Ground Hog Day

February is a busy month of Violets, Amethysts, Presidents Day, Black history, St. Valentine's Day, Super bowl Sunday, and today which is Groundhog's Day.   I am going to try and address them all this month.

 

 My daughter went to religious school and wore a uniform which after leaving the bus she would often

Ground hog in the violets

hike up the skirt, since the skirts were a bit longer than current fashion.   To get around me she would come in the back door.   

This particular day she came through the back gate to see a big furry animal stuffing his face with left over baked ziti from the knocked over garbage can.  She screamed, he screamed, both leapt in the air in horror and without touching the ground ran to their respective houses.

Panting for air she said, "there's a beaver in the yard eating ziti!"

cedar creek

As I looked out he was already back at the can eating the ziti.  His little hands filled with it and his cute little face covered in sauce.   "I told you it was still good", my daughter said.  

And that is how we got to know Mr. Beaver.

  In later years I got to see his roly-poly babies playing in the yard. 

His descendants still live under the shed somewhere... there is a pathway hollowed out for forest traffic to and from the woods to my back yard.      Its a highway for fox, skunk, rabbits, bobcats, racoon , possums and ground hogs or woodchucks.   I feed them all my vegetable scraps and fruit that I am not going to eat.

I throw older apples into the forest for the deer.    They have water galore here as I am right by the bay and hundreds of little crystal clear cedar water creeks run behind me.    3 of them are right here on my road.   Cedar water looks like clear tea.  

Live in peace with your animal neighbors as much as you can.   Animals are put in your way for a reason friends.   You're job is to "dress and keep" the earth and that includes the animals.