27 August 2010 - Windsor, CONight of the grizzlies was a horrifying tale of marauding bears creeping in under the cover of darkness and killing campers in Yellowstone National Park. Last night in my backyard, it was night of the raccoons.
Under the cover of darkness and guided by the light of a full moon, they came. It was no huge surprise that these beasts would find my treasure of corn. The ecosystem created by our sump pump had drawn all sorts of wildlife to it. The cornfield was just a stones throw away from where the water flowed out of the pipe.
During the summer, we had heard eerie screeching and squawking noises in the middle of the night. A neighbor had told us she thought it was the sounds of a raccoon in heat. Confirmed.
So there they lay, corn stalks torn down by the savages. There were corn cobs stripped clean of all their bounty tossed around like rag dolls. Nature had come full circle.
I planted the field late because we had snow on May 15th this year. It grew slowly and we did enjoy 8 nice ears before the carnage. Now, all we have left is the old corn stalks standing like tombstones reminding us of a season gone by.
We will let the stalks dry out and blow in the wind until around Halloween. Then, they will be used as decoration. Finally, we will burn them and return the ashes into the soil with the promise of another crop next season.
As for the raccoons, we have never seen them. These ghosts will continue to remind us that like the bunnies and the butterflies, these creatures need to eat too. I know they enjoyed it.
Tim, you should be a writer! The raccoon story was great! Good suspense, good characters,(I could really identify with the raccoons). However, I was really looking forward to eating some of the corn. Bad raccoon!
ReplyDeleteOn a Friday long ago, my neighbor told me to pick my crop of corn that was ready to eat or the racoons would get to it. As a teen, I wanted to wait until weekend events were over to harvest. Big mistake. The racoons ate everything, teacing me a valuable lesson about growing vegetables in the suburbs.
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