Mother Nature Never Sleeps

A warm front bought dark low hanging clouds racing southward during the past week. They dumped barrels of water on the Hideaway as they passed. The pond is overflowing its small spillway and the nearby waterfall is in full throated roar.

The Hideaway critters have since been blessed by several idyllic days of bright blue sunny skies. A recent mowing threw copious amounts of grass into the pond. Stirred by that and the recent deluge, the grass carp indulged themselves in a fit shameless gluttony. A large snapping turtle skulked nearby, glum disapproval written on his stony face. Not a sunny physiognomy in the first place.

The usual inventory of critters has kept us entertained. (Needless of much creativity on their part.) A young buck has regularly shown up at sunset. He dines politely on pond side veggies near the porch. A four pointer sometimes deigns to share his antlered excellence with us also. Helps himself to our pond side salad bar without so much as a nod of appreciation. Dolt.

Two does, one with twins and another with a single fawn have been regular visitors. They usually drop by in the evening to graze near the ledge. Their young fawns charge about with the exuberance of-well–young fawns.

According to the critter grapevine, bears are on the move. Including some, as one would expect at this time of year, with cubs. Our own bear count so far this year is five. All male. We expect more visits as the hot weather draws them to the pond for a cold drink–perhaps a cool swim. So things in our little green enclave have settled into a comfortably sleepy routine.

Until last evening.

In early evening, a very large barred owl burst out of some nearby hemlocks and charged past the porch at warp speed. Meanwhile, a young buck was quietly grazing nearby. Before he had finished dessert, a doe with twins began to graze near the ledge. A second doe then emerged from the woods near the porch. She had with her twins who couldn’t have been more than 2 or 3 days old. They soon disappeared back into the woods. No doubt feeding time for the little guys.

And the grand finale. Two four pointers and one six point buck arrived together at sunset. Not greatly unusual for them to be together at this time of year. Nonetheless, a wonderful thing to see. They are all in velvet now. In five or six months, rutting season will arrive. They will have lost their velvet and their antlers will be fully developed. They will be prepared and eager at that time to compete over the first comely doe that catches their eye. Tough out there in critter city.

And to place an exclamation point at the end of the day, the barred owl flew quietly back into his hemlock grove. He will now spend much of the night sending his haunting call into the dark. His nocturnal kind will answer. Mother Nature never sleeps.