When I was young, and my heart was an open book, I used to say live and let live.
Now that summer is on it’s way out, I can reflect on the cyclical nature of life and how it influences everything in the world – including animals (well, duh Michael Williams! lol).
In the late spring, early summer all the animals are out and about happy to enjoy the longer days, brighter sun, fresh warmer air. The animals seem to have a cheer in their faces and a pep in their step – they all look kind and angelic. It’s really a celebration of life!
here’s a little sparrow(?) singing its spring afternoon song:
the groundhog waddling along exploring the newly grown grass:
our resident North American bald eagle soaring freely, surveying its American kingdom becoming green again after months of dried grass and empty tree branches.
and finally, Chet, my resident chipmunk. I have a theory about him. i firmly believe he found a way into my truck bed before I left upstate NY for the final time. i used to see him in the backyard of my rented room munching on acorns. There was never any chipmunks in my house here in NJ before I temporarily went to Albany and after I returned permanently, every spring he appeared – all happy and jumpy! Strange…
Anyway, all the animals are happy. Spring is all fun and games – all is fine. That is, until Mother Nature and Father Time step in and make their presence felt.
Similar to the turn of, what used to be, controlled spring growth of grass and plants the animals suddenly aren’t the cute tidy little beings they were. It’s hard for me to articulate but something changes…as if a predetermined deal has to be fulfilled. A hidden force that compels them to certain behaviors.
Suddenly, things like needing to eat and feed their young take precedence over flying around and tweeting photogenically from branches
The heat and decay from the heat, the effort to survive makes everyone look ragged, with flies all over them in some cases. Not completely but you can notice it.
And then, come wars of territory.
I was working at my desk when I suddenly heard a God-awful, bone chilling chorus of “cawwing” and “screeching” out in the frontyard. Apparently, a group of blackbirds keen to create their dream tree civilization earned the ire of our resident bald eagle parents protecting their nesting site. The two parents chased the group of birds into my tree where they took turns swooping in and out, dive-bombing from the sky.
The other parent, utilized from-the-ground attacks, driving the blackbirds deeper and deeper into the tree.
As you can see, the drama was so fierce and the maneuvering so fast that alot of my close action shots were out of focus.
Then, as quickly as it happened, the Bald Eagle parents – after scaring the living daylights out of the blackbirds, and me – flew back to their young (again, out of focus shot…ugh).
Surprise Guest Post:
Hello, I am Yorgi – a second groundhog that lives here. I immigrated to Michael Williams’s backyard to escape the animal violence of my native land. But I have found Michael Williams’s backyard to be just as – if not – more violent. I just stare mindlessly because I am constantly stressed.
I wish to leave.
If any of you need a groundhog to eat pests in your yard, I can start immediately. My immigration papers can be furnished upon request
Throughout all of this, I still kept the faith that at least some of the animals had a more tolerating nature and just went along eating their nuts and plants.
But in the end, Mother Nature’s ways of keeping cosmic balance will always win out.
Chet! Noooo! 😭 (i guess he took exception to the snakes being too close to his little burrow)
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