Still Enjoying The Wildlife Out Here In The Country

As we drive along the country roads, we often see hawks perched on fence posts and on telephone poles, as we did last year. For some reason we don’t seem them as much in the summer but see them all through the fall and winter.

Last week, as we were pulling into the driveway in the evening, we saw three deer in the field just across the way. It was pretty dark but we could still see the deer in the headlights and their eyes would really reflect back the light. They didn’t seem too concerned that we left the headlights on and continued to watch them for a while. They just continued to graze as they watched us. 

Then last night, as we pulled onto the gravel road we live on, we saw a large skunk cross the road in front of us. As I was washing the car today I could see raccoon tracks on the trunk and hood of the car. We also found a raccoon trapped in a garbage can on the golf course a week or so ago. We released him but then noticed a dead raccoon on the path several days later. We noticed that the raccoon had chewed up all the pop cans in the bottom of the garbage can, and that may have been the cause of his demise. Lots of wild life in this area and lots of road kill. There must be thousands of possums, raccoons, squirrels, skunks and other critters that are killed on the roads in this part of the country every year.

I Don’t Like Chiggers But They Still Like Me! {And Other Critters}

When we first arrived here, people told us to stay out of the tall grass to avoid the chiggers. I have since decided that they are prevalent in the mowed grass as well. 

We live on a gravel road and frequently drive on gravel roads as we make our visits. In addition, bugs seem to thrive in this part of the world. So our car gets dirty really fast. After the first week we took the car to a car wash. But that didn't seem to do a very good job cleaning off all the dead bugs on the front of the car. So I decided to start washing the car on the back lawn. I thought since the grass had been mowed, I would not need to worry about chiggers. I was wrong!  I think that is how I got my first chigger bites. The next week I sprayed my shoes and pant legs with insect repellent before washing the car. I still got more chigger bites. However, I did walk across the grass at a fair we attended so that may have been the cause. After all of that, I decided I would no longer wash cars on the lawn, even if the grass is mowed and I would take every precaution not to walk anywhere there might be chiggers. 

Then, this past week, we taught a lesson to a part-member family and as we were leaving, the parents of the nonmember pulled up outside the house. The nonmember had given us her parents' contact information as someone we might visit. She felt that her mother would visit with us, but was not sure what kind of reception we would get from her father. I had talked to the mother on the phone earlier in the week and had a tentative appointment that was cancelled because the father was not feeling well. So when they pulled up in front of the daughter’s house, I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself and attempt to make a favorable impression. The car was parked on the side of the road next to a ditch and he had been riding on the passenger side. They had just come back from the doctor and he was not getting out of the car, they were just dropping off something for the daughter. To get to the passenger side of the car, I had to walk across a lawn and stand in a ditch. 

The grass wasn't too long, but prior to walking across the lawn, I thought, "This could be bad!"  I am becoming very conscious of any place that might have chiggers...

But then I thought, "This is a worthy cause, go introduce yourself, it will only take a minute."

So I went over and introduced myself. Well, the conversation lasted much longer than I anticipated and the whole time I am thinking, "I bet thousands of chiggers are crawling up my legs." But then I wanted to be polite, and he wanted to talk, so I stood my ground. 

Sure enough, the next day, I had considerably more chigger bites. I think I counted around 22. They really do itch, some worse than others and I had trouble sleeping last several nights because of the intense itching. If we end up teaching this person along with his wife and they join the church, I will be able to always remember them for the little sacrifice I made to introduce myself and get to know him. I am looking forward to the cooler weather not only for the comfort, but also because I am told chiggers are only around during the hot summer months. The funny thing is I have seen the local people walk across grass on occasion without being overly concerned, I see people walking across the grass at the golf course every day, of course they all ride their golf carts, but they do have to get out of the cart on occasion to hit the ball. So, maybe over time a person builds up some kind of immunity from those little critters.

Speaking of critters, we have something under the house.

The other night Sister Anderson and I were both awakened by some critter under the house. The next day I checked the door to the crawl space and it was open. I closed it, but now I am not sure whether I locked the critter in or out. I am a little concerned; it could die under there and create a pretty foul odor. We had that happen years ago when we lived in Virginia, I was out of town working on a project in Boston or New Hampshire, I can’t remember which, but Linda called and said the house smelled really bad. When I came home I found a bunch of baby possums were under the house and had all died. The next day we walked to a nearby park and saw a dead possum on the road and figured that is why the babies all died, the mother had been hit by a car.

After some speculation as to whether our current critter was a raccoon, possum, or armadillo, I told Sister Anderson that I thought it was probably a troll! 

-Jay Anderson