What's in your backyard?

Red tailed hawk nest. They’re well fed with plenty of tree rats and bunnies in the neighborhood.

We don't have a nest, but a Red Tail has been spending a lot of time around our yard too lately. It treats our bird feeder and all the doves it attracts like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
 
Well this is nice, they just discovered that the deadliest spider in the world, the Sydney Funnel Web, has a bigger, deadlier (probably) cousin. And it's basically native to where I live now. I grew up in Sydney, so I always knew they were around, but I've never seen one in person, and now I discover that the ones where I live now are a bigger, that just makes me so happy.

Newcastle funnel-web spider identified as bigger, deadlier than other species - ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...-distinct-species-iconic-funnel-web/104814368
 
Well this is nice, they just discovered that the deadliest spider in the world, the Sydney Funnel Web, has a bigger, deadlier (probably) cousin. And it's basically native to where I live now. I grew up in Sydney, so I always knew they were around, but I've never seen one in person, and now I discover that the ones where I live now are a bigger, that just makes me so happy.

Newcastle funnel-web spider identified as bigger, deadlier than other species - ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...-distinct-species-iconic-funnel-web/104814368

Only good spider is a dead spider. Same thing with snakes.

Although, we have inherited the Joro spider from somewhere. Flying venomous spiders.

 
Well this is nice, they just discovered that the deadliest spider in the world...
Holy cow Dave, you dug up a 3 year old thread for spider news...how did you find it?


Only good spider is a dead spider. Same thing with snakes.

Although, we have inherited the Joro spider from somewhere. Flying venomous spiders.


I can't decide whether I should be responding "I really didn't want to know this" or "why wasn't I informed?"
 
Holy cow Dave, you dug up a 3 year old thread for spider news...how did you find it?




I can't decide whether I should be responding "I really didn't want to know this" or "why wasn't I informed?"
I thought about putting it in the show us your pet thread, but even I wouldn't do that, then I remembered this was one, seems more appropriate.

Luckily I hadn't read about the spiders this morning, when I was feeding my dogs, I stepped on the lawn barefoot and this stuck into my foot, when I lifted it to take a look it was still sticking out. That would have made it obvious it wasn't a spider though.
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Every time I see a fox I rush to grab my phone or camera, and it’s gone when I get back. This morning there were a couple deer. No pics.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
We had 2 foxes charge out of the farmland at us a couple of weeks ago, when they got close, about 10 metres away, they realised my dogs were much bigger than they were, and were also eager for some fun, so they disappeared back into the long grass.

Not every picture turns out though
The two smudges are kangaroos
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And there's a Tawny Frogmouth in the crook of this tree, it's a lot like an owl.
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Homeowner tells of terrifying moment he found 102 snakes in his backyard in suburban Sydney | 7NEWS https://search.app/xo7EauSCy8mGoJ3X6

My girlfriend would have flipped. She saw 1 underneath the deck box that we keep the garden hose in. I kept looking for it so i could relocate it but never found it. I found a slug, asked her if that was it....no. Found an earthworm and asked her if that was it...no. It was probably a harmless garter snake.
 
I'll save 24 pages and go to the best photos first

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My girlfriend would have flipped. She saw 1 underneath the deck box that we keep the garden hose in. I kept looking for it so i could relocate it but never found it. I found a slug, asked her if that was it....no. Found an earthworm and asked her if that was it...no. It was probably a harmless garter snake.
We would occasionally get harmless black/rat snakes slithering around. Harmless but I’d still scream like a little girl when I ran across them 😱

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Not sure where this guy spent most of his time but he’d show up every now & again to accost the neighborhood bird feeders.
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Now I know why that Boeing aircraft, that was developed originally for the Australian Air Force, is called the Wedgetail.
 
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