I found a pair of Burrowing Owls on one of our properties!

My parents' house is on a canyon. When we first moved in you could find horny toads (horned lizards) in the back yard. They disappeared within a few years. They don't like people. But for over a decade there were a family of quail that used to sit on the back fence every spring. They're gone now too. I expect when the coyotes moved in. We still see red-tailed hawks and alligator lizards. There is the occasional oppossum, squirrel or gopher. Once there was a rattlesnake when we were young, and there is always the threat, but no one has seen one in years and years. There used to be a king snake that lived under our playhouse and kept the garden insects down. No more. Haven't seen a gopher snake in years either.

I think I miss the quail the most. I remember we used to sit in the living room at dusk and watch Mr and Mrs. Quail and the babies sit on the fence as the sun set.

There is a little red fox that occasionally cuts through my parents' back yard. My Dad has seen him up in the treehouse looking down occasionally. There was evidence he was sleeping on the roof when they re-roofed a few years back. And we suspect...he sleeps in the dog's coolaroo bed after they go to bed and then gets up and leaves before they let the dog out in the morning. That's some lucky fox with a nice cushy bed to sleep on!

 

I would venture a guess it's more that they don't like what people do rather than that they don't like people....like removing their food source for one.

 

Some will like it better without the 'motivational poster' frame

 

The owls are entitiled to their opinion. They should not be censored.

 

Actually, Sam, this is a case where development does not seem to have driven out the critters and may even provide more useful habitat. Roadrunners are still a common neighborhood bird in developed areas. They are quite tolerant of people; sometimes then will walk right up to you. They must be tough, too, to hold their own against the neighborhood cats. So far this year, I've found a spotted towhee and two mourning doves on my little lot presumably done in by cats, but the roadrunners do not appear to be affected.

 

Actually, we didn't mess with their food source at all. That part of the canyon was beyond our property line and left as is.

However, I suspect they didn't like us picking them up and rubbing their bellys. They always had this indignant look on their faces, barely tolerating the petting. We didn't have any pets so it was only the occasional horned toad or alligator lizard. The lizards are still around, after almost 50 years. Despite the fact we've had several dogs off and on. My Dad built plenty of concrete block walls for them to sun on, there's a sprinkler system for the occasional shower and plenty of landscaping to live, hide and eat.

It's been a love/hate relationship between my Dad and the wildlife. The opposums drive him crazy, but he respects them. At least they come back the next night to finish the same peach they started eating. But it really burns him to find nothing but a pit hanging on the tree. Once he found two babies in the yard. He trapped them in a milk crate and threatened to shoot them with his gun. He threatened to do this all day. And then my Mother made him let them go in the canyon.

My Dad complains about the birds or squirrels or something eating the whatever. But he grows so much we can't eat it all. They put baskets out on the sidewalk for people to take what they want. And there's still enough for the wildlife. I think it's like titheing. You figure on a 10% donation to nature and everyone eats and everyone is happy.

(Personally, I think the opposums, birds, foxes, etc all get together and compare notes on which places in the neighborhood have good eats with the least retaliation. I think my parents yard makes the top of a lot of their lists.)