Gardening with Animals

We live near a forest—a forest with many creatures we seldom see and many which leave their marks so we can identify them.  We see their footprints, know their habits, their food choices, and whether they are aware of us.  We also have a dog and a cat that live with us, in the house at night and outside in the garden and woods during the day.  Most of our four legged friends know our habits.  The deer, which somehow get into the garden primarily for a meal of rare plants or a place on which to rub their antlers, are among the most destructive.  They like what we like, the most valuable plants.  We have a deer fence over which they can leap, unappetising mixtures to spray on the most valuable and vulnerable plants, and a dog whose primary job is to herd them away from the gardens but which occasionally brings them back and closer to the house.  We have woodchucks that tunnel through the ground thus allowing them to travel unseen from building to building, den to den, or plant to plant.  Although woodchucks are seldom seen during the day, our damaged plants seldom escape our notice.  They like rare plants!  Skunks are seldom seen, but often smelled and their contribution to the garden is mostly shallow holes dug in the lawns.  They are tolerated and easily avoided by people, but are sometimes too tempting to a dog protecting her territory.  A dog’s encounter with a skunk leaves a lasting reminder to those who live with dogs!  Cats are different.  A cat knows just the right place to use as a latrine, a place just weeded, and sometimes a plant just set into the ground.  Many cats entertain us by their ability to make a game of hiding and jumping out to attack a weed just pulled or a person deep in thought as she looks for a lost tool.  All of our four-legged friends  give us great pleasure especially when there is little to cheer about 90° weather and dry soil. 

Butterflies calm us down as they go from flower to flower, although we are concerned this year because we see fewer than usual.  They are accompanied by dragonflies, wasps, mosquitoes and many other flying creatures. The music of the birds accompany us wherever we go and give us an excuse to stop, try to see and identify them by sight or sound.  Frogs brighten every day, although we often see those which jump from place to place, finding a tree frog is an excuse to pause in wonder.  Turtles turn a dull day into a delightful one as they find and hide in cool places so we pause to admire them and don’t disturb them.  Life under the soil remains somewhat unknown, but we are happy to find earthworms wherever we dig. 

Although most of our snakes are harmless but all are somewhat startling, however, we draw the line at copperheads, which are seen infrequently and always avoided and we enjoy the green ones.  Spiders, praying mantises, and beetles often stop us to bring out the camera, and we respect but avoid most caterpillars, especially the hairy ones.  Fireflies, which appear as the evening darkens and remind us that we are never alone on this land.