![\"Lions](\"https:\/\/beachbiscuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Lions-and-Tigers-and-Bears-Not-Quite.jpg\")
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We have just returned from a wonderful stay in the place we will soon call home \u2013 the Carolina lowcountry.\u00a0 In town to observe construction progress, we decided to extend our stay and squeeze in a small vacation.\u00a0 Afternoons were spent busily running from place to place to choose our home\u2019s finishes.\u00a0 But mornings and evenings were all ours to relax and enjoy the view.\u00a0 And with each sunrise and sunset, we were met with an incredible array of wildlife.<\/p>\n
In the air:<\/span>\u00a0 The birds, my goodness the birds.\u00a0 From white snowy egrets to giant blue herons, the sky was a magnificent display of wing and flight.\u00a0 Ospreys, pelicans and gulls.\u00a0 A lone bald eagle.\u00a0 Song birds, squawking birds, and chirping cardinals -who were surprisingly smaller and a bit less \u2018bright\u2019 red than those found in our current backyard.\u00a0 Morning walks along the marsh were a delight during low tide as tall, skinny-legged birds enjoyed an easy buffet, while tiny crabs scurried to find safety.<\/p>\n At\u00a0the sea:<\/span>\u00a0 Bottlenose dolphins visited several of the locations we were lucky enough to be in at just the right time.\u00a0 Their graceful arc across the water soothes me immediately.\u00a0 Upon first sighting I am compelled to keep eyes firmly glued on the water in hopes of seeing them again and again, until I am certain they are no longer in view.\u00a0 I will venture to say this is a sight I will never tire of.<\/p>\n Large horseshoe crabs and jellyfish resembling alien beings also crossed our paths as receding tides left them in precarious positions on the sand.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny to me how disinterested our pups are when faced with these odd creatures.\u00a0 They simply step around the strange obstacle and continue on their beach walk.<\/p>\n On the ground<\/span>:\u00a0 I had the joy of my very first encounter with a black fox squirrel.\u00a0 This bigger, almost ferret-like relative of the gray squirrel has simply one of the sweetest faces I have ever seen.\u00a0 With camera in hand I approached, closer and closer, to get a better look.\u00a0 He seemed to enjoy the attention and allowed me to get within approximately eight feet, at which time he put down his acorn and posed for me!\u00a0 I was smitten immediately, and can say with all confidence that if one of these cuties ever makes my yard his home he will be given a name and photographed as often as our dogs.<\/p>\n We also came upon a family of six deer feasting on wild grasses.\u00a0 Deer are abundant in this coastal region, as gated and well-forested communities with a lack of natural predators provide them a mighty fine life indeed.\u00a0 This particular group seemed completely unfazed that a telephoto lens was poking out of an idling car window in an attempt to capture the moment.\u00a0 They went about their snacking, and other than an occasional glance ignored us completely.<\/p>\n Also quite unconcerned that humans were in its vicinity was an animal I had gladly<\/em> not seen since my childhood days spent between the Texas and Louisiana borders.\u00a0 While enjoying a cup of coffee alfresco, the morning quiet was interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves and the snorting and grunting of a foraging armadillo!\u00a0 This peculiar looking fellow cared not that I was a mere yard stick away, and didn\u2019t move even an inch when approached by my curious husband.\u00a0 He did however change his mind upon being faced with charging pups!\u00a0 That was the last we saw of the shelled-one.<\/p>\n This trip reminded me once again that the lowcountry is a wild and wondrous place.\u00a0 Living there I will have to take the bad (armadillos, gnats, jellyfish) with the good (dolphins, herons, fox squirrels).\u00a0 But I know with absolute certainty that it will all be worth it to be able to call this magical place home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have just returned from a wonderful stay in the place we will soon call home \u2013 the Carolina lowcountry.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n