Wildlife inside the loop

A few years ago we moved from Kingwood (aka the livable forest), a northern suburb of Houston, to a small city (West University Place) inside the loop (interstate 610). Although I welcomed the 65-mile cut out of my daily commute to work, I was a bit tentative of living in a more urban environment with fewer trees and birds. West U is actually a very lush community with huge oak trees and perfectly manicured yards and gardens. Well I have quickly discovered that these trees and gardens are home to many creatures.

While cleaning up our limb and branch-filled yard after hurricane Ike last fall we spotted two baby opossums seeking shelter under our front porch. I haven't seen nor thought of those creatures since, until....

....while putting out our trash early this morning (it was still somewhat dark) I saw something at the bottom of our trash can and I started to reach in thinking it was a branch or piece of trash I should grab to place into the trash bag. As I got closer I saw two eyes staring back at me and saw this little guy (no this isn't my picture, just something from the internet):

I have since read that opossums are welcomed in our community as they rarely bite people or pets, very rarely carry rabies and they actually eat rats, snakes, and bugs. We are actually encouraged to leave them be as they are considered helpful little pests.
(Hubby, flip the trashcan over so the little guy can make a run for it tonite after darkness falls).

This little incident this morning made me think about all of the other creatures I have seen (sometimes way too closely) in and around my community.

In the wee hours of the morning while out for my daily jog I regularly see small owls seeking a spot to slumber the day away in the tree branches.

We also have a plethora of pigeons and doves in our neighborhood along with some beautiful birds.

I have also had an unfortunate close encounter with a small bat that made it's way into my 4 year old daughter's bedroom (pest control dept says most likely came thru her ceiling fan from the attic) last summer. That's a whole post in and of itself but I'll conclude with saying that the bat didn't have rabies and luckily I was in her room sleeping with her and got us out of their immediately after being awakened by the flapping wings in the ceiling fan blades.
I'll leave you with that lovely thought and wish everyone a happy memorial weekend. Be safe out there!