ANIMALS VISIT ONE OF OUR OWN

C. DENSON HILL
"DENNY"

I can always count on DENNY (C. Denson Hill) to share something interesting with me. Recently he told me this.."I expect to make a trip to Rome for a week, Oct 20-27. My long-time collaborator and friend Mauro Nacinovich there is retiring, and they insist I must be there for the small conference they are holding in his honor. It comes in the middle of my teaching, so I will have to find someone to take my classes for a week."

This morning I had this little story in my inbox from DENNY:

"I have a bird bath, a ceramic dish the size of a very large skillet, and about three inches deep. It sits on the ground, by the corner of my garage, and collects rainwater falling off the roof of the garage. When it has not rained for a while, I fill it up with water from the tap, thinking it will be for the birds and squirrels. But lately I have noticed that if I fill it up at night, it is virtually empty by the morning. Why? Birds do not bathe at night, and squirrels do not drink water in the middle of the night.

"So a few days ago, in the middle of the afternoon, I noticed a big buck deer, and three other deer, one adult female and two younger ones, in my back yard. The buck had rather large horns, and he and others were quietly drinking water from my birdbath.

(Public Domain Photo)

"Then the neighbor's dog, who is let out now and then and patrols my neighbor's property and mine, came running along, just a few feet from the deer. I was expecting a scene, with the dog barking, and the deer running away. No! The dog went right on past the deer as if they were trees, and the deer kept on drinking, as if the dog were not there. Eventually the four deer decided they had had enough, and went across the street to munch on some apples that had fallen from the apple tree in my neighbor's yard.

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

"A few days later, I saw five rather large birds slowly walking across the street, into my yard, to drink at the birdbath. They were wild turkeys, who seemed rather nonchalant about meandering around the neighborhood. (Editor: I frequently saw these in Ballinger neighborhood yards.)

"These animals have adapted to village life. Just today in the local newspaper I read that the village of Port Jefferson, where I live, is thinking about hiring professional hunters to cull the deer herd after 'tourist season'. For example, there are 200-300 deer that hang out at the village golf course and country club. People's shrubs are trimmed clean of any leaves up to the reach of a deer...so shrubs have leaves only at their tops. And driving at night is dangerous because deer are out running across the roads."

I told DENNY that this problem exists all over Texas. The suburb of Lakeway, near me, has been attempting to solve it by many means. This past August the City Council hired a wildlife biologist who "reviewed herd management methods including TTP, (trapping, transporting, and processing) sharp shooting/hunting deer and surgical or chemical sterilization. It considered ways residents can 'coexist' with deer, including adding street reflectors to deter deer from crossing roadways, offering deer awareness signage, promoting deer resistant landscaping and educating the community."..(Leslee Bassman, Austin American Statesman) I don't think they have resolved their problem yet, but shooting them seems to be out of the question. Thank goodness.

When I was living in Ballinger from 2005-2009, I worked part-time for the Sheriff's Office. The deputies used to tease me when I got visibly moved at their stories of deer (and other animals) they and others hit with their cars on the San Angelo highway. I remember seeing deer frequently on that highway. I also saw many dead animals beside the road having been hit by cars. I had a habit then of "blessing their spirits" as I saw the dead animals. One day I could see something rather large in the median up ahead. Assuming it was a deer, I started blessing as I approached it. When I reached it, to my utter dismay -- and feeling very foolish -- I discovered it was a large section of wall insulation that must have blown off a truck! I am very cautious now about for whom and what I offer blessings.

DENNY's comment to me about animals adapting to urban life seems to ignore the part that we are the ones who have tamed and adapted their wilderness homes for our own use. 

 There are still a large number of trees around the property I live on. At night some say they hear coyotes howling. I've seen foxes cross the road I live on, but other than that, the most "wildlife" I've seen here consists of pesky squirrels, a hawk or two, a vulture chowing down on a dead squirrel, a few lizards that have taken up residence on my porch and deck, and some very destructive leaf-cutter ants that can strip a tree of its leaves much farther up than any deer can reach unless they are noticed quickly. A good spread of diamataceous earth takes care of them. And of course, there are plenty of snakes - although I have been fortunate not to see any. Our property handyman Juan takes care of those!

When I was in Ballinger, I spoke with Jane Wade Clayton. She had moved from their Talpa ranch because she could no longer take any daily walks on their property due to the feral hogs! Things could certainly be worse for most of us. The one in the photo below was a 400-lb hog killed recently on a Texas golf course in Bexar County. (After searching, I discovered that it was the Gateway Hills Golf Course in San Antonio. Sure hope that's not one you play on, TRUMAN.) There are an estimated five million feral hogs in the U.S., and an estimated 1.2 million are living here in Texas.

(by Texas Hill Country)

I'll bet there are many stories to be told of the local "wildlife" where you live. Let me hear them. (Now, I don't want to know about the wildlife occurring in your local nightclubs!)

NANCY THOMPSON BAKER has been trying to get some information for me. I kept looking for a complete obituary for JEEP JACKSON with no success. NANCY discovered that he had donated his body to science, and there was to be no funeral service. I also asked her to see if she could find out why LOYE SHARP was in the nursing home. If anyone knows, please let me or NANCY know. JANICE AMARINE is a good source of news around Ballinger.

Until next time,
Marilyn