End-of-Summer Visitations

The last two weeks of summer have been rich with rare and important visitors.

Two weeks to the day later arrived the copy-edited manuscript of the edition of Audubon's 1826 Journal, so now on my work table I have a confluence of books, one on the way out, the other on the way in.

We began to notice a pair of the tree frogs (species not yet identified) on the side of the house in the mornings. Lights from inside the house were attracting flying insects to the windows, which attracted the treefrogs, just as the geckos used to hunt on the side of the house in Louisiana.

I believe the mammal burrow under the brush above was dug by a badger, based on two other burrows near the house dug wider in the middle like an open mouth. But I can't be sure yet. One evening we heard what sounded like the murder of a young turkey on the cabin hill; then we heard low murmurring grunts from this burrow hidden in the dense goldenrods. I went out the next morning with a garden rake and shovel to learn who it was, but I lost my courage when I began to imagine the various methods a badger might use to defend himself against a bookworm with a shovel. So I'm content to claim it's a badger.

I love knowing that there is a lot of good honest prowling going on around here in the nights. The two recent bobcats show a noticeable difference in conformation, the one considerably taller, longer, and leaner than the other.

And what's prettier than a gray fox? Or swifter?

A fine set of conclusions to a remarkable summer.