”The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.”
The day is cloudy, just your usual every day no rain clouds, but rain is predicted for the next three days. It is in the low 50’s. The dogs were in and out quickly and are now napping from their strenuous morning.
A few weeks back, I was sitting with Jack in his room, his very own room where his litter box and food are. I keep a gate across the room’s threshold to protect Jack’s food from a marauder, from a large dog in the guise of a boxer, but I missed something, a few somethings. One night as I was sitting with Jack a mouse came out from under the bed. That mouse was either brazen or stupid. Jack jumped off the bed and the mouse fled. The next day I bought four traps called mouse hotels. They are simple and easy to use. A couple of nights ago I put bait in two of the traps. Last night I found a mouse in each trap. I took the traps outside and released the mice. I washed both traps then baited the other two. I’ll keep a running tally.
When I was a kid, I don’t remember seeing all too many animals in the wild. I do remember one Sunday ride when I saw a couple of deer munching on grass near the side of the road. I screamed, “Deer! Deer!” so excitedly you’d think I’d seen a dinosaur. Even seeing cows grazing was exciting. I fed the spawns in the Public Garden. They came right up to take the peanuts from my hand. Amazing! I think I even giggled. I once saw a chipmunk and a baby rabbit, the rarest ones I remember seeing.
In Ghana I saw a snake which had eaten a chicken, a baby chick yet to be crushed and digested. I saw a few baboons ahead of me on the road. I held the tail of the sacred crocodile in Paga. He also had eaten a chicken. I saw vultures close up. They were walking around my Ghanaian family compound. I was the only one watching. In Mole National Park I saw elephants so close up I could have shaken hands or rather shaken a hand and a trunk. I saw many other animals on safaris.
I have seen the most animals here on the cape. Wild turkeys are everywhere. Sometimes the flock is two or three, but mostly there are many turkeys traveling together and walking on the street just to be annoying. I have seen coyotes. One used to use my yard as a short cut. Possums seem to love my yard. Nala loves possums. I’ve seen foxes and watched baby foxes gambol around the beach. One deer almost got hit by my car. Luckily I stopped on time. That was the first I saw a deer in the headlights. I’ve also seen bats. One got into my house a long time back before the dogs. He flew out the front door.
I still get excited seeing animals.
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
October 29, 2025 at 6:30 am
Where we live, we are lucky to be next door to a nature reserve and beautiful stretch of river. Daily walks along the riverbank give us the chance to see cormorants, egrets, ducks, swans and several species of small garden birds such as robins. Many amateur wildlife photographers visit the locality. Formerly there were frequent sightings of kingfishers. Unfortunately these attractive birds have not been seen for some time. Sometimes we see otters, foxes and deer in the area, although the foxes seem to prefer taking their chances running across local roads whilst scavenging for their food at night. We had mice in the roof space. The last straw was when they bit through a waste pipe causing a flood inside the house.
October 29, 2025 at 2:06 pm
Peter,
I envy you your backyard. I would love to see all those birds. A small, very small, pond is at the end of my street, and it is where wild turkeys roost. My feeders attract birds like chickadees, titmice and nuthatches as well as the common birds like blue jays and robins. Hawks, Canada geese and swans also make the cape their home. The ocean around us is filled with seals, whales (during certain times of the years) and great white sharks. The mice are field mice. My brother once said anyone who says his house has no mice here on the cape is not paying attention.
October 29, 2025 at 7:24 pm
Our feeder attracts Nuthatches, Long Tailed tits, Blue tits, Great tits, Coal tits. Also Pigeons, Magpies, Blackbirds and Robins. Grey squirrels are common and troublesome for eating the bird food. We live just four miles from the coast and have a plethora of beaches within easy reach. We walked a few miles on a beach today, as we tend to do at least once each week.
October 29, 2025 at 7:36 pm
The squirrels are my sworn enemies. I call them the spawns of Satan. They have ruined feeders and have stolen seeds from others. I do have a couple he’d can’t get at. My mother used to get lots of pigeons at her feeders. She called them her country pigeons. I have never had a pigeon. There are some on the cape, but I have never seen one. The gulls are the pests. I also get red winged black birds and winter robins.