Suburban Savanna – 7

/

This month I am thinking about the changes in wildlife I am already seeing in my yard.

Birds: We have bird feeders, but I am noticing more birds finding food in our yard as well. This time of year, there are seeds (coneflowers and pokeweed are the most obvious). The enlarged bed of violets attracted a lot of bird attention last winter when it was just debris!

Moles (and maybe an armadillo): I see the evidence but not the animals themselves. Sometimes they destroy areas with their digging but, so far, it has only been turf areas rather than the plants I have added. I tend to think of them as breaking up the clay and mixing in plant debris – improving the soil.

Insects and other invertebrates: Something is eating pokeweed and I assume it is an insect. The first year I noticed pokeweed growing in my yard they looked pristine but now something is eating them…the balancing in nature! There are more fireflies in my yard every year too. When I mow, I see small insects raise up before the mower – another sign of increasing life in the yard (and I haven’t been getting bites, which is a relief).

Squirrels and chipmunks: My neighbor’s oak is probably the home of the squirrels, but they are frequently in my yard; their numbers haven’t changed since I added more native plants. I’ve seen one chipmunk and it might have been passing through. The occasional cats that also come through might keep them at bay. It would be great to see more chipmunks!

Skunk: I’ve seen one in the neighborhood on an early morning walkabout as I was leaving for my monthly trek to Texas. It might have just been passing through.

I haven’t seen any deer and there is no evidence of them in my yard (no new plants eaten almost entirely, no scat). This is different from a lot of suburban areas where an overpopulation of deer is problematic. Hopefully my situation without deer continues. It does mean that I need to play the role of big herbivore and prune/trample!

Opossum and racoon are probably around but I haven’t observed them or their scat.  

The main animal I would prefer not to have in yard that is there occasionally: a domestic cat. It has a negative impact on wildlife like birds and chipmunks!

Previous Suburban Savanna Posts:

September 2026 – Fall riches

August 2026 – Controlling too much growth

July 2026 - Water

June 2026 – Shade Garden

May 2026 – Planting Natives

April 2026 – Overview

Road Trip to Texas – August 2024 (1)

/

I am anticipating taking more than one trip to Dallas to see my dad in August since two of my three sisters are traveling during the month; it’s more challenging for one of us to see him every day when there are less people in the rotation! This road trip was easier that my recent ones – not as many delays from construction or accidents. However….there were still moments of drama….

As I headed out of my neighborhood, I noticed a skunk amble from my neighbor’s corner flowerbed and move off down a side street where there are houses on both sides. It’s probably very familiar with the area but I had not seen it before.

About 45 minutes into the trip, there was on overturned truck on the opposite side of the interstate with trailer partially on the median…partial blocking the inner lane. There were a lot of cars waiting to get by on that side. There didn’t seem to be any obvious cause of the accident other than the sun being in everyone’s eyes driving in that direction.

As soon as I got to Oklahoma, the wind picked up and there were bands of low dark clouds. I kept a careful watch for funnel shapes since they looked so strange and the trees along the interstate where clearly being buffeted by the wind. Not a good time to be beside a truck either. Fortunately, the wind calmed down within an hour and I only got a short sprinkle rather than heavy rain.

After those first couple of hours, the rest of the drive was uneventful by comparison. I stopped at the Texas Welcome Center on US75 for a snack lunch and took pictures of some of their plantings. The beautyberry seeds are beginning to ripen.

I found a feather on the sidewalk…wondered what kind of bird had left it behind.

The street parking at my dad’s assisted living home was shady…but the temperature still felt very hot. When I came out after visiting with him for a few hours, my car said it was 108 outside as I drove to my hotel.

The hotel turns their air conditioning down to the 60s and it felt way too cold. I set the thermostat in my room to 75 and was more comfortable.

The next morning, I headed over to see my dad again and got there as he was finishing his breakfast. It was cool enough for a walk and we worked on a puzzle. I was on my way home by 11. I had planned to stop at the Oklahoma Welcome Center on US75 on the way home but needed to buy gas instead.

The only picture I took on the way home was a grasshopper that was sitting on the sidewalk outside one of my stops along the way.

And so…another road trip to Texas is history.