This has been a rather eventful and stressful week for this mouse. Unfortunately on Sunday I received a telephone call from my brother that my other brother had died. While it was not unexpected, he has been ill with cancer for several years now, it is still a shock. However, because of other things going on, I was not able just drop everything and get down for the funeral. I will however make that trip back down to London soon.
It will be strange as it will give me the chance to revisit Epping Forest, the place that inspired my awe and wonder for the natural world. And if that is not strange enough, at the weekend on Ebay, I bought a copy of a book that first made me realise that I was not unique in my love of the forest and started me going off to watch wildlife. In this book about one mans nights of badger watching, as well as watching other wildlife, was a map that showed where the badger sets were. As this book was published in 1966, there were not the same concerns about revealing the locations of animal homes, as there would be today. That enabled me to go looking for badgers; my parents would have done their nut, if they had ever found out.
It was on one of these illicit trips out that I saw my first deer, although I didn’t know that was what I had seen. I was quite nervous of what were then strange sounds emanating from the woodland. Then while looking across the entrance to the sett where I was awaiting the return of the badgers, I saw a shadow. It was darker than the surrounding darkness, and it appeared to be a large bush that was walking towards me. I was perched in a tree so that my scent could not be detected, but it was clear that what ever it was could smell something as I was hearing a snuffling sniffing. It was not like the badgers, that I was getting used to hearing and starting to recognise. But this was different, I had torch with me but I was reluctant to use it. I had followed the guidance that I had read of placing red cellophane over the beam to make it invisible to animals, but that had not worked at all and using the torch just alerted the badgers to me thus far. But I wanted to know what it was that was by now nearly beneath me. I tried to be quiet as I pulled the torch out of my pocket but I must have made a noise as the animal below my perch snorted and galloped off, it was only as it did that was I able to discern the outline of a fully horned stag Fallow deer.
I was shaking with fright and excitement, something I will never forget. Even this week, on Tuesday, when I was out with two of the Friends’ when we saw Deer in the wood in broad daylight, I felt that same thrill, but this time I was not likely to fall out of a tree.
The one person who knew that I was going out illicitly was my brother who has just died, I am so grateful that he never let the cat out of the bag as I would have lost out on so many life shaping experiences.
The picture is of a pair of jackdaws that I saw the other day.
It will be strange as it will give me the chance to revisit Epping Forest, the place that inspired my awe and wonder for the natural world. And if that is not strange enough, at the weekend on Ebay, I bought a copy of a book that first made me realise that I was not unique in my love of the forest and started me going off to watch wildlife. In this book about one mans nights of badger watching, as well as watching other wildlife, was a map that showed where the badger sets were. As this book was published in 1966, there were not the same concerns about revealing the locations of animal homes, as there would be today. That enabled me to go looking for badgers; my parents would have done their nut, if they had ever found out.
It was on one of these illicit trips out that I saw my first deer, although I didn’t know that was what I had seen. I was quite nervous of what were then strange sounds emanating from the woodland. Then while looking across the entrance to the sett where I was awaiting the return of the badgers, I saw a shadow. It was darker than the surrounding darkness, and it appeared to be a large bush that was walking towards me. I was perched in a tree so that my scent could not be detected, but it was clear that what ever it was could smell something as I was hearing a snuffling sniffing. It was not like the badgers, that I was getting used to hearing and starting to recognise. But this was different, I had torch with me but I was reluctant to use it. I had followed the guidance that I had read of placing red cellophane over the beam to make it invisible to animals, but that had not worked at all and using the torch just alerted the badgers to me thus far. But I wanted to know what it was that was by now nearly beneath me. I tried to be quiet as I pulled the torch out of my pocket but I must have made a noise as the animal below my perch snorted and galloped off, it was only as it did that was I able to discern the outline of a fully horned stag Fallow deer.
I was shaking with fright and excitement, something I will never forget. Even this week, on Tuesday, when I was out with two of the Friends’ when we saw Deer in the wood in broad daylight, I felt that same thrill, but this time I was not likely to fall out of a tree.
The one person who knew that I was going out illicitly was my brother who has just died, I am so grateful that he never let the cat out of the bag as I would have lost out on so many life shaping experiences.
The picture is of a pair of jackdaws that I saw the other day.
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1 comment:
Sorry to hear of the loss of your brother. :(
Very nice photos! The mushroom walk sounded like a very fun time.
Ms Tree
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