[lzppjb]

That's why I love my parents' place in South Austin. 3 acres of dense trees. House was built in the natural clearing. Only 2 tiny trees were cut down for the house. There's over 150 trees in the front "yard" alone. No telling in the back. It's so dense, we never even go all the way back. Someday, I'd like to clear the underbrush and leave all the nice oaks, elms, cedars, and Texas persimmons. Plenty of cactus, too.

Wildlife is great there! We have generations of deer that live in the back. Just saw 5 of them yesterday. Saw 4 baby raccoons crossing the road a couple hundred yards from the house a few nights ago, and have had some live in our attic (ugh). 2 nights ago, I saw a coyote in the driveway when I pulled in at night. He was trotting along. Looked nice and fed...not scrawny. Saw a red fox once. Opossums and rabbits are common. There's a hawk's nest at the end of the driveway. Had a screech owl once. Saw a completely white barn owl one morning a couple years ago. Blue jays, American robins, Northern cardinals, two ruby-throated hummingbirds that return each year, Carolina wrens, the odd Bewick's wren, Carolina chickadees, black-crested titmouse, Downy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpeckers, mockingbirds, Great-tailed grackles, mourning doves, white-winged doves, rock pigeons, a family of chimney swifts that have been making seasonal nests in the chimney for years, the odd oriole, and a family of crows across the street. My dad wants to add some Purple Martin houses as well in the future.

Nothing has been done except not cutting down all the trees and underbrush, leaving a couple troughs of water out (front and back yards), and hanging a few hummingbird feeders.

I plan on keeping this acreage/house in the family as long as I'm on this Earth. I'd like it to be a nice little oasis within the city.