Wild Kingdom

When we moved to Brighton Township in 1981 we hoped to buy a house and couple of acres of property.

Interest rates were 16% back then, we bought what we could afford, and we have never regretted our decision. We live in great neighborhood, community and county. Jessie and Matt and their families are happy we made the decision to live at 521 Upland Ave.

We're not out in the country by any means but we have seen wildlife this past year that we've never seen in the last 30 years.

On Christmas Day, Toni Ann woke up to see three deer bedded down in our back yard. There was some snow and it wasn't very cold but there is no shelter where the deer were sleeping. We had seen deer in the area but never before in our backyard. We found deer feces* later this year and signs that the deer were grazing the Virginia Creeper vine on our "gazebo". That was another first.

*I am upgrading this blog and will not use terms like "shit" unless there are no suitable substitutes.

Matt and I have shot 8 or so groundhogs in the backyard over the last few years. There is a particularly bold one now that is going to meet his demise soon. Most of the others were too timid to sneak up to the patio and serve themselves. I picked several pounds of tomatoes and placed them on the patio table to finish ripening. This bastard* ruined all of them by biting into each and making a big mess for Toni Ann to clean up. (I would have cleaned up but I had to work.)

*I can't find another word that adequately describes this predator of my beloved tomatoes.

We saw three turkeys, a hen and two chicks, in our yard today. Turkeys have never been in our yard before as far as we know. I've never seen any turkey skat* in our yard.

*Again, I'm not using terms like "shit" unless there is a suitable substitute.

We have chipmunks and skunks. And the majestic hawks.

I'm now on the lookout for coyotes, foxes and pumas.

Most of this has been provided to me by my Environmental Protection Agency.