Debbie Allen's second guest write here on the Carolinian's Archives delivered right where it was needed most. And that was a contributory piece on Carolina Critters & Other Animals of the South. West Virginia is right on the line between north and south but its animals are basically the same as the ones in Carolina and elsewhere roundabout. Besides, it's a fine first person read, for those familiar with these creatures and those not so.
Here is a great link for you by Debbie:
http://allmyanimaltales.blogspot.com/
Here is a great link for you by Debbie:
http://allmyanimaltales.blogspot.com/
Sleepy Creek is a Wildlife Management area located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Some of the state nicknames for West Virginia are "West by God" and "Wild and Wonderful". Both are very true to this state. It is a wild place and truly a beautiful one with wonderful people. It has high mountains and low valleys and lots of gorges, meadows, lakes, rivers and streams that run from the bottom of the state to top in the Northern Panhandle and over through the Eastern Panhandle.
It also includes an area that is a Bird Sanctuary. I live in this part of Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. Among one of the beauties of the state is Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area. West Virginia has a diverse amount of wildlife and I have seen plenty of it.
The Sleepy Creek area and there have been places I've had many sightings of them, right into me and my husband's property. There have been many critters reported around this area for sure. One is the Black Bear. Sorry, but I do not have a picture of this. I would rather not see one up close and personal, if you know what I mean. The one that was cited was a momma and she was with her cub. They roam these forests all the time but we rarely see one up close and personal. There have been reports that they have even been in the city neighborhoods in the valley below this mountain that I live on.
| Among the other furry creatures that I have seen and do have pictures of dine on the cat food on my back deck. They come and eat whatever my cats do not eat. I once tried to move a dish with too much food from a raccoon and that raccoon surprised me. It picked up the dish and pulled it towards him and then proceeded to take it to the other side of the deck. He did not growl or try to attack me. I left it with him, and he did get a really fulfilling meal that night. |  Two raccoons enjoying cat food |
People tend to think that all raccoons are rabid. There are so many myths out there about this single animal. I have lived here many years and have yet to see rabid animals, much less a rabid raccoon. Oh, I do not go up and pet them, but I do have the privilege of watching them through the French doors on my deck as you can see in my pictures here.
Possum on the cat food There is another critter called an opposum that I have seen all over the place, in my back yard and also in the side of roads. These are slower animals, unless they have a cat that is chasing them. They’re pretty fast when you see that comical thing around here. They are flat footed, like a human hand. I thought that they were really ugly until I watched them all eat and congregate on my back deck.
They may look like big rats, but they all have a family affair when the show up on my deck. Sometimes it is one that will come up to also finish the cat food and then sometimes there will be a family of about three or four that will come up. They do not like the cats at all and will stay away from them. When surprised they will growl and attack the stick or broom that you are trying to move them with. Never have I had them go around the broom or stick to attack me. I often wonder where they go when they mosey into the forest behind my house. I often wonder where they sleep. One thing that I do know is that they stink to high heaven. They smell like stale mud.
They may look like big rats, but they all have a family affair when the show up on my deck. Sometimes it is one that will come up to also finish the cat food and then sometimes there will be a family of about three or four that will come up. They do not like the cats at all and will stay away from them. When surprised they will growl and attack the stick or broom that you are trying to move them with. Never have I had them go around the broom or stick to attack me. I often wonder where they go when they mosey into the forest behind my house. I often wonder where they sleep. One thing that I do know is that they stink to high heaven. They smell like stale mud.
I have seen deer and lots of them. They are all over this mountain. One year I saw a young buck stand across my yard on the other side of my garden. He had just started growing his antlers and they had the velvet on them. We did a start down thing and I said to myself that I was not going to be the first to move. They have come to my gardens for salad of their own. I stopped that by putting windmills around my gardens. One day I was standing on my deck talking to my cat. She seemed scared of something and she rarely sits right down in front of me or by my side like that. Yes, cats are very afraid of deer. My dog, well he doesn’t even know they are around. I got a really good picture of the couple of deer that were standing in my driveway and in the road. These were only a few deer that was in the herd. When I counted all that I could see, there were like 8 of them crossing the road and going into the corner of my yard and into the small park nearby.
White-tailed deer
Tailless Gray Squirrel I think just about everyone has their run of grey squirrels. I have them all over the place. I even have one that sits on the deck railing in the morning and thinks that I am feeding him instead of the cats. Laughing Out Loud, he watches me too during the day when I pass from the living area to the kitchen.
