Blog #31--Nature In Our Midst

A mated pair of foxes visited our back yard one night recently. It was cold, and they were looking for food. They checked out our offerings of seeds and nuts for the birds and squirrels before continuing their search.

One might not think this is a remarkable experience, but we live on a major 4-lane thoroughfare in a residential area of our community that stays busy most times of day and night. One might assume it is no place for wild animals, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Nature is all around us, sharing our world with us. And yet many people, caught up in their daily lives and struggle for survival, fail to notice. That is, until some animal or bird gets in our way or damages one of our possessions. Many people have no idea how many varieties of wildlife live right under their noses. They co-exist with us. Actually, they were here a long time before we wandered along.

My wife and I treat all life equally, so perhaps we see more life forms than some others might. Most species on Earth have learned to distrust humans, so exceptions like us are rare attractions for them. We have a small back yard, and yet besides foxes it has seen squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, shrews, mice and even a deer.

The many species of birds are too numerous to mention, from large birds like great horned owls, turkey vultures and a variety of hawks to the tiniest ones like wrens and hummingbirds. We sometimes see birds foreign to our area stopping for sustenance during their migratory patterns. Tiny tree frogs make loud noises during the heat of the summer. Add in the other reptiles, amphibians, insects and plant life, and we can state accurately our world is surrounded by life energy.

One or more opossums have lived under our back porch since long before we purchased the house. We must live adjacent to an ancient pathway opossums have used since the area was wilderness. None of them seem to live long, but others come along to replace them. They cause no problems, and our cats seem to ignore them. They may look like big rats and thus scary to some, but they are Nature’s garbage collectors and do us much more good than harm.

Some animals and birds hunt during the day, while others come out at night. In other words, just like humans. If they all plied their trade at the same time, overcrowding would result in excessive competition for survival. Fortunately, the various species have unique skills and timing that maximize their survival chances.

For instance, doves and cardinals are able to see better at dusk than most other birds indigenous to our area, so they can fill up on seed after the others have settled in for the night. Rabbits are vulnerable prey during the day, so they come out at night for their sustenance. Each species finds its own niche in order to co-exist.

We can learn a great deal by observing Nature. For instance, crows are large and loud, but they are slow and fairly submissive. They can eat more than small birds, so some people don’t wish to purchase seed for them. But they are not a threat to us despite human complaints. We see as many as 50 or more at a time stop by for a feeding. They are welcome.

One day recently, I counted 27 squirrels running around in our back yard. They seem to come from miles away, likely because no one else in the area makes food available for all comers. In fact, many bird feeders are now made with shield guards to prevent squirrels from eating the seed. But like I state in my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life,” their presence has good aspects that counter any negative ones.

We see plenty of competition, so there are losers as well as winners. But that is the way life works. It is especially interesting when a smaller, more dominant animal run off a larger member of its species despite the assumption that bigger is better. If we put ourselves in their position, we realize they are behaving much like we would under the same circumstances.

Canadian geese don’t land in our back yard, but they fly over regularly. The other day, I saw a massive group of 60 or more geese in typical V formation flying overhead. It was zero degrees out, and yet they were making a good living. Their mobility allows them access to food sources all around the area, and they take advantage. Their lives are highly complex, much more than most of us realize. I saluted them as they passed.

Watching Nature in action can be a rewarding experience. We can learn a great deal about ourselves and our world by observing animal and bird behavior. They co-exist with us, whether we are aware of it or not. And they survive, often in spite of us.

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