wild things
Foghorn ’ s Legacy
BY PAMELA BOE
With a dismayed gasp , I Cottage in the Agricultural Reserve . leapt off the steps and Usually this transpires amidst songs raced to save her , yet of birds and woodpeckers , low hums even as I ran , screaming and cursing her attacker , I knew it was too my tulips , and the busy rummaging
of early pollinators dancing through
late . There wasn ’ t much blood , but of squirrels and chipmunks in the I could tell by the way her head dry foliage in the woods . On those dangled limply in his clutches , she mornings I am filled with peace , was gone . Stunned silence hung frozen in the air around me as all the everything in my immediate domain
starting the day with a sense that
creatures in my garden recovered is right and good and in its place . I from the surprise assault . A heavy feel I ’ ve earned this peace now that moment passed , I sighed in resignation and turned back to my seat school , though I ’ m embarrassed it
my youngest is graduating from high
grumbling , “ Good day to you , too .” has taken more than half a century On any given warm morning you ’ ll find me waking up with So when this hard-won morn-
for me to reach this mindset .
my chubby little hands hugging ing peace is interrupted by the swift , a steaming mug of coffee on the unapologetic murder of one of my front steps of my beloved Fern cherished goldfinches , in mid-swig
of coffee , no less , I get a little testy . After some frantic googling , and a call to my friend and bird-aficionado Chet Anderson , I concluded that the suspect is a Cooper ’ s Hawk , ( or Accipiter cooperii , if you want to get fancy about it .) One of three North American Accipiter Hawks , Cooper ’ s Hawks have short , broad wingspans and long tails that allow for amazingly swift maneuverability in flight . As carnivorous birds of prey , they are essential in keeping smaller critter populations in check within the delicate balance that is our ecosystem . Even if it means one of my well-loved , and well-fed ( by expensive pre-shelled sunflower hearts , if you must know ) goldfinches must bite the dust from time to time .
Do you remember America ’ s most boastful , if not brightest rooster , Foghorn Leghorn ? Arguably one of the best cartoon characters of my childhood , Foghorn was sometimes tasked with redirecting a would-be chicken hawk from Foghorn ’ s harem of chickens . “ Boy ! I say , I say Boy !” He would
plenty I Summer growing 2021 23