Wild Kingdom
Our neighborhood used to be a pecan orchard--which has always sounded particularly romantic to me. You really wouldn't know it, now, though, except for the fact that every two years, the trees produce an abundance (let me correct that and say OVER abundance) of pecans. They are on the ground starting in October and still there in the late winter. People are often out in their yards, picking pecans to make pies, cookies and other tasty treats. Some even post signs telling passersby not to pick pecans from their yard.
So, with all these pecans in our yard, it shouldn't have shocked me to see the following sight in our yard one evening. I will occasionally turn on the back porch light as I walk by the back door, just out of curiosity or maybe more out of habit (or maybe just to make sure no one is lurking in our backyard). Anyway, I was taken aback to see three raccoons and an opossum in our yard. They were just loitering, casually moving around the yard, nibbling on the pecans (at least the raccoons were--I have no idea what the opossum was doing--and to be honest, I didn't want to look at it very long. It has never been a very pleasant animal to look at, in my opinion.) I just stood at the door and stared. I think I even called out to my husband in the house, "Hey, we have Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom in our backyard!" I even tapped on the window at one point, trying to see if the raccoons would be scared away. They just peered at me through the dark, not frightened in the least, as if I was interrupting their snack and intruding on their outside space.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think often about "sharing" our yard with the (wild) animal world besides the typical squirrels and birds. So, to see the raccoons and opossum (on a regular occurrence for awhile, I might add), it was a bit startling. But, I have become more accustomed to sharing yard space--and pecans--with them. (All this from a girl who grew up seeing deer run through the front and back yard at her home--but there again, deer seem more romantic to me.)
So, with all these pecans in our yard, it shouldn't have shocked me to see the following sight in our yard one evening. I will occasionally turn on the back porch light as I walk by the back door, just out of curiosity or maybe more out of habit (or maybe just to make sure no one is lurking in our backyard). Anyway, I was taken aback to see three raccoons and an opossum in our yard. They were just loitering, casually moving around the yard, nibbling on the pecans (at least the raccoons were--I have no idea what the opossum was doing--and to be honest, I didn't want to look at it very long. It has never been a very pleasant animal to look at, in my opinion.) I just stood at the door and stared. I think I even called out to my husband in the house, "Hey, we have Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom in our backyard!" I even tapped on the window at one point, trying to see if the raccoons would be scared away. They just peered at me through the dark, not frightened in the least, as if I was interrupting their snack and intruding on their outside space.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think often about "sharing" our yard with the (wild) animal world besides the typical squirrels and birds. So, to see the raccoons and opossum (on a regular occurrence for awhile, I might add), it was a bit startling. But, I have become more accustomed to sharing yard space--and pecans--with them. (All this from a girl who grew up seeing deer run through the front and back yard at her home--but there again, deer seem more romantic to me.)
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