Damon and Amanda built their new house some distance off the road in a wooded area on the south end of the farm. They are ringed by trees on three sides and an open pasture on the other. The location was chosen primarily because of the beauty and isolation. One thing they did not think of was others may have already claimed this spot, for the same reason.

The steady stream of wildlife living in what is now their front yard has been interesting to say the least. Feeding domesticated animals such as their two cats and two dogs in the same area claimed by the local wildlife has not made the problem any less. Routinely, raccoons will walk out of the woods, across the lawn, and check out the cat dish for any tasty food left behind. A major deer trail comes out of the woods, past the garden, and into the adjacent field. It is only a matter of time before the watch dogs slip up and the deer wipe out the garden in a single pass. It is fairly common to see a group of turkeys grazing on the freshly mown lawn. They find bugs in short grass more easily and seem to wait for the sound of the mower to stop. The flock of turkey then spread out grazing on the freshly mown grass and any nice juicy bugs that no longer have a place to hide.

Damon and Amanda both enjoy watching the wildlife and do not mind sharing space with them, up to a point. During the building of the house, a pile of top soil had been pushed off to the side. When the dozers quit running and the last thing was to level the dirt pile I told Damon a nice pile of dirt is a good investment for a couple of kids. They have spend hours digging, making roads, and watching the birds and animals around them. One late afternoon, the boys were out back playing on their pile of dirt. Amanda looked out to check on them and saw both dogs at full attention with hair raised on their backs. Checking the direction of their gaze, she saw a bob cat watching the boys at play. A bob cat is generally reclusive, avoiding people if at all possible. They feed on small rodents, snakes and reptiles. It would be highly unusual for a bob cat to attack a human, even a child unless there was something wrong. It was several weeks later before we finally figured out what was wrong.

The bob cat sightings continued off and on. Sometimes the dogs would chase something into the timber and come running back for protection from the unseen attacker. A couple days ago, we figured out what was going on. The bob cat came across the lawn while a group of people sat on the front porch. It saw the people and made a really strange noise while heading into the opposite timber. The meowing of kittens could be heard in the direction from which she had come. She was telling her babies to stay where they were.

The only thing wrong with the bob cat is someone has taken up residence in its home territory. Everyone and everything can live in the same area as long as they know the rules. Children will not be attacked by the bob cat and bob cat kittens will not be bothered by humans. Any cat food will be gone by morning from marauding raccoons. The garden is off limits to deer or the dogs will attack. This is the way life is, so all involved need to deal with it. The wildlife will adjust to their new neighbors as will Damon, Amanda and the boys.