Quite the Life (and all in Times New Roman 10pt!)
I wrote last week that it’s great when two friends get together for a meal.
Sometimes it’s not quite like that.
Friends they may be, but sharzees they are not.
Case in point, The Wise Chipmunk.
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, to use the cliche.
But do note that Hyacinthe, despite an inspiring size difference, isn’t throwing her weight around (another cliche).
She may have been willing to share.
The chipmunk.
With her kits.
It’s great when two friends get together for a meal.
We’ve shared a few posts wherein The Wild gathers and parties down.
Sometimes they invite us to partake with them.
More often they prefer we serve them and then leave, be good help who is unnoticed.
Okay, not quite.
I’ve been at business lunches and dinners where the participants treated the help like…serfs, vassals, not even help so much as servants who god-forbid might get in the way.
Long before it became de rigueur and proper to ask your server’s name, it was part of our company’s ethos:
Respect people who know the name of their waiter or waitress.
It shows they value people.
But we were way ahead in our thinking.
In a lot of things.
That’s why we prefer The Wild.
Patterns.
The Wild is full of patterns.
Learn those patterns and you can be The Wild’s friend.
Over all our years of interacting with raccoons, we’ve come to know their patterns.
Especially those that aren’t listed on “official” websites as “raccoon behavior.”
But realistically, why should The Wild follow the guidelines of some “official” website?
We watch Hyacinthe and know what it means.
Kits, soon.
For now, she dines.
Enjoy.
We have many raccoons. Most of them are quite social.
Chester, for instance.
Chester, you may notice, has a somewhat ratty tail.
A few years back we had another raccoon with a ratty tail.
Makes one wonder if they’re related.
We do monitor blood lines. Behaviors and distinctive features seen years ago surface now and again. We recognize Hecate‘s children by the white dot on their nose, a physical trait inherited from her. Sometimes the behaviors and features are so distinctive we know genetics must be at work.
Many years ago Serge came to visit. He dunked his food. Every year save one we’ve had at least one raccoon who dunks their food.
And all our raccoons, we think, are descendants of Rocky.
But for today, here’s Chester.
Say hello, everyone.
There is a joy in caring for The Old Ones.
I find a joy in caring for The Old Ones.
I don’t want to supplant the natural ways. Evolution has designed each to be the epitome of their moment in time.
And still…
And still…
To be trusted…
More than trusted, accepted, by a wild animal. To recognize it knows you will not harm it, will cause it no pain, will let it be what it is intended to be.
What a gift.
What a gift.