Last night it rained, just as predicted, and the rain has left the morning cloudy, chilly and damp. It will be in the 50’s. I have no to-do list. I could have a list but I don’t choose to make one. The sloth is strong in this one!

The morning is a bit noisy. The birds are vocalizing their complaints. Feeders need to be filled. I watched the male goldfinches strutting their stuff. They are the brightest yellow. Yesterday I heard gobbles but didn’t see the turkeys. I figured they were down by the tiny pond at the end of my street. They roost on the branches there at night. A while later Henry was barking. I checked. The turkeys were across the street still gobbling.

I never saw much wildlife when I was a kid. I saw and heard birds, watched squirrels scurrying across the lawns to climb the trees and once in a while saw a skunk. I love the way skunks sort of waddle when they walk. Once, on a family Sunday ride, we saw deer munching grass in a field. We all screamed for my dad to stop. He did, and we watched a while. We thought it amazing. We had never seen deer outside the zoo before.

In Ghana, during my live-in, when I stayed with a Ghanaian family, I used to visit the wives who lived in a different compound than their husband did. The babies and the toddlers lived there too. I remember vultures were walking around inside the compound. Nobody seemed to mind. I thought it amazing, actual vultures. In the bush one time, I saw baboons. I kept my distance. I watched a snake eat a chicken whole. There was a chicken bump. I stayed far away from snakes, poisonous snakes.

In Mole National Park which I visited on one trip back to Ghana, I saw bush elephants walking by my deck steps on their way to the watering home. I saw gnus, all sorts of monkeys, a variety of deer including antelope, most of which were dining in fields. The ugliest animals were the warthogs.

Here on the cape, there are all sorts of wildlife. Coyotes are common. One used to cross my yard before I put up the fence. Nala will tell you Possums are plentiful. She has caught her share of them. I’ve seen foxes and their kits. I nearly hit a deer which jumped in front of my car. It stared at me and had the proverbial deer in the headlights look. It took me a while to breathe normally. Turkeys are everywhere. Given Nala’s penchant for hunting, I’ve added her to my list of wild animals

This entry was posted on May 10, 2025 at 11:35 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.