Just a Thought: Local Wildlife

I love most animals. There are some I can do without. However I can understand their being part of our environment.
Just a Thought: Local Wildlife
Arnold Doctorin (The Epoch Times)
7/24/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Arnold.JPG" alt="Arnold Doctorin (The Epoch Times)" title="Arnold Doctorin (The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1827163"/></a>
Arnold Doctorin (The Epoch Times)
I’m apologizing for this piece if it offends anyone. I love most animals. There are some I can do without—such as most rodents. However, when observing them up close I can understand their being part of our environment.

Squirrels are pretty fun to watch. With their large eyes, I must appear to be a godzilla to them. Even when I’m scurrying off to some semi-important place I can stop and watch them go about their lives. What’s up with them burying acorns? We have none where I live, but they still seem to be tirelessly digging and burying something. What’s it? A safe deposit box to be opened in the winter?

Where I live in Brooklyn we have the monk-parakeets which have been written about for 35 years. Now, it’s so amazing to see a parrot who can master our icy winter weather. You can hear their ever-present chatter distinctive among most of the local birds.

We have the rare Brooklyn raccoon. They are usually spotted near water but will forage around. When there has been a building demolition I’ve seen a few walking around the area.

A year ago in an area called Borough Park, I spotted an animal on the other side of a cyclone fence. It looked like a raccoon, but the fur was so thick I shuddered to think what it was. Upon going to the dictionary I found it to be a raccoon dog. How did it wind up in Brooklyn? Let alone the U.S.?

Now getting to some of my favorite animal neighbors. We have about eight cats in the immediate area of my house. The local cat fanciers have fed them regularly and made them comfortable with hotel-like amenities. They are served breakfast in bed, so to speak, as they sleep not far away from the paper plates that are put down.

I’ve found you can get their interest by rattling a plastic bag—after a while they realize there is nothing inside and go away.

Nature is truly amazing, giving some cats and dogs an amazing combination of spots in different places. You couldn’t draw a cuter combination than the black eye patch, my favorite.

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