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Birds and Bugs and Beasts, Oh, My!

by Patricia and James Cummings

One of the joys of living in our West Concord, New Hampshire location is that we see wildlife at many unexpected moments. For example, one morning there was a deer right outside the kitchen window which is at the back of the house. 

Inquisitive looking deer in our yard in Concord, NH, 2009.
photo by James Cummings

The layout of the yard is very attractive to birds. Although the yard encompasses only an acre of land, there is open space, a garden area, and many different tiers of bushes and trees that line the slope heading down to the stream that feeds into the Merrimack River.

We often see large flocks of Canadian geese flying over the house as they head a short distance to Long Pond, which is Concord, New Hampshire's city reservoir. We usually hear the geese, sooner than we see them, and recently, they have been over-wintering here rather than heading further south.

Oriole in the Apple Tree

We have seen our share of wildlife here, even though we live in the city, on only one acre of land. Raccoon, skunk, and woodchucks find us, as well as an array of birds, including a flock of turkeys in our garden!

Creatures that are more unwelcome visit us, too. Snakes are very good for the environment, and they keep the rodent population under control and eat "bugs." They more than earn their keep! However, it is not pleasant to come across one slithering across one's path, mid-summer.

Why, one year, there was a harmless garden snake that took up residence under our porch. We would have to be careful not to step on it, when we left the house, via the back door, as there it would be, in its glory, warming itself on the cement, in the sun.

Look closely! This is our "I am curious, yellow" snake

Mostly, we all co-exist, and that is a good thing. For years, I looked forward to the annual visit of Cedar Waxwing birds, but our Mulberry Tree got old and weak and became a danger with falling branches, so it had to be removed. Mulberry trees were important in the nineteenth century to those who raised silkworms at home. Of course, the worms devoured the mulberry leaves, with great relish. Now that silk is more readily available, the practice of home sericulture has fallen into disuse. After all, it's easier to "just write a check" for finished goods.

All in all, so far we have been lucky. We have seen no moose or bear in the backyard. We do seem to have an abundance of spiders (Arachnids). Mostly, I tolerate them, except for the Brown Recluse Spiders, the Black Widow Spiders, and the small hairy black spiders that have thick appendages. In this old house, with all of its cracks and crevices, I am constantly vaccuming up spider webs. Luckily, the first two spiders I mentioned are not too friendly, and they prefer the dark recesses of the cellar.

The most beautiful spider I have ever seen is a garden variety:  a large yellow spider with black marking. Only once has one of these been seen in my own garden. At the time, I had no camera available.

Monarch butterflies on the Chrysanthemums in our front yard, just before fall migration to Mexico.

©Copyright 2006, 2009. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, New Hampshire. All text and photos are copyright protected. Contact us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com