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   My wife and I enjoy nature and watching the wildlife that surrounds us. Most of the time, there are no conflicts in our shared space, but not always.

   There are few things more disconcerting than going out to the trash cans and finding a week’s worth of trash scattered around the yard. We have lived in peace with the neighborhood raccoons with only an occasional battle over bird feed. This was mitigated by bringing the bird seed and grape jelly inside at night. I thought the raccoons could wander around at night and be available for our grandson, Zane, to train his coon hounds. The dogs track the raccoons and run them up a tree where Zane then rewards the dog for a job well done.  The local raccoons make for an easy training run for both Zane and the dogs. With switching their diets from bird feed to whatever can be found in the trash cans, the truce has been broken. He has now been instructed to dispatch the raccoons when treed anywhere near our house.

   We are back on good terms with our resident rabbits. Protective fencing has been installed around everything we wish to keep from being eaten by them. This has been working well. On most Sunday mornings, Damon will stop by for coffee and bring his two beagles. While we enjoy time on the porch, the beagles will chase the rabbits from one patch of timber to the other near the house. The dogs get their exercise, and the rabbits seem to enjoy the chase as they go from place to place staying just ahead of the dogs. We enjoy watching the hunt and listening to the dogs hard at work. After an hour or so, the dogs will come to the porch to get a drink and rest for a while, happy in a job well done. Before long a rabbit will be back out in the driveway as though they are looking for the dogs to come back out and play.

     The deer have been pushing the boundaries of the unspoken truce. They have refrained from eating the flowers in the yard but have been working on my green beans. I am a patient and tolerant man but I do have my limits. We do not have a large garden or a wide selection of vegetables, but my wife and I are both partial to fresh green beans.  I have the beans covered with netting but only have moderate success with protecting the beans. Apparently, deer find green beans too tempting to pass up. They will nip off any leaves that manage to grow through the netting and each night, attempt to remove the protective cover. They are living on borrowed time. The truce will last until deer season opens. We will then be eating deer steak with the few green beans we are able to rescue from raiders.

   My wife and I spend a lot of time outside on various projects enjoying the birds and animals we see while working. We just wish they would respect the boundaries of our relationship. Most of the time we can live and let live. At other times, there is an uneasy truce, hanging on precariously.

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