Have you noticed more wildlife in your yard in recent years?

I have. In the last few years, I spotted a rabbit or two. Plus in the last few months, I spotted a new animal. A large lizard called a skink. The first one I spotted was very large and sunning itself on my garage door when I came home. It was I estimate about 15 to 18 inches long. Just the other day and again today I spotted a smaller skink. I'm estimating it is only maybe 9 or 10 inches long. Both looked a bit reddish. It was hiding in my monkey grass and then a bush near my house after I scared it. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a snake.

I've only recently spotted skinks and I'm not sure if I ever saw them before. I certainly did not see them in my yard before the last year. I've seen plenty of the smaller green lizards. I even spotted a baby snake a couple of months ago. I got rid of it. I live in the city so I'm getting surprised at how much wildlife is showing up in my tiny little yard.

How about you? Have you noticed more wildlife where you live at? I haven't even tried to count all the different birds I've seen. They make a ton of noise so I'm trying to scare them away with a fake owl without much success. It's getting hot and dry here so the noise from the birds is dying down again.

Funny you made this thread. My hubby told me today I should ask ATS members the same question.

In one day we saw a herd of deer, 7 or 8 right at our front room window, a dozen elk and a huge bob cat. Bob cats are out here but we hardly ever see them during the day.

A couple nights ago I turned on the porch light to look out and there's a raccoon looking at me through the window. In the twenty years we've lived out here we've never seen raccoons ever. Badgers/wolverines/porcupines but never racoons. It's entirely too dry, I'm in southern Colorado btw.

My hubby's been seeing red racers, they usually make themselves pretty scarce.

It's been nonstop. We've always had antelope, coyotes, snakes etc. and we do live in the middle of nowhere but we never see this much wildlife. There's far better grazing/water up higher. In the town nearest me the locals killed a mountain lion that wandered in.

The weather has been normal maybe a little warmer. We've had a little rain so the grazing is good but we've had wetter years with way fewer animals.

There's really no new construction going on just a few mountain homes. Wilderness abounds there's really no reason for all these animals to be here, this is cattle country. There's several fracking operations going on maybe that's disturbing them Idk something's off.

We're almost afraid to look out front at night...I draw the line at bigfoot or aliens. If I see them at my front window I'm afraid I'll have to shoot.

reply to post by orionthehunter


My father is a native American medicine man and one of the prophecies he would tell us growing up was about animals starting to enter urban centers. He said the reason being that they are coming back to give certain messages to certain individual as we drew closer to the changing of times. He also had a vision about the Chinese coming up over our hills, meaning a military force. Thus animals are preparing those with the right heart and mind to evolve spiritually as we start to awaken. To any one who is either skeptical or would argue different, are there probable and mundane reasons, yes. But as much as those who subscribe to a scientific or rational explanation, i have been taught to look for the spiritual. And frankly, being Indian is cool.

I suppose one other reason I have a lot of wildlife in my yard at times is because there is so much urban development and I'm one of the few people who planted a number of trees and bushes and some other vegetation in their yard that allows some wildlife to apparently feel more at home. Both my immediate neighbors didn't even plant a single tree in their yards. I have a bunch of trees. I didn't intend to create a wildlife sanctuary though.

If the animals are trying to communicate something to me, I don't know what the message is other than they like my yard.

Lol, one of my relatives down the road told me the other day she had the geico lizard hanging onto her windshield wiper blade on a trip to the bank. Apparently he wanted to go back home because he was still hanging on and rode all the way back after she finished her business at the bank. Those little green lizards are harmless and friendly. She told me it changed different colors on the trip. It must have wanted a thrill ride.

I did see a rabbit hanging outside my relatives house that seems a lot like the rabbit I spotted in my backyard. If the rabbit is trying to communicate something, I don't know what that would be either. If food ever gets scarce, I guess we have some food hopping around outside.