A Wetlands Wildlife Ode

Précis

Given opportunity and our attentiveness,
wildlife will show us behaviors
we’ve not previously witnessed.

1

… Was reminded of this Saturday,
driving I-5 north just south of Tumwater,
when a Fisher began a foray,

Running through a 200 yd. gap
between my pickup and the sedan ahead
in the right lane.  A daring chap

I thought while noting there
was nothing coming up in the fast lanes,
but could it climb the concrete barrier?

I didn’t pull over to watch, and only
hours later this hypothesis gelled:  the center
of the freeway needed marking as its territory,
before a short-legged dash back to safety.

2

Chris had told me,
“The usual Deer trio came through browsing
and were eating yellowed Apricot leaves,
fallen to the ground in the onshore Wind.”
Sure enough,
they visited the next day, and the next,
until all the delicious leaves had been chewed.

Typically,
these Deer prefer nipping new growth of grass,
or buttercups and some morning glory.
Tugging Blackberry leaves from thorny stems
is favored,
unless they discover a desirous
supplement, say, Apples shaken to turf.

3

 Midday, the week before … a pair of Flickers with unusual markings had perched in
the Apple tree I view from desk-seat through a window — they had the red
brushstroke on cheeks, but no red swath on the back of neck, as do the Red-
shafted Flickers native to the forests in this northwest region, and the undersides
of their tails & wings were bright Yellow, not red.
When we had harvested several days previous two plastic bags full of apples from the
tree and laid the smaller ones on the ground for Deer, we left four Apples too high
to reach without going and getting the stepladder.  The male began pecking into
the highest of those left.  Who knew Flickers eat apples?
I’ve not seen it before, and the mid-migration feast continued three days, joined
subsequently, of course, by Red-shafted Flickers, a pair of eastern black cheek-
stripe Yellow-shafted Flickers, and a Downy Woodpecker.  Also, two Juncos were
nearby watching for any apple flesh dropped.  It took me several days, as well, but
I finally identified the discovery pair as Gilded Flickers, who nest in cavities carved
into saguaro cactus trunks along the AZ-CA border.

Envoi

So, if you happen to observe a pair of Raccoons
digging into low-tide sand by the salt water of the Narrows,
near Gig Harbor, it’s a fair guess they’ll have a Clam in paws soon.

Endnote:

Section 1: The endangered Fishers are closely related to minks, otters, and martens. Thanks to Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife who re-introduced 90 Fishers to the Olympic Peninsula from 2008 to 2010, which are apparently thriving and reproducing.