..how wild is this life?

….well, got a bit of a chuckle the other morning. Was on my way down the road, on my way to go meet my sister, when I caught a flash of pink. Yes, P-I-N-K…..quite a few (?maybe 20 or so) of those familiar lawn ornaments…the ubiquitous Pink Flamingo, lined up beside the driveway and scattered across the front lawn (they were no longer there later that afternoon when I returned homeward) – had to be someone’s idea of a joke …amusing way to start the day, nonetheless.

Less than a half-mile from that, I pass a corn field that had recently been planted. In a low spot was several dozen Canada geese, most with their heads tucked under their wings…guess they thought that was a good place as any to bed down for the night as the previous evening had been heavy torrential rain and gusty winds. Don’t usually get to see so many at once this early in the year, so was rather nice.

So ok, I am now thinking it is going to be a good day as I continue on my merry way….going through a small town the little car in front of my truck suddenly puts the brakes on and swerves narrowly missing the youngish moose that ran out of the woods on our right, across the road, and into some woods behind the local Town office on the left side…..yeah, I hit the brakes too, and no-body (and nothing) got hurt ……phew!

This week’s wildlife sightings involved the neighbors who called to let us know there had been a fox seen in the previous few days acting oddly, running down the road and up their driveway to the deck (and this is with people and dog right there), and someone also said they had seen it running down another road stopping every few yards to shake its head before continuing on….yup, sounds like rabies, and local Animal Control and Sheriff’s Department both had said we were free to shoot it if it came at us. Well, the other afternoon the sheriff himself is the one who took it out, and where our house sits we pretty much had a ringside seat. The rifle blast sent one of my dogs racing to my basement office to hide under the desk – picture this if you will: big ~70-lb Lab/Pointer shaking like a wind-blown leaf, teeth chattering like he was cold, and big white bug-eyes trying to come out of his head, and all the while he is trying to hide …..Can someone please explain how a dog who growls so menacingly at anything that crosses our lawn (in such a way so as to strike terror in us if we didn’t know him to be such a marsh-mellow) with the hackles raised to stiff peaks, could be such a wuss at the sound of a gunshot?..Sheesh….good thing Hunting Season does not start for another 4-5 months….