Just the other day….right outside my window…
This has been a long time coming. Our relationship has spanned years, probably even generations….this woodchuck and me. I live on a wooded lot that is blessed with ample wildlife. There has been the mystical owl that has hooted for twenty years. I have only seen him a couple times at dusk but hear him at moments that matter. There have been the mating wood ducks and baby ducks living on the end of my driveway; the two albino squirrels that I think were lost to the owl; the pileated woodpeckers; the time-challenged possum wondering through daylight; the deer that put her nose on the window in my front door while I was interviewed on the radio; the baby fawns that nap on my lot; the buck that helped me process our last election. And the frogs…I can’t forget the frogs. We even had one wake up in the dead of winter and we kept him till spring. But no wildlife has been as mythic as the woodchuck that has been secretly running around my lot for years and years.
There’s something about this woodchuck. I only see him in spurts. I love the way he runs; he usually seems happy and in a hurry. One time I drove up my driveway and he was sunning himself in the middle of the cement. He rolled over and darted away. He too also came to my front door once and peered in the window, but only for a look-see. He was gone in a flash. This woodchuck is mythic because I see him just enough to keep him on my mind and to wonder about him. But I have never really seen him for more than an instant and only when running away. If I am honest with myself, I have been seeing this woodchuck for so long that I am probably interacting with his progeny. Their lifespan is only about six years.
Something changed. The woodchuck and I have been getting closer. I have been writing my book for the last couple years at a desk in my bedroom. During this time, I have figured out that he lives under the narrow deck that wraps around two sides of my room. Last year, I had to have the rotting deck boards replaced. We found the entrance to his tunnel system and den right next to the house. Apparently, there could be up to 50 feet of tunnels. I have come to realize that this woodchuck has been sleeping about 10 feet from my bed every night…close enough that we have probably been affecting each other’s dreams.
Of course, the trained homeowner in me kicked in. I had to research the dangers and threats posed by Mr. Woodchuck. He could eat vegetation. He might be unfriendly. He could have rabies. Worst of all, he could compromise my foundation with his compulsive digging. If I were a self-respecting homeowner, I would control and regulate my domain better. Then there is also the secret suburban maxim: messy yard, weak person.
Of course, I chose to let him keep sleeping next to me.
This spring I think I might have seen him wake from his hibernation. I watched him lethargically emerge from under the deck and stumble around for quite some time. This week I have been watching him collect leaves and sticks under his chin and bring them back under the deck – I am thinking babies are not far off. Suddenly yesterday, he emerged from under the deck, jumped on it, turned toward me, and we had our first ever face-off. It lasted quite awhile and kept repeating all afternoon.
Maybe he is now a she. Maybe she is telling me that she is having babies and could I please keep the music down when I am writing. It didn’t feel like a warning though….more like a welcome. Maybe I can be the baby woodchucks’ surrogate uncle. I would be honored. I just know that our encounter was more than nothing, more than a coincidence. It was the culmination of years and years of courting. It cemented an agreed-upon co-existence pact between us. It definitely made us more like companions. I am so relieved that I did not fall prey to the trappings of the human need to control or our tendency to feel threatened. All I know is that my faceoff with this woodchuck made me feel grateful and hopeful about spring.
I am glad for warmer weather.