May 28th, 2022 Saturday Cloudy
“We live in a forest.” said my husband when we first moved in this house.
Well, not exactly. We actually live next to a relatively busy road, and not very far from a major highway either. BUT our house does sit on a wooded lot – according to some neighbors, the lot was a forest a few decades ago. When the house was first built, it was designed to take up as little land space as possible, and most of the forest-y landscape has been well-preserved. As a result, if you only peek at our backyard while neglecting the cars passing by, you could easily forget that you are still in the city as it looks like a miniature arboretum, a paradise for all sorts of creatures, besides (except?) humans.
Apparently, the creatures that used to live in this “forest” still think of it as THEIR home, too.
One summer afternoon after we moved in, I was sipping a cup of tea and enjoying the view outside of the back window, when a furry friend caught my eyes. He was roughly the size of Lyn when she used to weigh 10+ pounds, with a coarse furry coat and a stout build. He appeared chubby and adorable, but he was in no mood for petting, for as soon as I opened the French door to take a closer look, he dashed underneath our deck and left a woodchuck-shaped hole among all the plantation.
Yes, he is a woodchuck, a native resident of this land, yet is generally unwelcome now that more people want their backyard to be a serene garden rather than a safari zoo.
We do not mind him though, and we even named him “Mr. Chuck”. Despite the fact that he likes nibbling on various plants including some vegetables we grew (our poor eggplants and peppers in the unfenced areas got devoured – no criminal has been caught in the act, but Mr. Chuck is among the top suspect list), we find the idea of sharing this lot with creatures like him very soothing. We are connected to nature. We are not alone.
Last year, Mr. Chuck came to visit in the spring. On a sunny morning, I moved my eyes from the computer screen in my office to the greens outside, and found him lounging on a tree branch that seemed WAY too thin for him. Amazingly, he balanced his weight so well that the branch bent as far as it could but did not break.
“That must be awfully uncomfortable.” thought I.
Not sure that Mr. Chuck would agree, because he was taking a nap. I guess the position, however awkward it could be, did not bother a sleepy woodchuck ?
We did not see him much after that. Maybe he wandered to other gardens in search of his lady. Maybe he established a residence under a certain deck and started a family. Maybe he just found a cozy spot and hibernated through the dreary winter.
Life as a woodchuck in a human civilization must be interesting. I often wonder, what does this city look like in Mr. Chuck’s eyes? What does he think of our houses, cars, concrete roads, and noises? Would he miss the quiet countryside that he used to call home?
Fortunately, Mr. Chuck is also adaptive. He takes pleasure in what he can enjoy in spite of the ever-changing environment that he has no control of. For now, he might consider our little jungle a sweet place to visit and hang out, and eat a buffet every now and then. This is not just my wishful thinking, because – he came back!
This year he has more grey hair on his face, so even woodchucks age? ?