Wild Things

"If you have ever spent the night in the open air you know that when we sleep, a mysterious world wakes up in the solitude and the silence" wrote Alphonse Daudet (roughly translated by me). How right he was. The other evening, on slug patrol I discovered a frog sitting in the red pepper plant pot - eyeing me very askance. I wonder if it was related to the small one hopping around in the grass last week?

Later, as I was about to go to bed I thought I heard an odd rustling. Perhaps just my new hearing aids? But I kept thinking I heard something and suddenly a tiny mouse ran across the floor and extruded itself under the fridge. It must have ventured in while I was slug hunting. The problem was - how to get it out. I tried sweeping a cardboard envelope around under the fridge but although the mouse could squeeze in, the cardboard could not. Eventually I lured it with a piece of cheese and put a few more pieces leading to the door and over the doorstep. Sure enough, out it came and sure enough, snatching the cheese, out it went. I think I will scatter some bird seed at the top of the garden and encourage it to think that is the interesting place to be. 

                                               

In fact mice have featured rather a lot in the garden this year. There was the drowned one I found in a bucket, and that evening a tiny dead one in amongst the leaves of a day lily in a flower pot on top of a table. How and why it got there I have no idea - was it the child of the drowned one, did something put it there? It's all very mysterious. 

                                                          

But obviously there are many more mice in the garden than I had been aware of and plenty of other sorts of life (and death) as well.  

Less alarmingly, a robin has taken to following me round the garden (in case I dig up a few worms) and that is very warming to the heart.