There are French doors there and we can see through the glass. Here is one, without a tail, that was feeding at the blue bowls for breakfast. He was born without that tail and sad to say I did not see him again the next year.
There are French doors there and we can see through the glass. Here is one, without a tail, that was feeding at the blue bowls for breakfast. He was born without that tail and sad to say I did not see him again the next year.
Rare Pileated Woodpecker Pileated Wood Pecker. I have tried many times to get a good picture of this bird but it is very camera shy. The picture that I did finally get was taken through the screen of my window. Each time that I would point my camera to the bird when it was on the tree behind my deck that sucker would go around that tree. I tried waiting for it one day and it finally flew off into the woods and didn’t return that day. Now the birds are many in this area and are all protected species.
Woodpecker hole When I first moved here I thought that I had gone back in time to a prehistoric time. These birds are huge and they are as big as cats, beak to tail feather. They are also wonderful to watch. They had a nest inside a big hollow tree when we moved here and I watched each and every year the babies that were hatched by the one couple that graced our back yard. I got to watch them come out and learn how to fly. One of my cats got one and brought it to me. She did not hurt it at all and I was able to put it back in a tree. About three hours later my cat brought it back to me and again did not hurt it. I put the bird higher in a tree and pretty much nearer to the nest it came from. My cat didn’t bring it to me again. The first year that I was privy to watch, there were three babies hatch.
The next year it was two and so with three years after that and the last time she had three again. Then we had to take down that tree because in an ice storm we had in early October most of the branches broke off of the tree. That was when we found that the whole tree was hollow. It was a nice, roomy place to build nests and other critter’s homes too. I know some lost their homes and maybe even their lives when the tree limbs fell. I do not see the Pileated Wood Peckers out back now. I know they are around though as one has pecked a hole and made a nest in one of the trees along the street in my front yard.
The next year it was two and so with three years after that and the last time she had three again. Then we had to take down that tree because in an ice storm we had in early October most of the branches broke off of the tree. That was when we found that the whole tree was hollow. It was a nice, roomy place to build nests and other critter’s homes too. I know some lost their homes and maybe even their lives when the tree limbs fell. I do not see the Pileated Wood Peckers out back now. I know they are around though as one has pecked a hole and made a nest in one of the trees along the street in my front yard.
Cardinal pair. Male is bright red
Cardinals are around here. They are migratory birds and come back in the early spring. Sometimes there is still snow on the ground and they seem to leave late in the fall. While they are here it is so nice to sit on the back deck and listed to them sing. I have had many kinds of bird feeders and baths made from all kind of things that others would call rubbish. They don’t consider them as that. They take anything they can get. Here is a Cardinal at the feeder that I had under the wispy White Pines in my yard.
| Doing so the thought came to mind that I was saving the enemy. These birds are gorgeous, We also have Blue Jays and I got the opportunity to save a baby the other day. While I was but they are as mean as mean can be when they find something to eat. I have seen these beautiful birds attack cats and other birds for food. I have seen them empty a bowl of cat food in less than ten minutes. I have seen them dive bomb the cats if they get near their food bowl. |  Blue Jays can be domineering over other songbirds |
Other birds that I have heard and seen in these woods and on this Bird Sanctuary are Turkey, Grouse, Hoot Owls, Red Tail Hawks (saw one dive to get a snake out of my garden), Chickadees (got them at my bird feeders all the time) and hummingbirds.
Common Garter Snake That reminds me, I have seen many kinds of snakes on this mountain too. We used to have a big black snake that would sun itself on one of the many branches that hang over the ravine beside my property. I also have garter snakes and one day my cat saw one slithering through the yard and she stopped it and decided that she wanted to play with it. I don’t like snakes. I have another cat that will go into the ravine and come back out with a baby snake and those that she catches are not the non-poisonous kinds. We have rattlesnakes on this mountain and that seems to be her taste in snakes. Last year we had to kill three rattlesnakes. I have also seen a snake that I have no idea what kind it was but it was the only time that I had seen it and I didn’t have my camera. It was black and a neon green striped, head to tail.
Eastern Box Turtle. In the Appalachians their shells are often brighter
We also have Eastern Box Turtle and I got to see one almost running through my yard. I had not seen one of these in years. The last time I seen one it was walking across the road and when my car came close to it, it stopped and closed up. I got out and moved it into the woods and it opened up and went on its way.
There are so many species of animals, birds, reptiles and insects up here. It truly is a beautiful state and I can see why it would have the nickname West by God and Wild and Wonderful.
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