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Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 30 Photos Of Regular Visitors
Jennifer George lives in a semi-rural area in San Diego County and used to watch various animals wandering into her yard from a distance until she thought of a genius idea to take a better look. On a hot day in 2019, she decided to get some water for a family of coyote pups and a wholesome hobby took off from there.
She started with a simple metal bowl of water which became pretty popular among local animals as it can get pretty hot in California and it has since been upgraded into a real 'animal thirst trap'—a bigger bowl and a solar fountain. Now a variety of animals come to visit George's backyard every day for a refreshing drink or free pool party. But the best part is that we can explore feathered, furry, and even scaly critters and their behavior from up close thanks to a hidden camera set up outside the fountain. And some of them, like snakes and coyotes, you probably wouldn't like to meet in person anyway!
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Bored Panda asked Jennifer George about her project:
“I live in a semi-rural area in San Diego County on a large property, and used to see animals outside in our yard, so I thought it would be fun to get an outdoor camera to get a better look. I put a bowl of water out there to attract them, because I didn't want to make them dependent on us for food, and because it's very hot and dry here in the summer. Birds started showing up almost immediately to drink and take baths during the day, and at night we'd see other nocturnal animals like skunks, opossums, and bobcats drinking. I was excited to look at the camera every morning to see what showed up," she said.
The fauna of the State of California may be the most diverse in the United States of America. George has caught on camera skunks, bobcats, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, mice, lizards, hawks, hummingbirds, and several other kinds of birds, and even a dog (not her pet). Check out our list of snaps of videos to see who else came to visit! And if you want to watch all the hypnotizing videos to see how these animals behave, visit George's socials with footage from her Ring camera.
George said that thanks to her little fountain and a camera, she has been able to encounter animals she'd never seen before.
"I've lived in Southern California all my life, and some of these animals I've never seen before, like the long-tailed weasel and the western tanager. I love seeing the coyote puppies and the road runners. I'm hoping an owl will stop by one day."
George's hobby turned out to be more than just an entertaining project to explore local fauna. Besides providing fresh water to wild animals, she has also partnered with Wildlife Care of Southern California to raise awareness and help coyotes who might be suffering from mange due to secondary poisoning from eating rats who were poisoned in traps.
Jennifer George shares a similar hobby with Lisa, known as Ostdrossel, who was previously featured on Bored Panda four times. Ostdrossel uses a homemade feeder camera setup which consists of an action camera in a weatherproof box with a macro lens for photographs and a Birdsy camera for videos. So if you are interested in what birds and other unexpected guests visit Lisa's garden in Michigan for food, drink, and baths, make sure to check out the posts here, here, here, and here.
Super cool that they all have a drink, but you have a lot of scary animals nearby
I wouldn't consider any of those scary. Unless you have a small pet that wanders around your yard that you worry about... but I don't think any of them would attack a human under normal circumstances.
Load More Replies...Jennifer George lives in a semi-rural area in San Diego County
Load More Replies...I grew up in a semi rural Florida community. If I still lived there, I'd do this. I saw all kinds of critters back then.
Makes me sad that people are often unaware of the wildlife in their area. In suburban Dallas along the creeks and lakes we have nutria, bobcat, alligator, coyote, armadillo, opossum, bald eagles, feral hogs and a recently videoed mountain lion. Most towns probably have their own wild menagerie.
I was literally researching how to do this today!!!! We live on a metropark and would love to help the critters stay hydrated. Catching them on the trail camera is a bonus!
I put a similar but smaller water container under a tree this winter. It was heated so it never froze over. It was empty every morning. In the summer, after the hottest of days, the level never decreases this much.
Seeing prey and predator both utilizing this watering hole, it's like there is a treaty in place against camping the spot.
This was so cool! There are more critters in everyone's neighborhood than you'd think and not only in semi-rural areas. Thanks to the OP for providing fresh water to these critters and for showing us how diverse the animals are who live among us.
welcome to australia or whatever this place is :)
Very cool. Might want to be a bit concerned about essentially inviting coyotes into the area
Super cool that they all have a drink, but you have a lot of scary animals nearby
I wouldn't consider any of those scary. Unless you have a small pet that wanders around your yard that you worry about... but I don't think any of them would attack a human under normal circumstances.
Load More Replies...Jennifer George lives in a semi-rural area in San Diego County
Load More Replies...I grew up in a semi rural Florida community. If I still lived there, I'd do this. I saw all kinds of critters back then.
Makes me sad that people are often unaware of the wildlife in their area. In suburban Dallas along the creeks and lakes we have nutria, bobcat, alligator, coyote, armadillo, opossum, bald eagles, feral hogs and a recently videoed mountain lion. Most towns probably have their own wild menagerie.
I was literally researching how to do this today!!!! We live on a metropark and would love to help the critters stay hydrated. Catching them on the trail camera is a bonus!
I put a similar but smaller water container under a tree this winter. It was heated so it never froze over. It was empty every morning. In the summer, after the hottest of days, the level never decreases this much.
Seeing prey and predator both utilizing this watering hole, it's like there is a treaty in place against camping the spot.
This was so cool! There are more critters in everyone's neighborhood than you'd think and not only in semi-rural areas. Thanks to the OP for providing fresh water to these critters and for showing us how diverse the animals are who live among us.
welcome to australia or whatever this place is :)
Very cool. Might want to be a bit concerned about essentially inviting coyotes into the area