Nature abounds in the Driftless Area, of course. We often take chairs and binoculars out to the back hill, just to watch and listen. There are times, though, when we think animals do something similar.

“Hey, let’s go check out the weird things that walk on two legs and can’t fly, and their two furry minions!” It happens often enough that I have a photo folder just for candid shots of what has come right up for a look…

Are birds smart enough to know two cats right on the other side of the glass are no threat whatsoever? They seem to be. Cardinals, especially, like to drive ours crazy. I didn’t think indigo buntings had it in them though.

Our front porch sometimes just seems to be another game trail. We have a soft spot for the opossums because they seem so hapless. Their eyesight is as poor as reported, their bare tails, paws and ears are prone to frostbite, and there is no shortage of predators here that find them tasty (coyotes, bobcats, owls, etc.). If one manages to find us, we’re not against helping it survive the harsh Wisconsin winter with a chicken wing or two.

And of course, the deer in Wisconsin are everywhere. Care to take a guess on just how many there are? I Googled it. In 2024, the estimated deer population in Wisconsin was 1.825 MILLION. (The people population is about 5.9 million for comparison.) This one we christened “Doofus,” as in “Hey, Doofus! Get out of my bird feeder!” He was especially persistent for a couple weeks.

The Driftless Area is a special place. Whether through my series or in person, I invite you to come visit it.