L'il Critters

One of my favorite things about living in Michigan is the little woodland creatures that I get to see everyday. Consider these pictures I took a few days ago on my short walk from the bus stop to the music building:


I probably saw two or three squirrels as well. Maybe all the native Michiganders are used to this sort of thing, but back in Utah where I'm from you never see wild animals. I think the only times I ever saw a chipmunk or a squirrel in Utah were on camping trips in the Uintas, not out by the bus stop. Since I've moved here I have seen raccoons, chipmunks, badgers, frogs, herons, and hundreds and hundreds of squirrels (brown, gray, black, and many cross-breedings thereof) almost every day.

We have a tiny little stream that runs behind our apartment that opens up into a little pool, where I took the following pictures:


I was absolutely nonplussed by this - my upbringing left me unprepared for the idea that you can just go into your backyard and find a bunch of turtles and crawdads crawling around. I mean seriously, crawdads?!? I thought those were just in the movies.

I just love seeing all these li'l critters everywhere. They make me feel like the world is a really wonderful and magical place. Well, except this last guy - he looks pretty shifty to me: