Category Archives: Critters

Thrummingbirds

Posted on August 7, 2020 by sputterpub

I never saw so many hummingbirds in 13 years of living by this yard. If I’d attempt to put their sound in words, I’d mention “thrum:” soft tongue upon the hard- called palate right behind the upper teeth. I hear … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronaverse, Critters, Home, Poetry | Tagged | 2 Comments

Scat

Posted on August 1, 2020 by sputterpub

My yard is rodent-rich and bird-endowed, and harbors skunks and possums frequently, but we decided deer are not allowed – they munch too many blossoms. So we built a gate atop the entrance steps that cowed the eaters of our … Continue reading →

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Another Trivial Complaint (HA 109 Haiku)

Posted on July 4, 2020 by sputterpub

Appreciating crows above my redwood deck I loathe their white shit

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A Trivial Complaint (HA 106 Magic 9)

Posted on July 1, 2020 by sputterpub

I’ve dealt with worse incursions in the past – mosquito scouts and rodent mites and ants. Perhaps my irritation should be classed a side effect of house arrest, but I’m annoyed by common houseflies neither fast nor big: each easy … Continue reading →

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A Scurry of Squirrels (HA 74)

Posted on May 30, 2020 by sputterpub

A month ago, the music of the birds was serenade from dawn to nearly noon. Today to put the garden sound in words, I hear the insect buzz and squirrel zoom. The bees are drinking salvia and flies are bumping … Continue reading →

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The Neighbor’s Cat

Posted on March 30, 2020 by sputterpub

The neighbors have a cat that lives outside as if it were an apex beast of prey, evolved to wanton feats of avicide, and tearing plants his collar pulls away from trellises or tangles with the hose, refining talons scoring … Continue reading →

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Opossum Love

Posted on March 11, 2020 by sputterpub

At 6 a.m. one day last week, I heard a thump outside the window where I sat. I raised the shade to see what had occurred, and spied a pair of ‘possums going at it, either sex or play or … Continue reading →

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Exampling Spider

Posted on October 8, 2019 by sputterpub

A three-month project, overrun to eight, is nearly at an end, but truth be told, the bulk of it was not accomplished late. I hung at ninety-five percent, controlled by winter trains and summer-found defects, by workmen moving on to … Continue reading →

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One Sad Day

Posted on July 16, 2019 by sputterpub

Perhaps the year was 1999, the season fall, a Sunday afternoon. While window-shopping with a friend of mine, our focus was enticed by a balloon affixed above a cage the Shelter set upon the sidewalk, graced with pretty strays. A … Continue reading →

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Good Neighbors

Posted on December 10, 2018 by sputterpub

Two skunks made babies in my yard last week, assuming that was reproductive sex: two poufs of jet bisected by a streak of white elongating their backs and necks. That’s two months early, says the Internet. Their mating season doesn’t … Continue reading →

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