It's that time of year again--the time to rake leaves. I have not started, since I am waiting for strong winds to carry some of the leaves into the woods. Seriously, the wind was extremely helpful one year. Another reason for my delay in beginning the annual raking project is that I am waiting for squirrels and black bears to eat more of the acorns which are now buried under fallen leaves.
Alas, there is a squirrel shortage here. I remember the time Godot and I enjoyed watching thirteen squirrels eating the black sunflower seeds I had tossed onto our snow-covered deck. That was nearly eight years ago. Since then, the squirrels have dwindled in number in this area; most of them have been killed crossing the road. As far as I can tell, I have no more squirrels residing on my property, and I was down to one visiting squirrel a few weeks ago; I watched him burying acorns in my yard, as he and the crows went about their business, side by side. A couple of hours later, around noon, when I noticed the crows were walking around something on the road in front of my driveway, I knew an animal must have been hit by a vehicle. As I approached the scene, I saw that it was the last remaining squirrel. At first, I was appalled that the crows could be eating their squirrel acquaintance, so to speak, since they had just spent a good part of the morning together. (Yes, I'll admit I've got a problem dealing with the food chain.) Anyway, to my pleasant surprise, the crows had not touched the squirrel; they had merely walked around him. I won't say that the birds were in mourning, but they apparently did not think of this particular dead squirrel as food--at least not at that moment. So I moved the little body off to the side of the road, thinking a bear or turkey buzzard--or even those crows--or some other animal would come along and have a meal. However, I told myself I would bury the squirrel
if the body was still there when I came home from an appointment. After all, it was the last squirrel and I had enjoyed watching him burying acorns, not just on that day but for several weeks. In other words, this squirrel was not just roadkill, since he had been a familiar visitor on our property. Well, when I came home, the dead squirrel was exactly where I had left him. So I told myself I would bury him
if he was still there after I finished watching
Oprah.
I guess the squirrel was not meant to be food, because his body was still there at five o'clock. So I buried him near the tree where he used to run whenever Mikey would chase him. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a shallow grave because I hit a large tree root. But I put large rocks on top of the grave, and I told myself that if a black bear should come along and dig him up, well then, the squirrel was meant to be eaten.
The next morning, I was horrified to see that the rocks had been moved off the grave. I expected to see my old white t-shirt, as I approached the spot. Instead, I saw that somebody (a black bear) had done some digging all around the spot, but he had stopped just short of exposing the t-shirt. So I put more rocks on the grave. The following morning was a repeat of the previous day. So I put more rocks on the grave. Several days later, it was deja vu all over again, and that was it. I guess the culprits were just curious, thinking I had stashed some food under the rocks, but they allowed the squirrel to rest in peace--and that's the amazing part, since black bears eat carcasses.
It has been many months since Mikey has crossed the road. However, I have recently seen her taking a short stroll along the side of the road, without setting her paws on the asphalt. But to the best of my knowledge, Mikey has no desire to cross the road again, ever since the day that a couple of cruel individuals tried to run her down as she was crossing the road. Since I had been standing at the top of my driveway, I was a horrified witness. It seemed that either time stopped or seconds passed in slow motion, when the driver of the truck stepped on the gas and aimed for Mikey, as I stood helpless, not breathing, awaiting the outcome. One of the truck's occupants even leaned out of the passenger window in order to get a better look at the body in the ditch, before the vehicle continued down the road.
