Through the looking glass

My work-from-home office (a folding table and a metal chair in an above-ground basement) has a large set of four sliding glass doors that overlook a heavily wooded parcel of reserve land. This has been a rather unique vantage point from which to spend the past ten weeks quarantining, as I’ve had the benefit of seeing the seasons turn from winter to spring and (almost) to summer like a stop-motion movie before my curious eyes. While this experience may be familiar and perhaps mundane to those who live in the wilderness, or even the leafy suburbs, it has been refreshing for a City Mouse like me.

When we first arrived here in the second week of March, it was indeed still winter. But for the evergreens in the white pine forest, there was little green, or color for that matter, to be found. Day by day, however, that literally began to change before my eyes. Watching the forest awaken and burst with life from behind the glass (and while on video calls) has been inspiring. It began with the fawns, which are typically born in April, and don’t yet quite have the same fear of people as their mothers. Each morning, even now, the baby deer arrive on their wobbly legs, come close to the doors and stare at me while I make faces and (sometimes) stand up from my chair and entertain them with an awkward dance. 

The fawns are not alone of course. There is also a litter of baby Eastern Cottontail rabbits. The wild male turkeys with their loud gobbles that begin as a natural alarm clock around 5 AM each morning. The night calls of the local wood frogs. As Thoreau instructs us: “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”

Resigned to the influence of COVID-19, social distancing and the need to work from home and live each season as it passes, I thought certainly we could learn from each of these amazing animals?

1.      Wild turkeys. The neighboring woods are home to many wild turkeys, which basically just slowly roam the forest floors all day in search of small plants and insects to eat, and mind their own business. That said, a couple of weeks ago I found a giant one inside the backyard (which is surrounded by a 7-foot deer fence). Not knowing how it had found its way inside, and not sure how it would get out, I decided I would chase it towards the gate and let it out. In a few minutes, I had the turkey cornered. But the moment I made a sharp move to open the gate so that the turkey could run out of its accidental cage, the turkey winked at me and took flight with the gracefulness of a hawk half its size, soaring high above the house and over the tallest trees at a speed that appeared to be in excess of 50 miles per hour. (Now who is the turkey in this situation, I thought to myself, not knowing that while common domesticated turkeys cannot fly, wild ones most certainly can). Lesson: Never reveal all of your skills—the element of surprise can be incredibly powerful, or at the very least, interesting.

2.      Squirrels. They are essentially pint-sized acrobats. In addition to nuts and berries of all kinds, it seems they love eating the flower buds of magnolia trees, especially the beautiful ones with the white flowers. Squirrels are incredible problem solvers. (If you don’t believe me, check out Mark Rober’s recent YouTube video, “Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder”.) Most of the young magnolia tree branches that grow the flower buds in the early spring cannot support the weight of the squirrel walking on them. But the squirrels quickly learn instead to hang upside down from the branch and stay that way, every morning from 6 am to 8 am, eating as many buds as possible. Lesson: If something seems out of reach, rather than give up, try and try again a full range of creative approaches.

3.      Rabbits. In April we began seeing 3-4 New England cottontail rabbits feasting on the lawn at dawn and dusk. These rabbits, which prefer leaves or grass over carrots, will spend their entire lives within 2-3 acres, lest they venture out and face untold dangers. These fast-moving (and fast breeding) fur balls build their housing, food and exercise routines all within earshot of each other and have neither needs nor wants that cause them to travel far. Lesson: Some people spend a lot of time looking out great distances, but often the best opportunities may be in their own backyard.

4.      Voles. If you have never had to deal with voles (or moles for that matter), consider yourself lucky. Or a city-dweller. Voles are basically the gophers in Caddyshack. They can destroy an entire lawn in one night by digging yard of underground tunnels and eating plants from the roots up. Many a morning these past weeks I have woken up early and used the garden hose to flood the vole tunnels while simultaneously stomping the soft ground to crush the tunnels (in both cases, rest assured, no voles were injured). But these resilient, nocturnal yard pests eagerly re-built new ones the very next evening just a few feet away. Lesson: You will have plenty of setbacks in your professional life, but if you find the energy to dig enough tunnels, eventually some of them will stick and lead you to great places.

5.      Deer. Coming back to the deer: A deer’s ability to maneuver its way through obstacles in the dense forest like a futuristic vehicle out of a Star Wars film is truly awe-inspiring. The white-tailed deer can run up to 35 mph and scale a fence more than 8 feet high while running. When a deer is startled or senses danger, it immediately takes flight, and doesn’t hesitate. Once a safe distance away, the deer will then patiently assess the situation and decide what to do next--which often includes returning to the danger zone. Lesson: When facing an external threat, triage those decisions that require immediate action but hold off on others so that you are able to put them in the proper perspective and gather more facts.

As I write this, other heretofore "hidden" creatures have emerged from their seasonal quarantine. I’ve seen the first hairy woodpeckers hammering the trees like carpenters. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is now levitating above the newly minted garden flowers at sunrise. The frogs have begun swimming late-night laps in the pool. Each of these fascinating creatures is of course unaware that COVID-19 came along to spoil our party; however, when I see the whitetail deer staring at me in the window each morning, I wonder if (like in an old Gary Larson cartoon) they must conclude that all of the humans have in fact been captured and placed inside the local zoo.