The Circle of Life…up close and personal today
If you have followed me or known me for any length of time, you know that the animal kingdom just loves to prank me.
Despite the fact that I only really like dogs, cows, horses and maybe one or two cats up close, all manner of birds and rodents have been drawn to make themselves comfortable inside my bubble of acceptable distance.
Longtime friends will remember the years we had a condominium for gophers, raccoons and feral cats going under our shed. There are the ducks that laid eggs in our prairie grass out front and the woodpeckers that provided endless income for the carpenters we hired to replace boards.
But today was an all-time record setter for me.
I went out to put thistle in the bird feeder this morning (okay, I do like watching the little songbirds and yes, we have a hummingbird feeder because they are just hilarious) and was confronted with a strange sight a few feet away from the patio.
It looked like a large glob of worms and I was appalled thinking what in the world kind of deal do we have now. As I took a small step closer, I saw what looked like two internal body parts that I may have seen only in Biology class during the dissection chapter lying near the “worms”.
A tiny tuft of fur gave me the clue I needed as I figured out the worms were not worms at all and I will leave that to your imagination with my apologies.
I did what any rational woman would do, and no it wasn’t to scream. I stepped inside and called to my beloved husband. As he made his way to the back slider, I warned him that what he was about to see was extremely shocking and gruesome but I simply couldn’t carry the emotional burden alone.
He was kind and supportive and said it was probably a hawk. I immediately googled “found internal organs of an animal” and discovered that this is common from raptors. Apparently, according to AI, the raptors know that these organs contain bacteria that is harmful to them, plus they like to lighten the load for carrying the prey to a different location.
It said in the information that they “field dress” the animal before moving it along to a better place for them to dine upon it safely.
And I just marvel at God’s creation. Shocking as it was, it was amazing to see how intricately this creature was made on the inside. In addition, the hawk used a beak and claws to perform the tidiest extraction of the unwanted parts.
While I certainly catch my breath at the violence that took place, I also understand that the hawk needs to live and the rabbits definitely multiply in abundance under our lilac bushes. They would literally eat us out of house and home if not for some sort of check and balance.
I put on my big girl pants and the rubber gloves from the kitchen, grabbed some bags and used chunks of weeds I had pulled to pick up the pieces. I told myself over and over, it’s just like fixing chicken for the grill until the deed was done.
Later I stood at the back door with a cup of coffee and watched some finch feed on the thistle while the mourning doves did some fly by’s. One dove was pecking around under near the fire pit; a short distance from the scene of the crime. As it made its way closer, it stopped and nestled down staring at the spot as if the body was marked off with white chalk.
For the longest time it just sat here, resting down in the grass and staring. I wonder what it was thinking. Maybe just a moment of silence out of respect, or perhaps a deep gratitude it wasn’t him.
At any rate, the whole thing made me realize how intricate creation is and how all of it points to the divine hand of our God. Life has a beginning and end for us here on earth, but in Him is eternal life that takes us beyond the things of this world.
To see His hand in everything is to worship Him. To lean not on my own understanding, is to trust Him. To know that He is good and merciful, kind and wise, is faith.