Wildlife close to home (really just creepy, crawlies)

So, I think that several people believe that the lions, elephants, and zebras are quite literally in our in our backyard.  That’s not quite true (although our good friends do actually have zebras in their backyard).  The wildlife we have around the house is noticeably less…ummmmm…big.  We do get some pretty cool things though (and by cool I mean cool to have outside and not necessarily things that I want in the house).

One of the first really cool things that we had in the yard was a zorilla. 

And then the chameleon Matt found, 

All the little random other lizards (T did actually catch this one in the house)

And then there are the fruit bats (technically not in our backyard, but it was at school, so I’m counting it)

And who can forget the tarantula that was scurrying into the living room before we knocked it back outside

We also have some very interesting moths (maybe not as cool as watching the life cycle of a butterfly),

Very large slugs (that really gross me out),

Giant (completely harmless) rhinoceros beetles,

and this morning we found a cute little hedgehog.

 

We also have mice (that the dogs like to catch and leave dead for us in the yard – although too late to have stopped one from making a nest in the air conditioner vents in the car and another from chewing a hole in our hammock), stick bugs, praying mantis, not to mention our dozen+ chickens and our dogs.