I live in one of those "in-between" areas of Evansville, here in Southern Indiana. It's not considered the "city," but it's also not the "country." Where we live there is plenty of wooded areas and access to a few different water sources, so we are used to seeing several different kinds of wildlife in our yard and around our house.

We Have Lots of Furry Friends

It is not uncommon at all to see a bunch of deer making their way across our backyard - no matter how many times we see it, we are never NOT impressed. We will get the occasional visit from a skunk or raccoon, and sometimes we might even see a fox running around. You're also likely to see rabbits, squirrels, frogs, snakes, and mice around my crib. We get lots of birds too - little black ones, big black ones, blue ones, red ones, and big birds of prey too, like hawks and owls. One kind of bird we had never seen before is a woodpecker - that is, until just the other day.

Woodpecker
Bobby Gates
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Ha ha ha HA ha, ha ha ha HA ha, ha ha ha HA ha, hehehehehehehe!

As soon as I pulled into our driveway, my attention was grabbed by not one, but two birds with bright red hair on their heads. I instantly recognized them as woodpeckers - the Woody the Woodpecker kind, to be precise. I didn't want to get too close and scare them away, so I zoomed in on my phone as far as I could to capture some pics of these beauties. I knew right away that I had to write about them and share the pics, and while preparing to do that, I learned there are a whole bunch of different kinds of woodpeckers.

Woodpecker
Bobby Gates
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What Kind of Woodpecker Is It?

Silly me, I just assumed that since it has red hair on its head that it must be a red-headed woodpecker. Nope, that's not it. I mean, there is such a thing as a red-headed woodpecker, but that's not what I saw. What we had were a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, which just so happens to be what our old, animated friend WOODY was - and they are big suckers too. According to AllAboutBirds.org, the Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest forest birds in North America, and despite the fact that we've never seen one before, they are pretty common in this part of Indiana.

Woodpecker
Bobby Gates
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I don't know what it is about nature, but I never get tired of seeing it up close and personal. My wife and I saw these two stunning birds, but our kids missed them. I sure hope they decided to pay us another visit soon.

15 Animals that Could Attack You in Evansville

Evil squirrels, killer bunnies, terrifying geese, and more are featured in this gallery of real-life animal stories.

SEE: 15 Animals You Cannot Own in Evansville

I got the idea for this after seeing an article by Michelle Heart with our Townsquare Media sister-station, 107.9 Lite-FM in Boise, Idaho. She had discovered several animals residents in that city can't own based on city codes she found online which got me thinking about whether Evansville had any regulations that were similar. Obviously, they did or this article wouldn't exist. Chapter 14, Article 3, section 42 and 43 spell out a lengthy list of exotic animals you can get in trouble owning if local officials find out. You can see the entire list on the city's website. These are the 15 I found to be the most interesting.

Gallery Credit: Ryan O'Bryan

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