Pretty Wild

Our yard is subject to scavenging by many wild animals. Rabbits, moles, groundhogs and deer devour my plantings. Large clutches of wild turkeys perch on our deck railing. (This is exciting in a good way until you notice that they ALWAYS poop upon departure, and turkeys are big birds! You really don't want 14 turkeys pooping on your deck in one fell swoop.)

Even worse however are the animals that tamper with the garbage cans. Raccoons knock our cans over and unlatch the "tamper-proof" garbage lids. After they finish festooning our yard with edible tidbits, the skunks arrive. Evidently something keeps startling the blasted skunks, for we frequently detect their acrid essence. The crows have even gotten in on the act. One of them pecked a hole the size of an orange in one of the lids (plastic, obviously), and now they visit that can regularly and pull out tempting morsels.


But we don't have coconut crabs! (This is not photo-shopped.) These creatures live in places such as Guam, and can crack coconuts easily with their powerful claws. I sure would not care to run across one while taking out the trash. So I guess I'll quit complaining and count my blessings-----oh wait, there are fifteen friggin' turkeys!