Sunday, August 07, 2005, 05:39
The Wild West?
It's probably a good thing that we don't have neighbors any closer than what we do. The few neighbors we have more than likely already think I am out of my mind. What sane woman stands out in her hayfield during the day yelling at the top of her lungs "KNOCK IT OFF! HEY! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Well, if there are coyotes in the area, and they are in the woods right across the road from your house, that's the type of person who might stand in her hayfield yelling "KNOCK IT OFF! HEY! GET OUT OF HERE!" And we, unfortunately, have plenty of coyotes around.
In the last few weeks, the coyotes have moved into the woods just across the road. When we've had enough rainfall, a spring runs in the woods. We haven't had much rain in the last couple of months, though, so I don't think there's any water in the spring for them to drink. And to tell you the truth, with the coyotes so close, I'm not about to go look. Not by myself, anyway. And of course, I don't dare let our Springer Spaniel come with me. I don't feel like breaking up a fight between Charlie and the coyotes.
Even going for a walk around the hayfield makes me nervous. Charlie loves to go for walks around the hayfield. And lately, it seems that every time I am out there, that's when the coyotes start yipping and howling. And that's when I start yelling. The coyotes, once they hear me, shut up immediately. But so far, my yelling has not scared them away from the woods. Sometimes so many coyotes start making all kinds of racket that it sounds like we're in the middle of a movie made about the Wild West.
When I was a kid growing up on our farm, coyotes were unheard of in this area. They're common now. In the fall after the weather cools off, I love to go for walks with Pixie and Charlie around the back of the farm to see the colored leaves. I'm not sure we'll get to go this year. Not with so many coyotes in the woods and fields.
LeAnn R. Ralph
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Thursday, August 04, 2005, 20:29
Rare Birds
On the way into town and back on Wednesday, I listened to public radio. The featured guest was a wildlife biologist taking calls from listeners.
One lady called and wanted to know what kind of large insect looked and acted like a hummingbird. We've always called them "hummingbird moths" and tend to see them around the lilac flowers in the spring. That's what the moth and butterfly book that we have calls them, too, is hummingbird moths. But -- the wildlife biologist said they were called "hawk moths." At any rate, the lady also wanted to know if they were rare.
"Not really," the biologist said. "I see more hawk moths than I do hummingbirds. I rarely see hummingbirds."
He's a wildlife biologist, but he rarely sees hummingbirds?
And I'm thinking -- you ought to come to our house, mister, you'll see plenty of hummingbirds. The hummingbirds are now at the point where I'm going to have to fill my hummingbird feeders pretty much every day. There are so many of them, and they are so hungry, that they can empty the feeders rather quickly (every 24 to 36 hours).
Another person called in and wanted to know where he could go in the state to hear whippoorwills. "I used to hear them all the time when I was a kid, and now it's been years since I've heard a whippoorwill," he said.
*Years* since he's heard a whippoorwill?
And again I'm thinking -- you ought to come to our house, mister. Quite often, when Randy and I are outside in the evening, we hear whippoorwills, and on one particularly hot evening not long ago, three or four of them were singing in the space of a quarter mile.
According to the wildlife biologist, however, whippoorwills are becoming increasingly rare birds. Whippoorwills have declined dramatically in recent years, he said. One reason is that their habitat is being destroyed. Whippoorwills like fields with brushy, tree-lined edges and woods nearby. The construction of so many country subdivisions has removed quite a lot of their habitat, he said.
Now isn't that ironic? People want to build houses in the country so they can "experience" living in the country -- and presumably "experiencing the country" includes hearing whippoorwills -- but by building their houses in the country, they are destroying the habitat of one of the things they want to "experience."
We moved back here 10 years ago, and for the past 10 years, I've been feeding hummingbirds and listening to whippoorwills all summer long. I had no idea either one was out of the ordinary. Imagine that.
LeAnn R. Ralph
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