Saturday, June 28, 2008

Foxes and Bears and Rabbits, Oh My!

I have heard that these things exist here in our immediate neck of the woods, and I've even seen a rabbit or two (dozen!) hopping around between here and the farm, but this past week has shown that they really ARE our neighbors. Literally.

Monday morning our neighbor two doors down called to let me know that he saw "it" again this morning. Saw what? A black bear in our woods that has been sighted by a few different folks around here for the past two weeks. A BIG black bear. Watch out for the kids and the small animals. We played inside on Monday and reviewed rules for what happens if we see a bear. Daddy was informed, when he got home that evening, that "you must get your gun and SHOOT that bear, Daddy!"

(Side note: we have no small animals, other than two children who occasional are not children but are horses or sheep or dogs or cats. The small animals in our neighborhood I really would not mind "playing" with a big black bear. Maybe then they'd stop deficating in our yard, coming over and growling at our children, and no longer jump out and chase our car in the middle of the night.)

We also have a very friendly rabbit that decided he (I HOPE it's not a she! One is enough!!!) really likes our yard. And all my pansies (most of which are headless now). I noticed two of my bean plants are being nibbled on. And you can go almost all the way up to him before he'll slooooowly hop away. Wouldn't provide a big enough meal for the bear. But he WOULD provide a really good main course for....

The fox I saw slowly walking and scouting our back yard yesterday when I got home. That rabbit sat under the tree, not moving a whisker, until after the fox trotted across the yard and started --- literally -- bounding through the tall grass going down to the river. Once he was gone, Susi and I shooed the rabbit away. And into the tall grass. Maybe we won't see him again!

Wanna come visit? See some wild life most people will never see outside of a zoo? Let us know when to expect you!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, don't forget about the deer that bound across the driveway as you are driving out, or the bald eagles that lurk in your neighborhood waiting to get the rabbits. Maybe you need to educate the eagle to get your favorite bunny. Then you might have some flowers and beans that actually will live and produce!
Actually, you do have it quite nice up there. We love it!