What bugs/diseases/critters have ya'll seen that weren't around 30-40 years ago?

[WinterDeere]

Bobcats have a woman screaming sound. I have heard a few before. Interesting to hear and watch when I can. They say a fox in heat makes the same sound. It may have been that too ??

We had some living in the woods behind our house, when we moved in. Yeah, sounds just like a woman screaming.

Someone clearned a 3 acre hole in the middle of the woods, built a house and moved their two dogs in. Now if we hear a woman screaming in the night, we can assume it's human.

 

[Dftodd]

Which reminds me that we don't see many box turtles around here anymore, whereas when my kid lived in Stillwater, OK, they'd have several in their yard at any given time.

We've found them on trails in Missouri when hiking. Just not around here anymore.

I do recall finding one in our back yard back in the late 70's. I showed it to my dog. He sniffed it several times then lifted his leg on it.

I felt bad for the thing, so I went and got a bucket of water and washed it off.

We got tons of them around here. You gotta watch it, since they are crossing roads and highways at the moment.

From the little itty bitty mini me's up to the larger ones.

I used to spend quite a bit of time relocating them when we had our weiney dog. If they were small enough, he would snatch them and run around the yard with them

 

[ning]

We had some living in the woods behind our house, when we moved in. Yeah, sounds just like a woman screaming.

Someone clearned a 3 acre hole in the middle of the woods, built a house and moved their two dogs in. Now if we hear a woman screaming in the night, we can assume it's human.

And mountain lions sound like a woman screaming her head off.
First time I heard it close by one was about 100 yards-ish from the house (estimated because binaural hearing isn't half bad), we were having dinner on the deck and one was going off and we were sure someone was getting wrecked up there; I grabbed a gun and went charging up into the brush and then
rethought
wait, that's
that's what a mountain lion sounds like
and i'm in shorts and flipflops in chest-high manzanita with scratches all over and can't see a damn thing

I went home and survived

 

[TractorTYMe]

in 2019/20/21 we had 3 years of consecutive high wind events 80+mph that took down all the matured trees (100+) on our 30 acres. Took us 3-4 years to clean it up gradually, now it looks like a meadow. Elk and wild turkey has started to show (Not bad).

 

[jmc]

Which reminds me that we don't see many box turtles around here anymore, ...

Quite a few down here, still.

Interesting thing about them- while bush hogging near medium sized trees, I occasionally see them on the base of those trees, trying to climb further up. That's definitely the safest place for them at that moment. Always wondered if they're smart enough to figure that out or if it's an evolved evasion dating back to avoiding bison herds passing thru.

 

[Oaktree]

A neighbor walked out their front door two evenings ago, and almost right into a black bear who was on their deck in the dark. They'er not common here, and they avoid people as much as they can, but they're around.

I find their scat many times per year, but have never personally happened upon a bear in the flesh.

See 'em all the time here. Couple years ago we had a tree with berries on it, one morning we found it with branches ripped off and a big pile of bear poo nearby.
In this photo it's scavenging apples off the ground in the fall. Patch of dirt in the foreground is our vegetable garden.

Mother with cubs at the end of the field.

 

[MossRoad]

Hmmm..... I didn't see it's head retract into the shell.

It had it's mouth open, and a little saliva came out when it hissed a second time

Musta been rabid.

 

[MossRoad]

We got tons of them around here. You gotta watch it, since they are crossing roads and highways at the moment.

From the little itty bitty mini me's up to the larger ones.

I used to spend quite a bit of time relocating them when we had our weiney dog. If they were small enough, he would snatch them and run around the yard with them

My daughter's dogs would pick them up and carry them around, too. Slobber all over them. Never chewed em up. Her dogs would carry rocks, too.

 

[Dftodd]

My daughter's dogs would pick them up and carry them around, too. Slobber all over them. Never chewed em up. Her dogs would carry rocks, too.

My shepherd is that way with her ball. She will get demanding, laying in front of me crying, then the high pitched yips. I'll finally look at her and ask "What do you want????"

She will jump up, search for her ball, pick it up and start chewing on it..... at the same time she backs her booty up to me for scratches It's all about the booty rubs

 

[Dftodd]

Musta been rabid.

I have no idea I scooped it up and relocated it to the neighbors ditch across the street which had very shallow banks and led into a wooded area.

Last I saw of him, he was plodding along towards the woods.