Nature does exist in suburbia though it may present itself in surprising ways. Here are two recent experiences I had:
- Mowing the lawn and finding some sort of animal hide with fur in the grass that I needed to mow around. It was not large but it was one piece. I see animals around, often in the early morning or at dusk. This includes rabbits and a fox. We have plenty of birds within view including cardinals, woodpeckers, mourning doves, egrets, ducks, geese, owls, and hawks. I have seen plenty of feathers. If I had to guess, this was a rabbit that was recently attached by a bird of prey or larger animal. The only remains I saw involved the hide. This is a part of nature not often visible in suburbs though animals need to eat.
- Playing miniature golf at a course surrounded by trees, bushes, grass, and some water features. While walking the course, we saw something animal-like on the ground. It was not moving. But then we bent down to look and saw that it was a small turtle. He scurried away from the mulch to other nearby settings. See the picture below. Our mini-golf round continued after the turtle interruption.
I thought nature in the suburbs was supposed to be tame, green and growing, clearly enhancing the value of the human-made dwelling nearby. These two experiences were reminders of the nature that actually exists within suburban settings, sometimes in spite of or taking advantage of human activity.
