I often wonder why humans seem to think it’s a good
idea to mess around in the world of the wild animals. We rant and
rave, protect and destroy while they just go about the business of
being animals. They eat and are eaten and don’t seem to make much of a
fuss about it either way. They accept life and get on with it, either
adapting or dying.
It all seems to ebb and flow more gracefully out in
the country, or perhaps I just tell myself that. Some of them inevitably
wind up as road kill or starve during harsh winters and we find it easier to
accept because we know that the forests and fields are their natural
habitat. I like to assume that many of them will live out their happy
animal lives tucked away in their cozy dens at night and frolicking in the
sunny meadows by day. It’s a nicely vague picture that I have been
comfortable with .....until lately.
Their storybook existence becomes a tale fraught
with peril as the cities and suburbs encroach more and more into their natural
habitats. When wild animals and humans confront each other in an urban
environment, humans often react by becoming worried, fearful, irritated and
often angry about having to share their small spaces with wildlife and the
problems that this can create. Rarely, it seems, are creative solutions
found for peaceful cohabitation.
When I was a child living in the suburbs, there
were no deer, coyotes, wild turkeys and few raccoons. Now they are
everywhere and fighting to survive.
This past spring, while visiting at the home of a
friend who lives in a nearby suburb, I was startled to hear what sounded like
an extremely loud gunshot. A device hidden up in the trees on her
property and been automatically tripped by a small group of deer that wandered
underneath it. It shot out a huge net in an attempt to catch one or two
of them. In my naivety, I assumed that it was a catch and release
program. Instead, these nets have been set up by the village to catch the
deer in order to kill and eliminate them. Fortunately, this time it
missed. Seeing the ensuing struggle, had one been caught, would have done
me in. The people in this upscale community are upset because the deer eat
their fancy flower gardens. I was so shaken by her casual mention of what
annoying pests the deer are, that it brought me to tears and I had to
leave.
My neighbor has chickens....but probably not for
long. I always thought having chickens in the city would be a cool thing,
but it creates big problems if they are allowed to roam free. All of the
wild animals that have been forced into closely co-existing with humans need to
eat and chickens are a very tempting main course. Since I have
reported him for illegally killing wildlife and using a firearm in the
city….his days of being a chicken farmer are most likely limited. He
doesn’t know this yet, and maybe he never will. It depends on how much
the city cares about enforcing their rules. I just got sick and tired of
witnessing his insensitive animal extermination policies. It seems to be out of my hands
now.
I am not completely heartless where my
neighbor is concerned. I can see that he takes very good care of his
chickens and perhaps even feels great affection for them. Often
their are young people that come and hang around to observe and care
for them. Maybe it’s not any different out in the country on the
farms where I buy my eggs. Perhaps the farmers have their guns ready
and waiting by the door. I wonder if I would be running
down the road with my shotgun chasing some poor starving animal just trying to
feed it’s family after it snatched one of my chicken friends.
Yesterday I heard my neighbor screaming as if someone had cut off his
arm. It seems that I have rehabilitated my fox friend to the point where
she can take very good care of herself. She entered his yard in broad
daylight, snatched one of his chickens right in front of him and ran off with
it despite his agonizingly loud protestations.
 |
| Nothing left but a pile of feathers. |
My little fox friend let me know that she can take care of herself now.
I just hope she's good at dodging bullets.
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