The Beasts of the Field
In the eighteen months I have lived on my hilltop in San Diego, I have gotten used to the critters that inhabit the chaparral. There is a very well defined ecosystem and while I am no zoologist or naturalist, this is how I see it. The baseline are the little ants I see here and there, inside and out. They don’t seem to be around much in the winter months, but last summer they were virtually swarming in the heat and had become a major nuisance. We do not yet know whether last year was an aberration or the norm, but we certainly hoping for the former and so far we see them around, but not is massive quantities. These critters are called Argentine Ants as they are an invasive bunch that has managed to expand from the Southern Hemisphere to most of the rest of the world with several super-colonies located in Japan, Europe (Around the warmer Mediterranean countries like Spain) and, sure enough, the biggest colony of all that runs from San Diego up to San Francisco. The interesting thing of note is that these ants are genetically very homogenous from one nest to another which makes for the mega or super colonies, but also does not foster much diversity for sustainability of the species. That is an interesting species quirk worth noting and while we have only broached eight billion humans versus the one trillion ants in the California super-colony, there might be a message of some sort for us in that observation.
While there are occasionally other bugs around the property, I tend to think about the lizards next in the hierarchy. The lizards are friendly fellows that scurry about here and there and don’t seem to bother anyone. They can be fun to watch, but I generally barely give them a thought. Snakes are next in the hierarchy and they are a different story altogether. Where the Argentine ant may be annoying in its proliferation, and the garden variety lizards and non-venomous snakes may exist, the dominant snake species that gets my attention is the rattlesnake. I grew up hearing about rattlesnakes but not thinking much about them since I rarely, if ever, encountered one. Seeing a garter snake poke its head out of a stone wall in Ithaca can startle you, but it doesn’t frighten you too much both is size and threat. Rattlesnakes are different. They both startle and frighten and when you hear all the stories of having to rush to a local urgent care for an anti-venom injection or risk dying, you take these critters very seriously. We found and killed five on our property last year and so far are at four this year. It hasn’t stopped me from tramping around most of my property (I do avoid one section of rocks where they seem to hang out the most), but I do feel like I am on constant snake alert.
As dog owners, we are acutely aware of coyotes since the story of little dogs getting snatched in a heartbeat for a snack are quite numerous. We do not let Betty roam too freely on our property, somewhat because of snakes and cacti injury potential, but mostly because we fear the sudden attack of a hiding coyote. Coyotes do not restrict themselves to our western chaparral habitat, but have become quite prolific here in the east as well I am told. But I do not go out in the back yard in Ithaca and think snake or coyote alert. That just doesn’t occur to me on these lush green lawns or even the weeded side areas. I am more concerned about the ubiquitous and potentially disease-carrying ticks out in those more densely wooded or brushed areas than I am about coming upon a nasty critter of larger proportions.
Bobcats have been a recent phenomenon. I don’t recall bobcats being a threat to being out and about in the countryside when I was young. We all heard about coyotes, but bobcats were animals in books, not animals to encounter on a walk. That seems to have changed now and between my bobcat encounter on my hillside one day and several local and verifiable encounters, I think its fair to say that bobcats are now part of my routine animal context. A recent You-tube video of a rabid bobcat attacking a woman and her husband (who eventually shot him) has brought the risk of bobcats into focus. In addition to the general issue of getting bitten, it now seems that we know that bobcats are quite tactical and know to bite humans in the neck and throat and thereby threaten life. Not a fun thought.
I also have known that mountain lions do still roam the western chaparral and I have even seen one on one particular ride up to Mount Palomar one sunny morning. These big cats are quite different from bobcats in terms of their threat. Bobcats seem to have to be rabid or otherwise diseased to be a real threat unless you are stupidly trying to interact with them, but mountain lions seem big and wild enough to be something you simply don’t want to encounter…ever…if you can avoid it. They are more like bears and should be avoided at all costs. I don’t even want to talk about bears and the recent You-tube video of a young woman beating off a mama bear bothering her little yapping backyard dogs. Suffice it to say I hate bears and never want to see one. I might even suggest that I prefer not to see them in captivity either since I am certain bears know all about me and are after me. I am on the bear ten-most-wanted list, I am quite certain.
I figured that was the array of beasts of the field I had to worry about in life, but now that I am here in Ithaca, I have been awakened to a whole new array of bestial concerns. To begin with, we had a family of skunks on the property last year and while I can’t say I think of skunks as life-threatening, they do occupy a special nasty place in the hierarchy of beasts. I don’t think I need to explain the concern about skunks, but we all do know when there is one in the vicinity. I smelled that telltale odor out on the deck last night but it seemed remote and diluted enough not to concern me. All it did was remind me that they are still out there.
The two things that now make me stop and think are red squirrels and raccoons. Neither seem particular threatening, but cousin Pete tells the story of coming into the house and being greeted by a surprised and frantic red squirrel that veritably flew across the room towards him in a National Lampoon Vacation scenario. The episode ended well with a squirrel in a Have-a-heart trap that got relocated to some place unknown to me. Raccoons were not even a passing thought until the other night. We were sitting in the living room when we heard a ruckus on the porch. When we went to the kitchen door, there were two big fat furry raccoons on the porch duking it out over something unknown. Betty had been out there with me as I was cleaning the porch that day so perhaps it was her scent that attracted them there versus the garbage bins (where one normally thinks of seeing raccoons). So now I have to think beyond the “you really must try this, it tastes like mango with burnt hair” humor of the neighborhood raccoons attacking the garbage cans. They are now in the coyote and bobcat camp quite squarely.
Maybe its that I’m at home more in retirement. Maybe its the pandemic that allowed the natural world to prosper and proliferate more. Whatever it is, I have to learn to live with the beasts of the field more and share my physical presence with them. All I can say, is, watch out, Rich is coming.