Don't Make Me Release The Flying Monkeys

So much wildlife in my tiny urban back yard. Today the squirrels and birds got fed; stale-ish coffee cake and fresh birdseed, respectively. Right now a plague of grackles (yes, I looked up "plague" as their group name) is in the big maple tree, probably glad that I've left the balcony so they can hoover the bird feeder's contents. Last week I got to watch a hawk standing on top of the phone pole finishing off an adolescent squirrel. He wasted nothing - even the furry tail went down his gullet. Now and again a wayward seagull will occupy that same phone pole.

And that's just in the daytime. At night there are sometimes skunks, and I have a number of times come face-to-face with a raccoon late at night on the balcony. When it warms up, the wee bats will come out and help keep the mosquitoes down. Someone on davis_square claimed a coyote sighting fairly recently. I have no reason to doubt it. Bears next?

I am thoroughly a city girl, but I would miss my critter-watching if I lived somewhere without any. One thing I love about living in a streetcar suburb is the presence of these small wild creatures overlaid with the convenience of urban living. It's nice to not have to choose.