
The Hawk and the Ground Squirrel
As I drive to town to pick up my daily mail, she sits there, high up on the right—an elegant hawk on top of a telephone pole. She has a grand view of her hunting grounds across the farm and
As I drive to town to pick up my daily mail, she sits there, high up on the right—an elegant hawk on top of a telephone pole. She has a grand view of her hunting grounds across the farm and
Adrianna the goat wasn’t feeling well in the evening. She refused to get up. She had diarrhea. Worried, we called the vet. “Was she wormed? Was she vaccinated? Take her temperature and call us in the morning.” Easier said than
We have on the property some very strong-minded, independent and exploratory chickens. There is little that escapes their notice or their investigative interest as they wander the property seeking treats. We are not safe when we leave the office door
In many places the robin is the harbinger of spring. Here it is when we first see a bright-eyed fuzzy little thing poking its head up above the snow, looking around, apparently in disgust because it shortly disappears. But then a few hours later we see it racing across the snow to disappear in the wood pile. It is a Richardson’s ground squirrel. Soon they are a major fact of our existence, soft gray-brown furry little bodies racing around, popping up from holes in all kinds of unexpected places. LIFE has returned with a capital L. They are wherever you look, darting about in a short excited burst of life before they disappear again underground for seven to nine months. Five years ago we had none. Then we had a few. Now we have a thriving colony of hundreds, intensely going about the business of life during the short time they will be above ground darting here, there, everywhere.
As I drive to town to pick up my daily mail, she sits there, high up on the right—an elegant hawk on top of a telephone pole. She has a grand view of her hunting grounds across the farm and sagebrush fields, though I wish there were a tree she
Adrianna the goat wasn’t feeling well in the evening. She refused to get up. She had diarrhea. Worried, we called the vet. “Was she wormed? Was she vaccinated? Take her temperature and call us in the morning.” Easier said than done. Taking the temperature of a feisty goat regardless of
We have on the property some very strong-minded, independent and exploratory chickens. There is little that escapes their notice or their investigative interest as they wander the property seeking treats. We are not safe when we leave the office door open on lovely days… Brunhilde doesn’t respect boundaries. (If only
In many places the robin is the harbinger of spring. Here it is when we first see a bright-eyed fuzzy little thing poking its head up above the snow, looking around, apparently in disgust because it shortly disappears. But then a few hours later we see it racing across the snow to disappear in the wood pile. It is a Richardson’s ground squirrel. Soon they are a major fact of our existence, soft gray-brown furry little bodies racing around, popping up from holes in all kinds of unexpected places. LIFE has returned with a capital L. They are wherever you look, darting about in a short excited burst of life before they disappear again underground for seven to nine months. Five years ago we had none. Then we had a few. Now we have a thriving colony of hundreds, intensely going about the business of life during the short time they will be above ground darting here, there, everywhere.
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