My Life Down the Road: Wild in Surburbia

It's true. We live in the suburbs. There are plenty of manicured lawns and fancy light posts. There's not a junk car on blocks or a chicken house in sight but somehow, in the tiny patches of green wilderness between the houses, lives a menagerie of critters. They appear at dawn or dusk to entertain us with their antics and Kendall often makes war on said critters with all sorts of interesting ammunition, like mothballs. Apparently the moles constructing the twisting mounds of tunneled earth through our backyard don't care for the unpleasant odor. Who can blame them?

We've had our share of surprise encounters - like the time I walked out our front door with bare feet to get the mail and nearly stepped on a huge black racer sunning himself on the welcome mat. I'm not sure who was more surprised but I am sure my blood-curdling screams freaked him out. Needless to say, we both took off in opposite directions and I haven't seen him since.

Several weeks ago I heard a crash in the garage late one night. Of course, since no one else around here hears anything, I bravely volunteered to check things out. Hoping and praying it wasn't some masked intruder stealing my husband's expensive tools, I flung the door open just in time to scare the ba-gee-bers out of a raccoon helping himself to the garbage can full of recyclables. I screamed and jumped, he jumped and howled, then took off like a shot, disappearing into the darkness. Let's just say it's a good thing my bladder was empty and all I had to clean up was a few bottles and cans.

When we pulled the field stone off the front of the house during an exterior remodeling project, Kendall gleefully pulled several small corn snakes from the rubble and put them in a container so our girls could observe them. Being a home school family means you count all sorts of experiences as education so a wildlife encounter adds something really interesting to our science or nature studies for the day, unless Daddy chases you around the yard with a snake in his hand. Then it counts as physical fitness! Corn snakes are much prettier when observed from a safe distance.

We also have our share of sweet brown bunny rabbits. They live in the tall grasses, palmetto bushes, and overgrowth in our neighbor's yard. We see them often in our backyard looking for something tasty to nibble on. The other day I watched one wriggle just under the fence into the yard next door and couldn't help imagining him in a little blue waistcoat with brass buttons. Thankfully, Mr. McGregor doesn't live next door and my husband is such a big softy he wouldn't think of plugging the rabbit hole. In fact, several years ago he came inside to get the girls and I to show us a tiny nest under the landscaping in the front flower bed. It held three tiny baby rabbits. They were adorable! We kept watch over them and Heather became their special protector. When the temperature dropped and it began to rain, Kendall cut a hole in our recycling bin and placed it gently over the nest. Sadly, two of the bunnies didn't make it but Heather managed to capture the last one. We placed it in a box with a soft towel and watched him snuggle into its warmth. We took the bunny to a wonderful woman who takes in all sort of little critters, nurses them back to health, and releases them into the wild.

Another time Kendall discovered a bird's nest in our side shed. A pair of cheeky Carolina wrens had woven a lovely little round home of moss and twigs in the nook of our plastic hose reel. The baby birds were so tiny! They opened their little yellow mouths wide hoping for a crunchy bug or a wiggly worm. Their incessant cheeping kept Momma and Daddy Wren busy looking for their next meal. We enjoyed watching them as they continued to outgrow their nest. They finally disappeared and the beautiful nest was empty and quiet.

Just this week I've had the opportunity to watch the ramblings of a baby armadillo, a brown cotton-tailed bunny, and a red shouldered hawk. Apparently the hawk was making a rather large nest in our palm tree. We've had lots of thunderstorms and strong winds which blew the nest down into our yard. I didn't see it at first but when I took the garbage out I noticed the hawk crying and flying frantically from tree to tree. I walked around into the backyard and found the nest lying upside down in the wet grass. The hawk was sitting in a large oak tree, watching me carefully with a piercing eye. I was hoping there were no eggs or chicks in the nest and thankfully when I flipped it over, it was empty. Today I watched the hawk again, sitting on a low curving branch just past the pool patio, gripping the limb with its sharp talons, feathers ruffling as the wind continued to blow. They are magnificent creatures!

We're happy to have a continual parade of God's critters make their way through our little patch of green earth in the burbs. Enjoy these pictures of our wild life - armadillos and bunnies and hawks, oh, my!