Walk On The Wild Side

Her world is full of big adventures. 

It's a well-known fact that every afternoon, my good dog, Gracie, and I set off on an adventure around our neighborhood. We meet plenty of other humans and dogs on the busy suburban streets, and even get smiles and waves from the people in cars who pass by.

But besides people and their pets, lately my dog and I have been meeting up with an interesting variety of wildlife.

Take squirrels for example, An abundance of the little rascals frolic here and there along our route, dashing across the streets and scampering in the grass along the sidewalks. But it is back behind the high school, in our favorite and most secluded spot, that Gracie slows her pace into a stealthy stalk as she creeps up to Squirrel Headquarters. We silently approach the isolated dumpster at the edge of the forest, Gracie with her eyes riveted on the big green box and me tiptoeing behind. As we slip closer, the squirrels note our appearance and react, flashing across the paved lane, dashing into the undergrowth, or most rewardingly, popping out of  the dumpster lid, leaping into the nearby branches and scrambling off through the trees. Like the natural hunter that she is, Gracie stares in fascination while standing stock still, sometimes even assuming the classic "on point" position of a bird dog. The squirrels are not necessarily impressed but I am always proud of my clever girl.

Crows forage here and there along our route, usually standing guard over the best castoff chicken bones, half-eaten hamburgers, and taco wrapperss to be found under the bushes along the way. Gracie eyes the scavengers with envy as I remind her, " We don't eat garbage."( I would love to hear her response to that concept.)  Osprey often circle overhead; they nest in the tops of the towering floodlights along the edges of the ball fields, and Gracie often tracks them as they deliver meals to their babes at home. I smile to watch her ardently gazing up at the sky and watching this happy scene unfold.

We've seen two rabbits in the last week. The first one froze up and huddled just off the path in apparent terror as I dragged my dog past her. Feet scrambling in all directions in a desperate attempt to override my authority, Gracie clearly wanted a closer look. She got her chance a few days later when we spied another bunny chilling under the shrubs on the back lawn of the secret building behind the high school. This little brown hopper dashed and my girl gave enthusiastic chase. Although Gracie was limited by her 45-foot leash, the bunny ran in a circular path around me so Gracie was able to gallop at full speed around the arc. Miraculously, the rabbit escaped into the forest, my arm was not yanked completely out of its socket, and we all enjoyed the exhilarating encounter. 

But the most exciting wildlife meet-up of our summer so far is the one that didn't quite happen. Seems that just the other week, our little patch of forest was visited by none other that a young black bear; he was treed by wildlife officials just a few feet off our well-worn trail. I cannot imagine the chaos that might have ensued if my little red teddy bear had met up with a proper ursus, but I am certainly glad we did not find out. 

Who knows what wildlife we might meet next. There are always raccoons lurking around in the deep brush along the street.  Opossums turn up from time to time. And my husband tells me that in the early mornings, when he's on his way to his bus stop, he's heard coyotes howling in the woods behind the school.

All I know for sure is that when I go out with Gracie, we are taking a walk on the wild side.