Unwanted

This afternoon I found a baby opossum with a fly upon its nose.

On Saturday, I had found another in the rain garden.   

The prime suspect.

On Friday, a woodcutter met me at the house to inspect a red oak in decline and to give me an estimate for removing it.  He found two baby squirrels on the ground, barely alive, and took them to his girlfriend Jennifer, who will care for them.

The nest had fallen 50 feet and was scattered about the azaleas.  The woodcutter guessed that a hawk had snatched their mother.

I know of no one who would regret the loss of a squirrel or opossum.

On Sunday, a family of deer visited my garden.

They escaped to the neighbor's yard when they saw my camera.

Later in the afternoon, a second herd stopped by to eat the flowers of the liriope and the leaves of the hostas.

The buck stepped smoothly over the tall pots of autumn ferns that I deployed as a deer fence.  He munched on the woodbine, then the family moved on. 

Deer are beautiful and graceful creatures, but they are welcome nowhere in suburbia.

Even in the abundance of summer, life can be hard for unwanted animals in the backyard wildlife habitat.