Life in a Forest is not without adventures. Two very large owls share the yard and they keep surprising me with how well-hidden they are when sitting in the trees and how startling they are when they suddenly take flight. Several neighbors have seen a pair of foxes. He hasn’t been by lately, but a while back there was a black bear making the rounds. A few weeks ago Dad killed a small, non-poisonous snake that had somehow gotten inside the house, and a few weeks later he killed a medium-sized very poisonous water moccasin way too close to the house. There’s almost always at least one lizard on the outside of the porch screen. And Thursday afternoon when I opened my car door a little green tree frog tried to hop inside.

This morning Bean saw a movement and heard a flutter under a chair in the bedroom. He started barking like crazy and I came close to panic. Both dogs stared at the space under the chair, sniffing, barking, and growling. I located a flashlight, terrified of what I might find. Even with a flashlight, I couldn’t see anything, but the dogs were sure something was under there. Bean is by no means aggressive, but I reluctantly gave him the OK to go in and get whatever it was he sensed under the chair. With the same caution he had used the day he found the water moccasin, Bean went in and pounced. Then triumphantly gave me the offending plastic bag. Evidently, the breeze from the ceiling fan had blown it under the chair. I praised both dogs for their bravery and gave them a treat.