The Eagle Outdoors

Apparently, at some point when I wasn’t paying attention, the wet season began. It’s raining as I write this on Sunday, Oct. 26. It was raining yesterday and the day before. Both of Julie’s 55-gallon rain barrels that hold the water running off the roof of the greenhouse are now overflowing. Local deer hunters - those trying to fill tags during this final weekend of modern rifle season - have been damp for a couple of days now. Puget Island has been surprisingly quiet.

Still, it’s a transitional time of year for Mother Nature and her minions. Little geese continue to arrive almost daily from their Alaskan birthplace. More and more Anna’s hummingbirds are visiting the liquid feeders. Out front, the seed hoppers and hanging sunflower heads have been attracting English sparrows, juncos, and grey and Steller’s jays for a week now. I would imagine somewhere in that timber/urban interface around Cathlamet, western grey squirrels and chipmunks are frantically storing stuff, including the stuffing out of the patio cushions you foolishly left out on the porch, away for the inevitable coming of cold. October is a busy time for everyone. Still, and as I often strongly suggest, ‘tis best you take a moment now and again out of your busy schedule to look and listen to “The Great Outdoors.” You’ll be glad you did.

Lions, tigers, opossums?

Recently, I noticed the stray cat’s food bowl was completely empty every morning. This is not her modus operandi. Curious, I strapped a trail camera onto one of the porch supports and was rewarded the next morning with a photo of an opossum on the back of my glider.

Ah, the much maligned, slow-moving North American opossum or, as it’s technically known, the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). Always looking like they’re in need of a bath, opossums are native to South America, relocating themselves an estimated one million years ago via the Isthmus of Panama. The little white critters colonized the eastern U.S. first. Then, it’s thought, they were introduced to the west coast during the 1930s, probably as a source of meat, which was in short supply during The Great Depression. Today, as many of you know, they’re seemingly everywhere.

My native Ohio was chock full of opossums. We saw them shuffling through the squirrel woods. We saw them trying, often unsuccessfully, to cross the highway. Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the opossum it could be done. However factual it might be, it’s not humorous if you’re an opossum. My Pop and I often caught them while we were trapping ‘coon, mink, and muskrats, subsequently turning them loose unharmed. They were a lot of work for the single dollar the late Jack Hatfield, our fur buyer, would give us. In our 10 years in the Elochoman Valley, I’ve seen only a handful of opossums. We haven’t, knock on wood, had any trouble with them getting into the chickens. I’m sure they come and go in the night, but our paths haven’t crossed.

Until now, that is. I find myself hooked on the horns of a dilemma. Do I tend to the perceived invasion in an Old School manner (I’ll leave that to y’all to define) or, perhaps, a relocation? Feign ignorance? Curtail the feeding altogether? What if one (Mama) opossum suddenly becomes six? What then? I reckon I’ll give the situation a couple more days. Do a little more trail camera ‘research’ before coming to a decision. Besides, if a opossum eating a stray cat’s food is the biggest concern in my world, I reckon I’m still ahead of the curve, eh?

Hummingbirds and willows

While duck hunting recently, I noticed a pair of Anna’s hummingbirds sharing the small clump of Pacific willow I was using as my blind. At first, I assumed they were drinking the tiny water droplets from the leaves; however, after watching them closely, I noticed they were sipping what looked like nectar from what appeared to be tiny partially opened yellow buds. They were incredibly busy little marvels of aerodynamic movement, and kept me occupied throughout the three hours when I was simply impersonating a duck hunter. That’s what I mean about really watching what Mother Nature puts on display. It can be pretty fascinating.

Trick or Treat Safety

While it might not have anything to do with ducks or deer, it’s worth reminding folks that Friday night, Oct. 31 is Halloween and, along with it, my personal favorite day of the year, Trick or Treat. That said, the streets will be alive with Superheros and LED-adorned butterflies, G.I. Joes, and who-knows-what. Drivers in and around Cathlamet please take your time. Go slow, look and look again. Better yet, leave the car in the garage and take a walk, see the sights, talk to your neighbors. When the homeowner up Columbia asks, “Candy, or a potato,” take the potato, unless he has Smarties. Just say’n. Happy Halloween!