https://www.reddit.com/r/GardenWild/comments/cxl5hk/whats_your_favorite_critter_that_visits_your/
created by SolariaHues on 30/08/2019 at 18:49 UTC*
60 upvotes, 39 top-level comments (showing 25)
Hey all :)
Just thought we could have a fun discussion on our favorite garden visitors :)
So what is your favorite critter that visits your garden? Why is that? And what do you do to attract them?
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Edit: I didn't expect so many replies so quickly! I'm stoked you're all enjoying your wildlife and are enthused about it :D
Comment by DR_PEACETIME at 30/08/2019 at 19:06 UTC
55 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I never get tired of some bees hard at work pollinating. They're just so damn cute.
Comment by [deleted] at 30/08/2019 at 21:05 UTC*
28 upvotes, 2 direct replies
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Comment by [deleted] at 30/08/2019 at 19:24 UTC*
40 upvotes, 4 direct replies
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Comment by Rufflenuggins at 30/08/2019 at 19:04 UTC
15 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I like chipmunks and rabbits. It is interesting to watch them go about foraging for food and enjoying it when they find it. I absolutely adore the birds that visit as well, and my favorite are the chunky mourning doves whose coos make my heart swoon. Cardinals and wrens are a close second. I have three hanging feeders for the birds including a thistle feeder and 2 ground feeders for morning doves, chipmunks, and squirrels. 😊
Comment by TraleeJohan at 30/08/2019 at 19:27 UTC
15 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Kingfisher and nightingale. The Tawny owls are pretty cool at night too :)
Comment by lchawks13 at 30/08/2019 at 19:35 UTC
14 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I am very fond of a catbird with a black cap who splashes in the bird bath never minding that I am sitting 3 foot away. He is quite bold.
Comment by etceterar at 30/08/2019 at 19:44 UTC*
15 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's been Black Swallowtail butterflies for a couple of years (I bring them in and raise them on parsley), but this year they're getting competition from Southern Pink Moths, which are laying their eggs in a dark purple salvia I just got. They're bright pink, about the size of a pencil eraser, and allllll over my back porch. They'll swarm me, 8 or 9 at a time, like a little petal storm.
The swallowtail caterpillars have these hella bitchin danger horns[1] when they get pissed, though, so that's hard to top.
Comment by AnEmptyHell at 30/08/2019 at 19:55 UTC
14 upvotes, 1 direct replies
There's a toad that came to bless our house every year. After 2, he lost an arm but seemed well for another 2 years. He is missing this year. But I swear we have more baby toads this year than ever before.
I watched a hummingbird cuss another hummingbird out over a rose of Sharon tree. That was sorta cute.
Love watching bumblebees and carpenters and others mull over the clover, or blunder around our different flowers.
We have a bunny living in our yard too, despite having dogs.
And there's a couple of love bird cardinals that hit up our bird feeder.
Comment by The_Gene_Genie at 30/08/2019 at 23:04 UTC
12 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It’s got to be the foxes that live under the bridge at the end of my garden. I’ll be sat on the balcony in the evening and my security light will go off, I’ll have a look over the side and there are these beautiful foxes just wandering through the garden on their way to go hunting.
And bees. I always say hello to the bees in my garden, they’re doing good work and deserve to know it
Comment by maple_dreams at 30/08/2019 at 19:43 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
this is a great question, and a tough one for me! I just love watching insects in my garden— bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, katydids, flies...but I’d have to say right now my favorites are butterflies in general. with butterflies, you can observe an entire life cycle. egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and finally, adult butterfly.
I plant many plants native to the area (southern New England in the U.S.) that are attractive to butterflies as both host and nectar plants. I have personally seen monarchs, cloudless sulphurs, and black swallowtail caterpillars using host plants in my garden. I’ve watched monarch eggs being laid, searched for and found caterpillars feeding and have found their empty chrysalises after they’ve emerged as adult butterflies. it’s just so fascinating to watch all the different stages and fun to search plants for caterpillars.
