Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I’m struck with how many animals inhabit our property and how I see them only at their best. This is not to say they don’t annoy me with their antics. Rather, it means I never see sick or dying animals on my lawn or deck. I wonder what happens to them.

We have rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, gophers, fox, deer, birds of varying species, chipmunks, ducks, geese, and field mice. I see them foraging for food or drinking water from the river or generally doing what their instincts tell them to do. Gather nuts, eat berries, chew holly bushes, lop the tops off flowers.

From time to time, I see them with their young in tow. The baby ducks ply the river, the squirrels race in the trees, and the birds chirp for food in the protection of their nests. It’s a veritable life story.

And still, Earl and I marvel that we never see a dead bird or a maimed squirrel or a dead animal of any kind. We wonder how nature takes care of its own in such a subtle fashion that humans rarely have to cope with remains in the wild.