Do you ever look around your neighborhood and see numerous types of wildlife? Over the years I have done a lot of walking around our neighborhood. In those walks, I have encountered numerous rabbits and squirrels. One day as I was walking down Newton Avenue on the sidewalk, I sensed that I wasn’t alone. I glanced over my shoulder to see a fox prancing down the middle of the road keeping pace with me. As I got to 3rd Street I turned right, and the fox continued straight for awhile and then cut across a yard and disappeared into some underbrush behind a house. This was a moment that I will always remember.
One other morning as I walked down the hill by the tennis courts, I was startled by two deer running across the street in front of me and disappearing behind the tennis courts. When walking alongside the channel one morning, headed to the access, I have had geese come out and challenge me by waving their wings and hissing. I have also encountered more than one woodchuck that seemed less than friendly.
As I move on into today’s world in the neighborhood, either my wife or I have seen more wildlife in the past two weeks than we have sometimes seen at the cabin. My wife likes sitting on the porch in the morning and she told me that she had just seen two deer walking down the middle of our street. They weren’t running, but just meandering down the street checking things out.
About one week ago, as I was pulling the truck into the driveway in late evening, I observed a coyote walking casually between my garage and the house. When I told the boys about this, they looked at each other and I am sure that they thought I was having a senior moment. Then one of them spotted some scat in the yard and the other one has an app that tells you what it is from. It came up as coyote scat, so that got me off the hook.
Another day I was sitting on the porch reading the paper when I saw a rabbit eating a dandelion in front of the house across the street. Pretty soon I saw a crow land on the ground in front of the rabbit and the rabbit took off towards the crow, chasing it away. Then it seemed to become a game, as the crow came back a couple of more times and each time the rabbit chased it away. The crow finally landed on the porch roof of that house and watched the rabbit on the ground. The crow finally landed in the yard next door and the rabbit stopped and watched it before deciding that it had had enough of this game and left. As aggressive as that rabbit was, I began to wonder if it was part badger.
I seem to be able to find some sort of wildlife close to home if I take the time to stop and look. Seeing a coyote in town is kind of scary because they will not only take rabbits, but also small pets to satisfy their appetite. We don’t have a dog or cat, so that’s one less thing to worry about. The neighbors who let their cats roam the neighborhood looking for birds at the feeders might think twice about letting Fluffy out to roam. When I see a cat by my bird feeders, I shoo them away. I have been thinking about buying one of those high-powered squirt guns, but in all reality, that will not happen.
Until next time: We are getting some much-needed rain today, and we need much more. The little rain that we have gotten seems to be hit and miss. We need an all-day soaker to help the crops. I may even have to mow my lawn if it keeps up. I have my granddaughter, Emma, mowing for me this summer. It takes her about a third of the time than it takes me.
Please show our support for the troops that are serving our country today. These servicemen and women are making that sacrifice, so that we may have the many freedoms that we enjoy today.