Lions and Tigers and Bears

Well, make that mountain lions, and wolves, and bears, and you'll be close to seeing what we're up against in the future--and that's only the large carnivores--and there's going to be a full food-chain involved along the way! Actually, the wolves have only made it to the Umpqua River which serves a large watershed not too far north of us.

Critters of almost every description abound.  And there are many more carnivores involved: coyotes, bobcats, lynx, skunks, martens, civet cats, various snakes, you name it, they're lurking.  Then there's the large herbivores which include elk and deer.  The elk, especially can be very destructive, very quickly, as a number of the plants in the arboretum have learned.  We've also had the occasional horse wander up to our land.  And there are many other smaller leaf-eaters, including rabbits, of course, as well as the sneakier ones chomping roots and the like including ground squirrels and boomers--also known as mountain beavers, so you can imagine what they might do...any seedling is at risk for being chiseled at the base and being dragged down into one of many holes in the ground.

And the bird-life is amazing!  Wild turkeys are the largest, but there are the many birds of the forest, including spotted owls (which are on the endangered list) owls, and blue jays.  There are those who hover above our grassland looking for small mammals like kestrels and those that swoop like hawks, owls, and the occasional eagle.  There are those very common robins and crows, with not-so-common ravens which also make their homes around and about.  And there are even flying squirrels! (So we've heard from the folks who were caretaking our place up until recent.).

So, why start off with such a long list of animalia???
Firstly, it's what makes the place magical.
Secondly, it's what will most likely make for our biggest organic challenge.  It would be nice just to have a telepathic agreement to leave the veges alone and totally for us, but somehow, I think that may be a little naive.
Thirdly, it's why this place is meant to be shared...so how can we "behave as if the god in every creature mattered"?  This looks to be the question that will unfold and make for very interesting future endeavour (Notice, I'm still spelling in Kiwi as that is from where I presently sit and type.).

It's also important to note just how amazing the plant life is, but that's for another entry, another day...after all, I don't want you to be scared away my first go!