I just completed my 35th year in education. I started another summer interval where I have a lot of reading to do for my professional development. Instead of doing my homework, I have been reading about President Carter. One would think I would be sleeping in already and staying up late. Haha, I wish. I have been awake before 7:00 a.m. everyday. My average has been 6:10 a.m. There is an easy answer to this occurrence. The little flying creatures called birds awaken me over the sound of the air conditioner placed in the window a scant five feet from my bed.

I could be upset about the wild inhabitants of my yard wakening me, but why? These little creatures have the same right to the planet as I. My awakened consciousness does not give me an arrogance to think I am more important than they are. In fact, I feel a duty to allow them to live their lives freely using my home and property as their home. I feel we have eight or nine nesting pairs of birds hanging out in the corners of our porches raising their young ones. When you go outside, one is unable to escape the loud tweeting and or birdsong. Yes, the nests and the bird waste don’t help our paint or wooden trim. Did they place a house here? No, humans did. They just see it as an odd shaped tree.

My residence is located within blocks of the downtown section of my community. The neighborhood is old. A century and three score old. There are twelve buildings/residences (mine included) that are on the historic registry. How can wildlife thrive in such proximity to urban development? Believe me it finds a way. I can’t help but marvel at the diversity and variety of animals here in the city. The birds are pretty noisy, but they are fun to watch. We have several bird feeders on our property. My wife lvoes caring for them. I enjoy the spectator sport of watching them. Finches, doves, jays, blackbirds, sparrows, cardinals, and even woodpeckers visit the feeders. We also have hummingbirds that fly right up to the porch to feed. I have felt the air from their wings strike the skin on my arms. They are such wonderful little animals.

We have other resident wildlife that visits our home. We have several feral cats that visit. They are fed. They could do a little better with the mouse population, but for the most part they stay out of the way. One of these feral cats has a buddy who is a raccoon. This odd couple stops by every night about 45 minutes before sunset. They hang out at the cat food dish dining. If anyone bothers them (wildlife) the cat chases them away. We have a couple of groundhogs that visit. They eat fallen birdseed or leftover fruit/veggies that my wife leaves for them. The parks around our property (there are two) have wild areas (unmoved) that attract this diverse wildlife. My wife’s feeding schedule just encourages their visits. She shouldn’t do this, but I know my place. I unload the 40 lb bags of food and place them in their storage container. It gives my wife joy. That is all that matters.

The squirrel population is also fascinating to watch. We have black squirrels and the standard grayish brown squirrels. These little rodents are pretty fearless and they love sunflower seeds. We have had to hold the dogs back a few times when a squirrel enters the fenced in yard. There is one of the crew that we have been able to stand within three feet of, but no closer. I feel he knows we are his sunflower seed fix.

Then we have the deer. There have been anywhere from two to five deer that hang out in the parks and wooded areas around the neighborhood. Yes, my wife feeds them too. She buys molasses blocks containing corn for them mostly in the winter. Believe it or not, it helps save the trees from being damaged. They have stood in the alleyway watching us patiently as we go to the garage for something. One of the bucks had a ten point set of antlers last fall. We looked in the park to see if he shed them, but alas we failed to find them.

My favorite wild animal that visits our home is the opossum. We have had a couple adults visit the cantina my wife provides. One spring we arrived home to a dish upside down. When she tipped it over a juvenile opossum ran over to the garage door and promptly played dead. The little bugger was tiny. I picked him up and crated him. We then took him to our largest county park and released it after checking its health and ability to eat on its own. These little critters can’t carry rabies as their body temp is too low. They eat their weight in ticks every week. They are not fierce, and they will not bite you. Their open mouth and grimace is essentially their self defense mechanism. They are just amazing little creatures in every way. I never thought I would hold an opossum, or a raccoon for that matter. I did at a wildlife rehabilitation center a couple of years back.

How do we know all of these things? Battery powered cameras are the key to knowing. Our entire garage and parking area is covered with cameras. They provide a lot of entertainment. They also have come in handy for discouraging thieves that use our alleyway for its distance away from our main street. I check once a day to see who visited overnight or throughout the day. My wife checks more often, and she caught a coyote a couple of springs ago on the cameras. It was surprise to see him this deep into town.

These creatures have been waking me up, but I can’t complain. They provide me with a full rundown of the health of the neighborhood animal census. Having lived along a river, in the country, and off some woods, it took me coming to a city to have more wildlife encounters than I ever could have imagined. I also married a woman who likes to take care of every wild animal. She grew up with a black bear once upon a time. I think she has the soul of a zookeeper. Maybe she is the granddaughter of Dr. Doolittle. Whatever the case, I don’t mind being awakened. Staying in a routine is better for me in the long run.

Happy pride!! Hug your loved ones!!! Stay safe… …so it goes…