Comment by [deleted] at 30/08/2019 at 23:48 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The crow family that nests in our yard makes me so happy, I don't care that they eat my raspberries. All the birds cheer me up, but I love my crows.
Comment by SolariaHues at 30/08/2019 at 20:09 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I love my hedgehogs, frogs (especially the froglets), birds, bees, butterflies, etc but I'm really loving my slow worms right now :) I'm so pleased to have them.
They love the long grass of my meadow area and my compost heap - I saw at least 9 in the compost earlier this year when (carefully) digging it out.
Comment by MacStylee at 30/08/2019 at 21:22 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I’ve got a family of wrens who nest in my hanging plants. They’re really cheeky and loud but they just keep hanging around with me, it’s hard not to love them and their babies.
Comment by Flashdance007 at 31/08/2019 at 00:42 UTC
9 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Oh man...This summer I had a weasel![1] It came and was eating / digging at this rotting log that I have in a flower garden outside my office window. There's a bird feeder above it, so maybe he was eating what the birds wasted or the insects attracted by the wasted bird seed. He was so sleek and quick. Loved seeing him. Only saw him once. My two dogs kind of keep a pretty close watch on the yard.
Comment by LaurenDreamsInColor at 30/08/2019 at 20:32 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
1. Dragonflies - My spirit creature. Stunning animals.
2. Bumble Bees - Always friendly and courteous.
3. Goldfinches - Just can't tweet and fly at the same time.
4. Voles - They're extremely cute in spite of the damage they do.
5. Field mice - same as #3. Those big eyes get me.
Comment by deadbigfoot at 30/08/2019 at 22:24 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
our five-lined skink because i really didn’t expect to see a huge lizard on the wall while i watered the plants, and now i’ve got to see them get bigger and bigger; our cardinal family that started out as a male and female and has since added five babies; hummingbirds just because they’re a pretty recent visitor, and butterflies! (specifically gulf fritillary because they like the zinnias and i have a lot of those)
Comment by FIREmumsy at 31/08/2019 at 01:32 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Monarchs! Most of my garden is planted for them (and other pollinators), so I feel especially redeemed when they visit.
Comment by Lukepeter24 at 30/08/2019 at 18:56 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hard to decide between hedgehogs, woodpeckers and bats. None of which really stick around for too long though but that’s what makes it so exciting in a way
Comment by paulwhite959 at 30/08/2019 at 19:21 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Possum! Love those little hissy marsupials.
Comment by WalksByNight at 30/08/2019 at 21:25 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hummingbirds and Preying mantises. They are both astounding creatures and I feel privileged when I see them. Also, Bumbles, for self evident reasons.
Comment by manofthewild07 at 30/08/2019 at 19:34 UTC
6 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Assassin bugs, like this wheel bug nymph[1] on my beans
Comment by NelyafinweMaitimo at 30/08/2019 at 20:18 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I love all the bees, wasps, spiders, butterflies, and grasshoppers. I did see some cardinals, but I only got a small bag of birdseed and they moved on once they finished it all off lol.
Still watching out for hummingbirds. I haven’t seen any this year, and August is supposed to be peak hummingbird season here.
Comment by easy916 at 31/08/2019 at 01:30 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We have western blue birds that nest in a box built for garden tools. It very cool seeing the eggs then the featherless babies
Comment by derbybunny at 31/08/2019 at 02:13 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Bunnies! I have a thing for rabbits, used to volunteer at a shelter with them. Love seeing wild ones, and a baby snuck into our garage and stayed for about a week before I was able to get him out. SO CUTE AND TINY! I also love the butterflies. Tons of monarchs and swallowtails this year and I honestly think I may enjoy the caterpillars more than the butterflies. I want to get dutchman's pipe to bring in pipevine swallowtails.
I would also say the fox, but my dog heavily disagrees. He likes to chase pretty much anything out of the yard, but he completely freaked out when he saw a fox.
Comment by Rosebudbynicky at 31/08/2019 at 12:04 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Hawks and owls are my favorite because birds of prey are amazing to me also at dusk we get lots of bats which I love to sit and watch.
What I hate are rats ugh I live walking distance with big city.
