North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Joe and Ellen Hecksel <jhecksel@voyager.net>]

Happy Mother's day, all!

On the whole, are skunks an advantage to have around or not?

It is a beautiful, magical morning here on the "farm".  It rained last 
night.  The sun is shining.  You can still see the mist hanging when you 
walk under the trees and the sun's rays turn into ethereal beams.  Very 
peaceful.

I was out at 7:00 this morning feeding our two bottle lambs.  I usually 
feed the lambs at 4:00 because I have to be at work before the sun 
rises.  So it is a real treat to walk around early in the morning.

While walking back across the pasture I saw a skunk loping about like 
he/she owned the place.

Sheep are not the smartest of critters and some are dumber than others. 
    The bottle lambs were following me back to the barn.  Bottle lambs 
nearly always have bonding disorders.  "Are you my mother?"    So these 
lambs were right under foot.  A real tripping hazard.  You have to walk 
right smart and keep an eye on the little dudes so you don't step on one 
or inadvertently give one a solid kick.  I was actually pretty close to 
this skunk before I noticed it.

At this point in the story I am sorry to disappoint those of you who 
know what should have happened.  No, the lambs did not see the skunk and 
 rush up to it.  "Hey Mom!  Got milk???"   No, the skunk did not spray 
us all. Sorry to disappoint.
************************************************
Part of what made this morning magical is that I saw TWO Baltimore 
Orioles and TWO cat birds and one Tyrant King Bird (or Bee Eater). 
These are not particularly common birds around here.  I don't know if 
they are passing through on their way north or if they are setting up 
shop.  I thought it was a little early for the Orioles.  The pairs of 
birds seemed to be skirmishing for territory.

I am tickled to see the birds.  I think part of the increase in 
diversity is due to the increasing diversity of the local 
habitat...particullarly the vertical "structure".  I also think the 
collapse of the Starling population helped.

-Joe

"You never see a fish on the wall with its mouth closed."