My Neighbor

My neighbor has four dogs five cats, and they just brought home two snakes today. And a puppy.

Fortunately, he keeps a clean yard. The dogs run around in his back yard and it's like a minefield of dog dirt - but they don't go anywhere else. If he didn't, I'd probably be tracking it right now.

But anyone can have too many dogs or cats. That's not what's cool about my neighbor. What's really neat about him is that he's somehow managed to find and support a small herd of deer. At night you can hear them walking through the woods to the feeder. Sometimes at night we see a white flash through the wood - he hooked up a camera and motion sensor to take pictures of the deer and coyote that roam through there.

It made me feel good that my children and I cleared the woods and surrounding area of trash and debris. But especially so, that we found a salamander when we were clearing. Salamanders can only really survive when the environment is in balance. They're susceptible to water pollution, land pollutants, and a host of other things in the environment.

I think my neighbor had something to do with bringing this place into balance. What really blows my mind is how a herd of deer manage to make their way almost into town just to feed from this feeder.

Squirrels abound - it seems that none of the cats are taking them. Can it be, that the squirrels have figured out how to evade the local feline? I was half expecting - given an open grain feeder - that I would see about half as many squirrels and a whole lot of fat cats.

I can honestly say that I see eye to eye with him on quite a few things. My neighbor is a mellow, nice kind of guy.

His wife is folksy, and his daughter is a slacker - but very good neighbors. Today my children were early release and I couldn't get home in time, so his wife took them in. I owe them one.