My husband surprised me with an outdoor wildlife camera last winter. He knows my love of nature documentaries and of gadgets that allow a more intimate glimpse into the lives of animals.

Since then, I’ve regularly enjoyed setting it up in different spots in the garden and seeing who shows up. (I try to be an unobtrussive human when I’m outside with my regular camera, but I know some creatures might be too shy to show themselves at all in front of me).

My favorite time to watch footage from is nighttime. And, while I’ve shared highlights with my family and some friends, I’ve never posted them anywhere before today. I’m not a videographer, or even a more than halfway-decent video editor. The takeaway? This video montage isn’t slick, but it is interesting.

There’s a whole nighttime bestiary that most of us don’t know anything about; nocturnal animals who are rarely observed by the average person and, therefore, end up misunderstood or vilified. But they’re important to our ecosystems…and they’re pretty cute.

So, regardless of my lack of video skills, I’m going to do my part in showing you some of them.

Here are the nighttime visitors who showed up in the garden over the past week:

(In order of appearance in this highlight reel, and named by my family, because every creature deserves a name…and for the sake of clarity in our observation notes).

Raccoons: Bandit and Tanuki

Feral (or maybe just outdoor?) cats: Cougar and Tiger

Field mouse: Cheddar Cheese

Young possum: Friday (because he or she was first spotted on his/her own on Friday the 13th, under a full moon)

Meet our friends…

If there’s interest, I think I’ll make this a weekly thing. 😊