Critters of Rain Song Farm

We don't have any livestock, just two indoor cats.  However, there are many critters who have decided to make Rain Song Farm their home.  Some of them may have been here before we were!

We have lived here for nine years, and though we only started the 'farm' in 2008, we have been following organic practices for the land since we moved here.  Long before we decided to grow vegetables, we managed the property with wildlife and conservation in mind.  We don't use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers anywhere on our property, and we have left most of the land natural, with trees, brush and whatever grasses, wildflowers and groundcovers that happen to grow.  We have also planted wildlife-friendly plants such as lantana and mulberry and fig trees.  Many of the plants were so wildlife-friendly that the wildlife (deer) loved them out of existence.

Here is a selection of the critters with whom we share Rain Song Farm.

A butterfly enjoying cilantro blossoms

A tortoise who disappeared suprisingly quickly after I took this photo!

Luna moths mating on the side of the greenhouse

Baby house wrens in a nest inside the greenhouse

Snails mating on the side of, you guessed it, the greenhouse.

There's something about that greenhouse, isn't there?

A monarch caterpillar munching on butterfly weed

Male eastern bluebird perching on the mailbox, looking for insects.

Can you tell he sits there often?

Barred owl perched on the back garden fence

Mama and baby.  So cute.  A few days later I watched that fawn strip all the leaves off one of our blueberry bushes.  The deer are the primary reason we built a 6-foot fence around the main garden.  But we still ooh and ahh over the little fawns every spring.