OUT!! #5: Woodchucks of a Third Kind

Woodchucks. Whistle Pigs. Gophers. Groundhogs. Love 'em or hate 'em, they are one of the most recognizable rodents in North America. Just behind the beaver in charming wildness and just ahead of the squirrel in mischievousness, the woodchuck has garnered itself a mixed reputation, especially in our backyard. You see, in our yard we keep chickens. Two Buff Orpingtons that provide us with semiregular supply of eggs throughout the year providing they haven't laid them elsewhere in the yard or have, God forbid, gone broody!

But what, I hear you asking, do woodchucks and chickens have to do with one another? A mixture of shelter, food, and opportunity caused a woodchuck both this summer and the last to take up residence in our yard. The one this year has three young chucks with it and hopefully, unlike the one last year, won't start stealing my chickens food. The one last year dug under the shed and used it as a hidey hole when I ran at it trying to run it off and out of the yard. This tactic of course was doomed to failure since he would simply appear when we weren't looking and then vanish before we could properly realize that it had graced our presence once more. The summer ended and whether it left or went into hibernation was unknown to us. We did our best to try and bury its handiwork and plug the holes under the shed, but as we've learned this summer, burying the home of an animal that lives underground constitutes either the highest optimism or the lowest intellect.

The woodchuck (I don't particularly care if it was the same one or not) came back and is now raising its children in our nature haven of a back yard. I guess that's what we get for not trimming the grass more regularly, but it is truly a delight to see rabbits, chucks, squirrels, birds, and chickens mingling and living together in harmony. We've declared amnesty on the woodchucks now and it will stay that way so long as these ones don't touch the chicken feed. If they can avoid that, peace will be maintained and the lazy summer can continue.

OUT!! #4: Bird Song

Listening carefully outside the kitchen screen door, I hear the plaintive whistle of an Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens), a simple, but sweet "pee-ah-wee". I can vaguely hear the calls of other birds like robins, swifts, and sparrows. But the simple repeated message of the wood-pewee is a delightful sound to hear on a calm late spring day. Since it hasn't gotten to to solstice, it's still very late spring despite the temperatures we've seen on the East Coast lately.

A brief twittering indicates the presence of a hummingbird and a few seconds later, a jay calls it's scolding jaybird call. The wood-pewee has stopped. Although, I can hear other birds filling the vacancy left by this small brown bird of the trees, they don't do nearly as good a job of keeping my attention. The sharpness of the birds notes and the gentleness of its delivery reminds me of water in a stream. The song of late spring and early summer, easing us into the lazy, easy months of the year. What a joy it is to listen and appreciate these small things and their simple, yet elegant music.