Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Wildlife

One of the goals I have in creating our garden oasis is to make it inviting to birds & butterflies. We so enjoy watching the hummingbirds, chickadees, finches, cardinals, blue jays and others at the feeders. We've even observed 4 baby mockingbirds leave their nest next door and move into our backyard. And the graceful butterflies we see visiting our colorful flowers amaze me and are reminders of our great God's complete plan for His creation. Of course there are other pollinators living in our yard- my youngest un-intentionally discovered a sneaky yellow jacket nest in a curled up banana leaf. They got him 4 times. Now that was not a fun day in the backyard! But we do benefit from the perks of our other garden residents, insect eating green lizards & geckos, frogs & toads, ladybugs and praying mantises. This is our lovely sunny garden.

However, as night descends, new visitors emerge. I don't care for the rabbits that nibble my vegetables, the opossums and armadillos that dig up my flowers, and the rat that quietly slips under the fence to check out our compost collection. And now to make my "garden of Eden" complete- you guessed it- we have had a snake! This discovery was again made by my youngest son, from way to close for my comfort. It was coiled up on my front walkway last night, right where my husband and older son had just passed. Normally snakes in general don't alarm me- I understand their natural importance. But this snake was not expected or invited. It was a medium- sized rattlesnake. My husband managed to put a basket over it and we scurried inside to recover. But as I feared, this morning it is gone. So, today we'll be putting out the Snake-Away and you better believe I'm calling for lawn/shrub service for the next few weeks. This is 1 visitor I don't want to find again!

As usual, these nature events spark an opportunity for me to discuss spiritual matters with the boys. Today we'll be talking about how the snake surprised us and was equipped to poison his prey. We need to clean out the hiding places in our heart and not allow sin to infect us. I pray that God's "son-shine" fills your garden with His light today too.