John R Purcell

A lot of birds and squirrels are attracted to my yard because of the plentiful assortment of food items that I provide for them. Although we enjoy seeing the birds and squirrels in the yard, there is a downside to attracting them there. It seems that the many birds have been noticed by predators such as cats and hawks. Even though we keep an eye out for them, occasionally a bird becomes prey for a hawk. When this happens, I feel like I have contributed to the birds demise by attracting it to the yard in the first place.

Like most people, I am not adverse to being complimented, but sometimes it can be surprising or even embarrassing if you don't think it was deserved.

It was a quiet early morning when I came out of my house to cross the street to a wooded area. There is an animal living there and I sometimes leave some food scraps for it to eat, as I doubt there is much in the way of food for it there. As I crossed the road I could see a figure walking in my direction some distance away. I continued into the woods to check on the donation I made the night before and to retrieve the now empty plastic plate.

From his vantage point, he watched her as she tentatively approached the water, stopping to glance around to see if the coast was clear. Not being aware that she was being observed by the person sitting in the shadows of the porch, she proceeded to the edge of the water. Taking one final look around, she entered the water and commenced splashing around like a child at play. Without feeling any guilt about it the observer on the porch watched the intimate scene until she stepped out of the water and shook off some of the water.

The children of today have so many new gadgets to amuse themselves with that they are missing out on many outdoor activities that children used to enjoy many years ago. Before there was television, video games, camera cell phones, all the music players, too many to list, and even automobiles which provide instant access to the movie theaters and shopping malls, children found ways to have fun with whatever was available in their own neighborhoods.

The electric wires and telephone cable that span between power poles are favorite perches for birds, but apparently they also serve another purpose as well. Squirrels like to use the telephone cables as a means of travel, usually to get from one tree to another. This is probably more preferable than climbing down to the ground to cross over to the next tree and climbing into it.