The Fauna of Rural Life

I live in the country. There are large fields behind the house. When I was kid, the road was gravel- it was paved when I was 9. When we first moved in, the road changed from gravel to dirt at the edge of our property.

The house was built by my stepdad and his friends. It's not exactly full of modern convenience. As my mother recently put it: "[My mother and stepdad] went through a time where [they] thought that [they] didn't need the modern trappings of the middle class." Apparently, those trappings include central heating and air, a dishwasher, and energy efficiency.

We deal with lots and lots of animals, out here; and always have. This is, of course, excepting the pets we've had over the years (ducks, cats, dogs).

Inside the house: Mice, Spiders (about 8 or 9 species, including Black Widow, Brown Recluse, Wolf Spiders, and [what I think are] Hobo Spiders), Praying Mantis (usually a small green one [about 2 inches long] and a bigger grayish one [about 3.5 inches long], Daddy Long Legs, Ticks, Fleas, Carpenter Ants, Borer Beetles, Bumble Bees, Wasps (mostly Red Wasps), various Flies, Snakes (mostly rat snakes) [yes, inside the house], Beetles, Walking Sticks, Termites, Silverfish, Post-hole Beetles, and the occasional bird. Probably missed some...

Outside: All of the inside stuff, Deer, Turtles (Box, and Snapping), Foxes, Opossum, Skunks, Hornets, Fire Ants, Rolly-polly's, Caterpillars (at least 4 or 5 species), Cow Killer Ants, various Frogs and Toads [and their various stages of growth], various Birds (Woodpeckers, Hummingbirds, Robins, Black Birds [especially migratory flocks], Blue Jays, Canadian Geese, Hawks, etc), Mosquitoes, various Beetles, Gnats, Chiggers, Bats, Squirrels, Chipmunks, and I've definitely missed some...

I plan to start cataloguing my fauna encounters, daily. We'll see how that goes...