Something I like about Delaware

I realize that the title of this post makes it sound like I'm forcing myself to find something to like about living here, which is not (at least not any longer) the case. Actually, there are quite a few things that I would miss about Delaware if we had to move, but today I was reminded of how much I like having wildlife right outside my back door. I was outside collecting some pebbles from my back yard (take that ACMoore and your $5 price tag for a bag of rocks) for my first ever attempt at forcing some bulbs (paperwhites) when I heard this huge flock of Canadian geese flying nearby. They soon were passing overhead and I couldn't help but stop what I was doing and watch this enormous group of honking and flapping birds. I'm not enough of a writer to say anything more efusive than it was really cool. Maybe they were confused by the spectacular weather that we've had the past couple of days, because they, poor things, were actually flying North. Whatever the case, seeing these geese made me start thinking about this list of all the wildlife that we've seen in our own backyard and how fun it is to have that be part of our experience here (except possibly the insects):
deer
rabbits
groundhog
mice
snake (even in the garage!)
frogs
fireflies (come out in June--spectacular)
hawks
turkey vultures
woodpeckers
cardinals
squirrels (too many, frankly)
hummingbirds
red fox
fish (Someone's fishing cooler was surely raided and then deposited under our tree.)
bats
racoons
skunk
blue jays
robins
crows
cicadas
hornet-like insect that is huge and eats cicadas
plenty of other insects that I've never seen before and are mighty creepy
ladybugs (they come in the house in the winter...so strange)
japanese beetles


This is all the list I can think of for now. I'll have the rest of the family contribute more if there's anything they can think of that I left out.

And, this makes me think of a funny story about the very large groundhog that has made its home in the bushes nextdoor. It is harmless enough and comes wandering over to our yard often. It has dug a huge hole in some bushes that separate our neighbor's yard from our own. One day last summer when Max and his friends were outside playing catch, the ball rolled under the bushes and down the hole. I wasn't aware of this until after Max came looking for a 3rd ball to play with. When I asked him what had happened to the first two balls they had, he explained that after the first one went down the hole they went and got another ball to send down the hole as a trade for the first one, since they liked that one better. Surprise, surprise, the groundhog wasn't interested in a trade.