War in the country

Ah, the bucolic countryside, where birdies sing, squirrels scamper happily, bunny rabbits hop along. Sounds a lot like a Disney movie, doesn't it? Well, one thing you learn when you live in the country is that there is a war going on out there!

Take the beautiful birdbath area out in front of our porch. First there are the birds. We have three kinds of finches, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, and doves, who all get along fairly well and will often share a feeder. But then there are the jays and the starlings. The jays (three kinds of them) are the neighborhood bullies. When they are around, no one is allowed to eat from any of the feeders, even the ones ten feet away from where the jay is getting his lunch. The starlings are the invading horde - swooping down, devouring everything in sight and attacking any bird that dares to enter the area. The hummingbirds are the feuding family of the bird world. One hummingbird will perch on my fench where he can see all three feeders and run off any other humming bird who tries to get a drink. However, there is always a sneaky one who will feed while the 'top dog' is running off an intruder.

While the birds are enacting their little war, there are the squirrels. They have an ongoing war with the cats and my husband. You see, they think the bird feeders are their private smorgasbord and they visit regularly. One of our cats takes up residence every morning in an abandoned feeder at the base of the tree, hoping to catch an unsuspecting squirrel on his way down. Art, on the other hand, has a loaded BB gun by the front door. I'll be working in the kitchen and hear him pumping it up frantically. The squirrels are back! He sneakingly opens the front door and through the crack sights on the squirrel gorging himself on the sunflower seeds. Right now the score is Cats: zero, Art: one; Squirrels: 1,000!

The rabbit army has arrived in hordes. I never knew that you could have a herd of rabbits, but we do. The odd thing is that our cats seem to ignore them. I think they have tried to chase them once or twice, but gave up pretty quickly. Two of the cats are at a great disadvantage....they are mainly white and stick out like a sore thumb when trying to sneak up on the rabbits across an open field. The rabbits have brought out someone else, though: a young coyote. There is so much food here that he isn't shy, even in broad day light, about crossing the field by our house. The war is on and he is eating well!

I will leave the tales of the raccoons, peacocks and deer for another day...but just remember this: it may look peaceful on the surface, but it's a war out there!