Suburban Fauna

I walk about 1/4 of a mine from the parking lot to my office each morning and I spend as much of that walk outdoor as I can. Our corner of corporate suburbia is home to a number of species of animals, the feral cats and the deer in the large wooded area and the Canada Geese are not too surprising. What I keep being pleasantly surprised by are the animals that live next to and under the buildings, happily eating away at the manicured lawns and slightly overgrown plants between the keycard-gate and the door that is closest to my office.

Groundhogs and rabbits are the most common. I see one or the other most days, and last week I saw a full house (two groundhogs and three rabbits). Yesterday the small groundhog charged towards me, turning sharply away as soon as he got past the edge of the building I was approaching. I need to carry my cameraphone so that I can get pictures.

Only once have I seen a fox. It was sprinting. And the story is that we have a mated pair of an endangered species nesting on our roof. With chicks.