Sadness was as dangerous as panthers and bears; the wilderness needs your whole attention. – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American writer (1867-1957)
By sharing with others, you help ensure that the tallgrass prairie continues to delight future generations. – Cindy Crosby, American author, speaker, focus on tallgrass prairie ecology
If asked, I wouldn’t trade anything for living in the Prairie. Today, you can look out across fields and see cotton growing, dried corn stalks standing, cows grazing and tall grasses swaying. Trees are abundant, casting a little shade here and there amid acres of fields. Creeks flow, lakes shimmer like glass on a sunny day. It is not unusual to pass a homestead with a chicken coop, roosters, rabbit pens; ducks, goats, donkey, one “zedonk,” horses, cats and dogs.
The downside is the Prairie is wild and can’t ever be tamed. Sam left early in the morning before the sun came up, he caught sight of a bobcat. The bobcat crossed from the driveway to the other side of the rock road. It’s not the first time a bobcat has been seen around here and it won’t be the last. Coyotes also roam and sometimes you see them other times you hear them howling in the distance. I’ve had a stare-down with a coyote at midday before the coyote hightailed it.
Raptors cruise skies over fields, lawn, and lake looking for prey, mostly rodents, lizards, small birds, rabbits, squirrels, frogs, fish, snakes, grasshoppers, and cicadas. It’s the way of the world’s food chain. Raptors include hawks, kites, eagles, owls, and falcons. There are 3 types of falcons found in Mississippi, the American Kestrel, the Peregrine Falcon, and the Merlin. Years ago, Sam found a deceased Merlin in perfect condition. He took it down to Plymouth Environmental Center and handed it off to Dr. Sherman where there’s a small museum. Dr. Sherman kindly added Sam’s Merlin to the collection.
Last week Sam came in from bushhogging a field and mentioned he had seen some white downy feathers near the lake. He thought it was probably from the Canada geese hanging around the edge of the lake. We walked out to take a look. Sure enough lots of downy feathers. Then we noticed what looked like more feathers a distance away in the sunlight. We walked there. We had recently discovered a resident Red-shouldered hawk and these appeared to be its feathers. Two large and separated wings lay amid the downy feathers but no more of the bird. Living in the wild can be painful. What murderous creature could have taken the hawk? The bobcat? A coyote? Google says it’s unusual but a larger owl or eagle could kill a Red-shouldered hawk. We have both.
The next morning, I awakened to a cool and sunny day. The wind whispered around the house while the tree limbs danced. The birds sang, hummingbirds hogged the feeders; all was green, lush, and blooming. While filling the bird feeder I noticed a tiny morning glory with a singular blue flower growing in the hardest of ground. With Wilhelmina’s help I repotted the morning glory. There’s a lot more beauty in the wild than pain, even in the hardest of ground.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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