We have plenty of wildlife in our area. When pipes burst a few winters ago, the plumber said there were 2 raccoons living under our house, there are bats living inside the walls of the unfinished add-on that was on our mobile when we bought the place. Need to put our bat house up one of these years...mainly it's (mule) deer we see in our yard frequently, have to constantly tell them that they don't need to worry, I'm not gonna hurt them when we surprise each other. Sometimes they actually listen and will stay in our yard for a few minutes, in the corner as long as I don't try and approach them. I have decided our place is a wildlife sanctuary as in I let all the animals know I don't like them fighting with each other here, no hunting is allowed here either, except for the cats keeping the rodent population down for health reasons. Our next door neighbor came down with hanta virus last year.

I grew up on the edge of a small town and so sightings of deer and the like were common. There was a lake nearby and my brother and I were constantly coming home with toads, frogs, snakes, and turtles. In hindsight my mother was probably less than amused but she was a good sport.

As an adult I've enjoyed camping in state and national parks and so have seen some more interesting animals. A few of the more memorable experiences:

As part of a school program we went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness in northeast Minnesota. We were on a remote dirt road in a school bus when we came around a turn and saw a big moose in the middle of the road (the first time I'd seen one of those). We had little choice but to wait until he decided to move on.

One of my first bear sightings came as I was driving up Interstate 35 toward Duluth (which is on the southwest end of Lake Superior). At the time it was a heavily wooded area. A bear went running across the interstate, much to my surprise. (Years later, a resort and casino was built near there. Its name - and I'm not making this up - is the Black Bear Casino).

In 1996 I was camping at a state park in north central Minnesota. It has quite a few lakes and seeing and hearing loons was common. But I was hiking on one of the trails around a lake when I came face to face with a river otter running toward me on the trail. We stood there for a few seconds, about 5 feet apart, before it dashed into the woods. Awesome!

At a meeting yesterday it was pointed out that people need to stop throwing food in the recycle bin out back, both because food isn't recyclable and because it's attracting a family of raccoons. One of my coworkers walks past the dumpsters to get into the office, and he says the coons all stared at him intensely until he went inside.

We have so many squirrels in our area that are much too friendly! They will follow you around expecting food...like they are offended if you don't have something to give them.

The coyotes in our area are getting more and more aggressive, which is unnatural for coyotes in general. Consequence of suburban sprawl, I guess. *shrugs* It makes me sad. I usually would enjoy seeing coyotes in the wild when I used to take late night walks as a teenager, but now I think I would simply be scared. When I was 10, I got to pet one with the permission of a wildlife ranger (it was a baby at a rescue).

Well, my sister and I were recently on a walk at dusk round the neighborhood, and nearly got dive-bombed by about a dozen bats who were out catching their evening
bugs. (Yes, we ran like a couple of frightened turkeys. )
I'm still not sure if I think bats spread rabies or not. Are they just more likely to carry it, without actually having it? How does that even work?

A couple weeks ago I saw a flock of turkey vultures circling over a local Walmart. The store is still in business so they must have been attracted to something else I guess.
Today a giant buck dashed across the road in front of the car, just 50 feet or so outside my office!!

@stargazer. There are loons in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I remember seeing them in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge many years ago.  And of course there is other interesting wildlife on the shores of Lake Superior in the U. P.    Porcupine Mountain State Park and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offer some great scenery. The wilderness of Minnesota may be larger, but I think the U.P. of Michigan is probably just as beautiful.

I think the hermit thrush and Swainson’s thrush are more common in the U.P. than down here in the Lower Peninsula.  Minnesota would also have both of those species in its northern part.  We also have wood thrushes here, but unfortunately they are declining in numbers.  These birds all have lovely songs, but my favorite is the flutelike song of the wood thrush, which I think is most beautiful bird song in North America. 🙂

Here is a video of the wood thrush and recordings of its song:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Thrush/sounds

Agreed about the UP, Narnian78! I've traveled there a few times and also camped in the Porkies twice. It's very beautiful. I'm so used to looking out over Lake Superior to the south that it seemed odd to be looking out over it to the north. I recall (near the end of a hike to Lake of the Clouds) that I emerged from the woods to have a bald eagle fly about 3 feet above my head. Wonderful!

(One of those trips also holds one of my fondest incidental camping memories. In the site next to mine, a couple sang a lullaby to their young child to help her sleep. It was "Once Upon a December" from the animated Anastasia, which came out around that time. They did harmonies and everything; it was very pretty. I get goose bumps just remembering it).

Thanks for the wood thrush recording. I've heard them frequently while out in the woods, though not much lately since I've not been out in the woods much this year.

@stargazer You are very welcome, Stargazer. I have many fond memories of vacations I took with my parents in the U.P. during the 1980’s.  I don’t think the area has changed very much since then— especially the beautiful parks and forests. 🙂

*dusts off the thread*

My kids came bounding into the house last night to report there was a snake in the backyard. Not an unusual occurrence, but when I went out to look at it, it was a sizeable snake I had never seen before. Made me think a bit of the Lady of the Green Kirtle. Turned out to be an Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer. We watched it slither up our chain link fence and into our neighbor's Snowball Bush. Hope our neighbors enjoy snakes!!  

Now that it’s May it is the time to look in the woods for the migrating birds. I love going to the county parks here in Michigan and walking on the trails.  Do you have places where you live that are good for  birds and other wildlife?  Here the parks are usually about one or two hundred acres insize, but they do provide a home for wildlife.  Rural areas are gradually disappearing, but the parks remain mostly unchanged and they provide some habitat.