The other morning I got a glimpse of what appeared to be the back end of a cow disappearing behind a tree across the street. Now we have a cow in the neighborhood? I thought. It did not surprise me at all, though; animals roam our streets and backyard -- they are notorious for not using sidewalks -- like it's an animal sanctuary: rabbits, deer, fox, cats...especially cats.
The cats here are demanding. They knock on your back door -- it doesn't matter whose -- when they're hungry and complain bitterly if they are left out in the rain or after dark: "Hey, it's getting cold out here! Do you suppose you could open the door, you miserable cat ignorer? How would you like to sleep out here?" It's gotten so bad I've taken to sleeping with a pillow jammed over my ears to drown out their insistent whining.
The other animals help themselves to everyone's well-tended flowers, the ones we have spent agonizing hours bringing to birth and coaxing back from the dead. They think we've opened a restaurant just for them: "Let's go to the Hosta Grill tonight! It's all you can eat!" And then they are off to someone else's yard for dessert, without so much as a tip.
The cow turned out not to be a cow, and I was rather relieved. But now I'm waiting for a bear to emerge from the woods and ask for a jar of honey.
3 comments:
Delightful story! I love the thought of a smorgasbord for the neighborhood critters. We feed the squirrels, and one time when there wasn't an ear of corn on the feeder, the squirrel walked right up to our front door and just sat there looking up. True story. Smart little critters, aren't they.
Two things pertaining to the local wild life occurred this weekend...First,
we watched a deer meander up the sidewalk picking up stray bunches of leaves that had fallen to the grass. It went from our place toward yours, but something alarmed it, and it turned and ran into the woods before it noticed your pretty flowers. Secondly, a squirrel launched itself from the column on our porch into my hanging planter where it dug, until Chris, irate, tapped on the window and chased it away... You may have noticed that the flowers have flattened out considerably...(The cat assaults that we're experiencing come from within!)
Hey, leave us alone! We work hard at pilfering for our food. Look again aren't we KINDOF cute...in a wild wacky way?
Sincerely your slightly offended forest friends,
Cat, Squirrel,Rabbit, Deer,
Cow-wannabe, and Papa Bear!
P.S. Where's my porridge!
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