Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

It was the smallest cottontail I have ever seen.  I was in my car on my road a few miles away.  And spotted the tiny rabbit on the right side.  He could not have been very old. It was the tiniest one I have ever seen.  Maybe it was five inches long.  The cottontail immediately vanished into the undergrowth.

Tags: baby rabbit, cottontail, nature, rabbit, wildlife
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The dog I encountered near my house loose was a spitting image of my golden retriever.  I thought that somehow Sweetie had gotten out.  I was trying desperately to unlock my passenger door so she could hop in.  I was not successful.  The dog briefly headed toward me and then disappeared.  I told my wife about the discovery.  Well, Sweetie was in the house.  I almost brought home a strange dog.  We both laughed.  I had other encounters on the way home that night.  I had to brake a little.  A baby opossum scurried frantically across the road right in front of me and when I got home I flushed a cottontail in my driveway.

Tags: baby opossum, cottontail, dogs, golden retriever, my wife, pets, rabbit, Sweetie, wildlife
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An animal does not know right from wrong–certainly not evil; a cat will chase down chipmunks and birds and mice.  They are just programed to do that.  A dog will automatically chase a squirrel or rabbit very seldom catching one.

My wife was yelling and screaming.  The dogs caught a squirrel that they trapped in my bird feed chest.  To make it worst, it was a squirrel we called “stubby”.  I was blamed for it for I was told to leave the food chest open so this would not happen.

A squirrel or some other animal gnawed a hole in the chest so they could enter from the outside.  I felt bad for the squirrel.  Our golden retriever and her two pups were blamed (and me) for its death.

I felt bad about the whole thing.  All I could do in the future was leave the chest open or possibly move it to the garage.

Tags: bird feed, bird feed chest, birds, cats, chipmunks, dogs, golden retriever, mice, my wife, pets, rabbit, right from wrong, squirrel
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I love glancing out my kitchen window onto the snow covered woods.  Every time I enter my kitchen I like doing that.  It snowed overnight and the roads still were white.

I keep expecting to see a rabbit or bird or two feeding on the ground. It is uncultivated ground.  That makes it more the reason I enjoy looking out the window.

Sometimes I deliberately go into the kitchen to look in (???) into my backyard.  It is still lightly snowing.  I will go out to do some last minute shopping for the new year eve but as soon as I get home I will stay put.

And continue to enjoy the view from my kitchen through one large window and one smaller one.  I am in no rush for the season to end:  every season gives me joy.  And has its particular attraction.

Tags: birds, every season gives me joy, last minute shopping, lightly snowing, my backyard, my kitchen window, New Years Eve, rabbit, snow, snow covered woods, uncultivated ground, winter
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I love looking out my kitchen window.  We had a snowstorm yesterday and already the roads have been plowed.  It is not the same as being in the middle of the storm.

Every thing outside my back window is white and unspoiled looking.  There is no evidence of humans there.  I keep expecting to see a cottontail or two playing in the snow.

Even if I don’t, I love peering out into the snow covered trees and bushes and ground.  The landscape appears wild.  It is an illusion but even so I love it still every time I glance out that window.

Tags: after the snowstorm, cottontail, my kitchen window, no humans, play in the snow, rabbit, roads plowed, snow, snow covered trees and bushes and ground, snow white and unspoiled, wild landscape
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I was looking out my back door window and just thinking.  A large section of our front yard no longer has grass and for a short time my wife was considering laying down sod.  I really do not care.  I always felt American’s obsession with having a large neatly manicured lawn was and is an exercise in futility.  I want a garden not a lawn.  In fact, a landscaper is going to help us with developing that.

The back yard is another story:  most of it is wild.  Toads appear at our doorstep every year–all sizes from tiny to humongous.  They are attracted to the bugs that come to the porch light.

There is a small creek in the back–most of the time just a trickle. You never know when a box turtle will appear.  We also saw wonderfully orange colored salamanders at least twice.  Rabbits play in the undergrowth.

I do not want to cultivate this area.  I love not knowing what I will see next, what unusual bird or whatever comes my way.

I love the wild.  It gives me a sense of the mysterious, the unknown, a feeling I love.  That is why I won’t cultivate the back of our property.

Last year after living here for over four years, to my delight and amazement I discovered a large patch of wild raspberries on the far corner of my property.  And I love raspberries.  I even picked enough berries for two pies.

I do not know exactly what lives there but I am always expectant when I peer out my kitchen window wondering what will come along next.  It is out of my control.  That is the way I want it.  This is one plot of land that will grow wild.  I rejoice in it.

Tags: bird-watching, birds, box turtle, bugs, creek, exercise in futility, garden, God, grass, landscape, lawn, manicured lawn, my wife, nature, rabbit, raspberries, raspberry pie, salamander, the unknown, toads, wild, wild land, wildlife
Posted in animals, balance, beauty, birds, God, knowledge&learning, local, love, nature, relationships, seasons, time | 2 Comments »