Day 40
Living in a suburban neighborhood, doesn't necessarily scream wildlife but as the case for most scenarios, nature finds a way. In our old neighborhood, even though lot sizes were smaller and houses were closer, we still had plenty of run-ins with nature. Deer left the neighborhood's natural space and wandered through the yards. Chipmunks, bunnies, raccoons, and an every-once-in-awhile red fox defied death whenever cars seemed to drive by. Coyotes scavenged the streets after dark. We even pulled a painted turtle from the road, saving it from certain doom. But above all, we saw squirrels. Lots of them.
Maybe we are bigger squirrel fans than most, but with their bushy tails, renegade personalities, and daredevil lifestyles, we always enjoy observing them. Even though they raided our birdfeeders, we affectionately named them and enjoyed having them around. Nutty. Cheeks. Some similar combination, Naming squirrels provides almost as much entertainment as watching their hijinx.
Moving to the much more open spaces of the farm. We looked forward to seeing wildlife. Instantly, we were not disappointed. Over the first few days of farm life, we saw deer after deer and even more birds of various colors and sizes. The backyard sandhill cranes were always a favorite sight to see. We even had occasional drop ins by an opossum we called Pasta and a cute groundhog we think may have been living under the barn.
But not one fuzzy wuzzy, bushy-tailed, nut collecting squirrel.
To be honest, we didn’t even really notice our affinity for squirrels until we noticed we weren't blessed with their presence. We started investigating why our furry little friends had disappeared.
It was a short investigation.
While we missed out on our squirrel action, we had noticed action of a whole other kind.
Birds of prey action.
Hawks circled the skies frequently. We even had a rather large bird nesting in a snag near one of our ditches. Based on our observations, we determined it was an osprey. Squirrel mystery solved! The squirrels had either become snacks or were smart enough to live their lives away from our hungry hunters.
Luckily, we love feathered friends too.
But there are other animals we love even more.
