Our Lady of the Unsalted Peanut

Anybody who keeps up with me knows I value The Wild and probably more than I value the company of my own species. I’m sure I’ve quote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea‘s andThe Mysterious Island‘s Captain Nemo more than once – “I’ve never found interaction with my species satisfactory.”

Ah, but The Wild holds endless fascination for me. From the invisible-to-others movements of the smallest pieces of the universe to the Universe itself…how can one not be enthralled by the sheer glory of it.

I ask you, have you ever heard the Universe sing?

Have you ever rested a moment on Saturn’s rings, caught your breath, prepare for the next leg of your journey, and ask the stars to catch you lest you fall in an abyss of time?

Not that such would be a bad thing.

Only different.

From what most people experience in their day.

So these posts allow me to share what others can be aware of.

A first step, if you will.

Take it.

Don’t hesitate.

I’ll go with you.

We can discover what’s out there together.

Promise.

 

Boasting to the Vacuum

I wrote a few weeks back about a flirting Tom in OOh OOh Ain’t I Pretty?.

That fellow’s at it again…and with much the same results.

Watching mating behaviors amuses me greatly.

Sometimes I even watch The Wild‘s mating behaviors.

Nowhere near as amusing as Two-Legs’ behaviors, though…

 

Sharing Apples and Peanut Butter

We are Graced by Coyote.

(Note the capital “G” above. No fool, I)

This sprightly gent dines elegantly on an apple core I tossed into our yard. Opossum most often dine on fruits and veges we offer, and Opossum can be right persnickety when they’re dining. Coyote avoid them more often than not.

Which tells us this fellow dines sans Opossum as either guest or host.

But there are Raccoon around because we can hear them chastising this handsome lad.

We leave out apple cores because a favorite snack (for me) is Granny Smith apples and chunky peanut butter (love the chunky kind, not so much the smooth kind (and that description tells you much about me and why I chose as I did)).

I often sit outside and The Wild come to me, take from my hand and dine with me.

Heck, Raccoon and Skunk come into my lap (I sit on the ground usually), stand up supporting themselves with their forepaws on my chest, and sniff my breath to determine if what I’m munching on is better than what I offer them (I do not recommend others do this).

Makes me wonder if I should share some apples and peanut butter with them.

Or with this fellow, any way.

Enjoy.

 

Welcome Erasmus

Behold Erasmus.

At first somewhat shy, then not so much so.

It’s amazing what free food can do.

Coyote are like that.

Free food, little effort, it’s a good thing. Especially in The Wild.

I noticed much the same during the middle to late 1980s where the mere mention of free sex and cocaine would cause people to flock from miles around.

Did I say “miles”?

More like states.

Pretty easy to do in New England.

And in the meantime, we’ll let Erasmus dine.

Enjoy.

 

Nothing like a Good Scratch

Continuing from last week’s Oh, They’re Quick, You know…, a somewhat longer installment in the ongoing lives of Coyote.

First, let’s recognize there’s nothing like a good scratch.

Scratching, with humans, has many triggers. Often humans scratching is simply a response to something moving on the skin. An insect, for example, or a piece of falling debris.

It can also be an indication of uncleanliness, and that gets us into grooming behaviors, something I discuss in my That Th!nk You Do books. Not all grooming behaviors are triggered by uncleanliness and all grooming behaviors have a social function even when the individual is self-grooming.

One of most fascinating triggers for scratching is BMIRs – Behavioral Manifestations of Internal Responses.

The individual who scratches their face, their arms, their hands, their head, any body part, is often signalling an internal response to their environment, their situation, what’s going on around them and what they’re immediately focusing their attention on.

That last part – immediately focusing their attention on – is important. A BMIR can be triggered by a memory, an anticipated event (future projection). I explain aspects of BMIRs in the aforementioned That Th!nk You Do books and also demonstrate their use in my The Augmented Man.

(not suggesting you buy them (although you should!), just sharing resources for you)

The Wild is not much different.

So beware.

The Wild has memories and anticipations, too.