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| Prey vs Predator
by sherri_ at 10/7/2009 10:25:19 AM
We have a massive oak tree about 30' off my patio, it's gotta be 5' in diameter at the base. Massive oak trees produce massive quantities of acorns which draw massive numbers of those accursed deer.
I don't have pets. Man Child has pets. I don't hate animals, I just don't want to tend or clean up after them; that's what I had kids for. But kids need pets. I had all kinds of pets, all with quirky characters, of course: hamsters, bunnies, cats, dogs, mules, ponies, Clover the Dog who hunted skunks on foggy evenings (and OMG, what a successful hunter), Billy the billy goat, Daisy the Transgendered Steer who thought he was a she and a human -- put me off meat for two years when I discovered Daisy *hadn't* gone to my uncle's dairy farm to be with her/his family but was, in fact, wrapped up in purty packages in the deep freeze. But I digress.
One of Man Child's cats is Mr.Bubbles. He is a mighty hunter and loves nothing more than bringing me presents. Live, of course, nothing but the best for Mom. The moles and birds are bad enough, but he and his sister, Ms.Peppers, like to bring in the weird ones--Ms.Peppers favors snakes, Mr.Bubbles likes bats. I hate fishing those out of the house.
This particular fall morning Mr.Bubbles decides to upgrade and bring me the deer that is under the massive oak tree munching acorns. He chased the deer, then to my amazement the deer started chasing *him*...right up onto the patio. Fortunately, I had just hooked Chance the Pup to her cable attached to a 150' line near the massive oak tree. Chance wasn't really a pup, she's just small...smaller than the cats...and that day Chance the Pup morphed into Chance the Mighty Deer Hunter. One of the funniest things I ever saw...cat chases deer, deer chases cat, tiny dog chases deer.
I'm sitting here looking out my east window and see a Cooper's Hawk swoop across the mowed area of the yard and into the fallowed pasture. I think it's a Cooper's Hawk, tho' Smokin' Hot Adult Daughter and Equally Smokin' Life-Long Friend Next Door insist it's a Peregrine Falcon cuz Cincy imported a bunch to take care of their filthy pigeon infestation and they jumped river and are in the process of eliminating our bird population. You'd think the brainiacs in charge would've realized they'd do that, but apparently not. Anyway, Cooper Hawk's and Peregrine Falcons look very similar, but the former are indigenous here and they're the ones that dive into woods after birds.
Only (and for the second time I've seen that this summer) the predator wasn't diving after birds...a dozen birds of several different species were chasing the Cooper's Hawk.
Prey vs Predator. Y'all mocked my lint-legged socks and walking fillets but mark my words....there's a World Domination Conspiracy afoot and now different species of birds are forming alliances to attack, deer are chasing cats and frozen fish are walking out the door....and I won't even get into those accursed tree rats throwing nuts down on me.
It's only a matter of time before something with opposable thumbs joins in....I'm thinking the lint-legged socks are gonna recruit the sneakiest and meanest of them all: raccoons.
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