torture Carrie with 

• A bunch of birds we've never seen before and have yet to identify—even with the aid of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds

Today, we had our biggest visitor yet. We were all sitting in the front room when Carrie looked out the window and let out a screech (the sound, not Dustin Diamond). We all hopped up and saw this moseying through the lawn across the street, munching on a few shrubs along the way.

If it was lost, it didn't seem to mind, because honestly, it didn't appear to have a care in the world. Eventually I even went outside and followed it for a bit as it turned the corner and casually strolled down the street. 

It was pretty cool.

Can't wait to see what stops by to say hi next.