Right In My Own Backyard

Last Saturday night, our dogs went a bit crazy with excitement.  I mean . . . like turning themselves inside-out with their barking.

It was a total Sound The Alarm thing going on.

Turns out, it was this:

Three deer.  Scoping out the garden bed (where the hosta-salad-bowl will appear soon).

They just sauntered, leisurely, about the yard.

They couldn't care less about the dogs -- apoplectic -- up in the house.

I know most people (and gardeners especially) consider deer to be a nuisance.  But I love seeing them close up!  I love sharing my neighborhood and my landscape with deer and hawks and squirrels and rabbits and snakes and toads and songbirds and woodchucks and chipmunks and possums.

When I was a child, growing up in suburban 1960s America, I never saw any of these creatures.  (Well . . . maybe a gopher or two . . .)  We never had birds.  I only saw deer at deer parks.  Our garden had no toads or snakes or possums.  A hawk or an eagle?  Unthinkable!

You know what I say?

THANKS, EPA!

Thanks for cleaning up our environment -- and creating a world where I can enjoy wildlife. . . right in my own backyard.