Patio adventures

Our backyard patio is warm, inviting and a lovely oasis from the hustle and bustle of the world. Literally, one can feel as though he has left the confines of the world and slipped into a wildlife sanctuary. Birds from all around the world love to fly in the heavens above. Butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies litter the air and love to hide among the wildflowers. I love to slip into this incredible slice of God's paradise. However, I am always apprehensive.

Many, many months ago, as I was opening the patio door to exit the house, a rattlesnake fell on my head. I subsequently killed the snake. Since that time, I have seen a few other snakes (thankfully none of them have been rattlers). So, one can imagine, I always am quite cautious when moving around on the patio.

The other day, as I was sitting in my bed reading the Bible, I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. I immediately went to the kitchen window and saw some feathers on the patio tiles. I knew what had happened. A bird flew into the kitchen window. This has happened many times before. The bird is a bit dazed and stunned, but eventually, it regains consciousness and flies away. I figured this is what happened to this bird. I did not see it any where. I assumed it must have flown away.

Later in the day, I venture out to the patio. I meander over to where the bird hit the window. To my horror, there is a mourning dove lying dead on the patio floor. I am too distressed to do anything more than hurriedly scurry away into the house.

The following night, I look out onto the patio and see a tail of an animal. I move closer to the patio door, and there is an opossum! My mom has some tomato plants on the patio. I watch as the opossum wanders over to one of the plants and starts drinking water from a water pan which is underneath one of the plants. I turn on the patio lights and pound on the window trying to scare the critter away. It leisurely reacts to the commotion and looks at me. It then slowly turns away from me and begins licking up some more water. Not knowing what else to do, I turn off the lights and leave the opossum alone.

The next day, I muster up enough courage to again explore the patio. I look for the dead dove and tell myself I will have the wits about me to take a shovel and throw the bird into an adjacent field. To my shock, the bird is gone! In the area where the dead avian once was, there are now two inch long brightly colored orange feathers with black and white stripes. Something came and made a meal out of the dove! As I travel around the patio, I see a dry owl pellet. I figure this is what must have eaten the dove. The pellet has the remnants of some of the bones and other indigestible parts of the bird.

A bit of fear and terror course through my veins! This is too much of the wild outdoors for me. I quickly dash inside, shutting the door tightly behind me. I allow the dry stale air of the house calm my nerves. I love our backyard patio, but for now, I think I will enjoy the comforts of being inside, safe and secure from the great outdoors.