Colorado Wildlife

We live in a surpassingly beautiful location, incomparable in its convenience to EVERYTHING. Shops and restaurants in town are a simple 10-minute walk away from here, which saves us from needing a car, yet in the other direction we are backed up to trails going through acres and acres of land (both privately owned and national park land), so there is lots of wildlife and beauty right here, too.

Prairie dogs are abundant--but to me they're still a novelty. They chatter loudly at passers by from the safety of being able to dart down their holes at a moment's notice.

There are also tons of almost-tame rabbits. They will let you get right up close to them and then make a few lazy hops to get away.

Herons have made a home of the tree across the lake from Ellerslie--The most I have counted in one place was 9 flying together. They make quite a racket when they all get together in the tree and chatter at each other. I don't think I had ever heard heron voices before.  

Mule deer seen from the Poudre River Trail

Swallows. Have you ever seen so many birds in one place in the sky before?

Not Pictured: I have also seen lots of species of ducks, songbirds, and ground-nesting birds, and a huge raccoon.

Not Encoutered: Surprisingly enough, there haven't been any bothersome insects so far. Yay!