Sunday, July 02, 2006

Florida Creatures in our Backyard

The large green lizard was in the grass a few feet from our patio door this morning. The geese are in our backyard daily. Last weekend, I was sitting on the patio with my back turned to the door watching TV through the sliding glass door. I saw the reflection of the geese as they walked up the hill from the lake and to the patio door. The lead goose led them all the way to the door and started pecking at the door. They really like me to play with them. One goose in particular likes denim and one of his favorite things to do is come up to me in the backyard and pull on the hem of my jeans with his peak. He'll just started pulling and squawk loudly when I shake him off and come over for more. It's as though he's playing with me. None of the geese have ever attacked me or played rough. The unusal lizards seemed to have appeared after hurricane Frances and then more varieties arrived last fall after Hurricane Wilma. They are pretty, can run fast and like to hang out in the backyard or come up near the patio and look us over good. We like wildlife and animals and enjoy their presence. In the darkness of the morning, it's not unusual to see an armadillo or racoon in the backyard. One morning last week there were two racoons and sometimes I've observed a racoon and cat have a spat and one or the other usually get chased up the tree. It's been seven or eight years since we've had an alligator in the lake...I can do without those but it sure brought some excitement to the neighborhood. Well, time to get ready and get to church. Signing off, Gordon

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