Late last summer Rebecca and I built a small screened-in porch in our backyard.
This summer we sit and enjoy observing our neighbors.
Below, a teenage buck lingers to tell us how his family is doing; often he brings them along.
We also meet squirrels, bats, bees, beetles, and, about two months ago, a skunk.
I took no picture as I was afraid movement would detonate her defense system.
The skunk was an unpleasant surprise and we watched her waddle under the back deck of our neighbor Hazel.
If you want the longer skunk story, you can read about it here.
We tattled on the skunk. Hazel called the police. The police referred her to Dennis, our community’s Animal Relocation Officer.
We didn’t know we had an ARO.
Dennis captures unwanted critters and releases them outside town.
The foxy skunk eluded two weeks of Dennis’ traps.
Five raccoons, including the one pictured below, did not.
An expectant mother, said Dennis.
I know her, said Craig, another neighbor. My security camera captured her overturning my garbage can.
Guilty and exiled.
Our raccoon neighbors travel along a creek bed, crossing the border with impunity.
Too many to trap. So Hazel dismissed Dennis.
Instead, she put lattice panels under her deck.
Craig bought a garbage can with a tight lid.
We keep our mouths shut.
None of us built a wall.
*
It’s not easy living with others.
But not impossible.
