Wildlife

I feel like I'm doing battle with Mother Nature, and I'm not sure I'm even in the game. 

First, there's the dog. 

I used to brag about how I'd just open a bag of dogfood and leave it in the shop. Frances would feed herself and when the bag was empty, she'd bring it to the house and drop it on the front steps. That is exactly the kind of pet care I relish. Namely, none. It was the perfect relationship – zero work on my part and Frances got to feel better about herself for declaring her independence. If the cats or raccoons happen to score a little dog food, well, that's just me being a symbol of a benevolent universe. 

Nothing good lasts forever.  

In old age, Frances is becoming less generous. She seems to resent feeding the other animals from her dog food bag, so she started carrying the dog food bag with her everywhere she goes. I shouldn't be critical – I know a lot of people who’d do the same. 

I bought bigger bags, but she's a strong dog.  

You might say what the dog chooses to do with her own food isn't my problem, but this year it's been raining about every ten minutes and a bag of dog food left outside turns to inedible mush pretty quickly. 

I've talked this over with Frances, several times, and she declined to take any positive steps in changing her behavior. I had to step in and do what I hate to do. Namely, work.  

I don't really knock myself out. I just store the dog food in a tub with a lid and give Frances a bowl full every morning. Not a perfect solution, because now she carries her bowl with her everywhere she goes. On a positive note, she’s getting better at not spilling it. I'm thinking that for our next dinner party, I'll have her deliver the salads to all our guests. Imagine their surprise. 

But enough about the dog. The real battle is between me, the ducks, and the raccoons. 

And the ducks aren't much help. 

We have a lot of wildlife. When you live on the edge of a 250-acre wetland, that's to be expected. Some people might even consider it a perk. And, as long as I can keep the deer away from the garden and the coyotes from howling outside my bedroom window, I agree. I lock up the ducks and chickens every night, and over the years I've modified the chicken coop with wire mesh to keep out the weasels and iron bars on the windows to keep out the raccoons. It’s a regular fortress. If I forget to shut the coop door and a wandering predator can’t resist the feathered buffet, that’s on me. I hold no grudge. 

But a couple weeks ago a raccoon took one of the ducks in broad daylight. I'm not a huge fan of the ducks, but my grandchildren (who aren’t aware of what’s happening) are, so war was declared. 

I won't go into details here, but for the moment the score is 

Raccoons: 1  

Me: 6 

Some people might consider that a win for me, but the game isn't over, and there are only five extremely anxious ducks left. 

Copyright 2024 Brent Olson