This year will be 25 years, a quarter century since we founded Earthfire, and the insights and surprises keep coming. Some of them are not new insights, so much as a reminder of important principles. In this case, “if you build it, they will come” apparently applies to the natural world as well as the human world.
No sooner had we erected a fine, tall, dead tree in the bear gardens for their scratching pleasure (until the living trees have enough time to take root and withstand the bears’ enthusiastic embrace) than a swallow came to investigate a hole at the top. A new potential nesting site! Then a bald eagle came to survey his domain from this most excellent, isolated vantage point.
A set of killdeer parents were seen scouting and deliberating about a nesting spot by one of the ponds inside the bear garden, but when Bramble started to enthusiastically explore the water features in his new home, they apparently decided discretion was the better part of valor. Almost immediately after we added water to our new wetlands outside the bear gardens, they decided this was a fine place and raised three tiny, skittering, peeping babies there. We all found it hard to pull ourselves away from watching their intense vitality and joy.
Walking by the wetland, we sometimes find ourselves disturbing an entire flock of grouse, sending them thundering into the sky.
One day, Heather was standing between the old and new bear gardens, watching our rescued wolf dog Hope enjoying himself, when she suddenly realized that the formerly quiet east end of our property was now teeming with vibrant and vociferous energy. We can’t wait to see what new life discovers us as the wetland and bear plantings mature.
While it wasn’t a conscious objective, we were actually instinctively participating in a worldwide movement to counteract climate change and habitat destruction called “rewilding.” Whether it be a window box in the city, choosing not to rake the fall leaves in our backyards, or participating in an organized rewilding project somewhere around the world, there are countless opportunities to contribute to the movement. And as our new bear gardens demonstrate so well, Life responds.
