December 28, 2001
Mom got Katie a really cool digital camera for Christmas, so I finally have some new house pictures to put up. Click any of the thumbnails below to see a larger photo.
The pasture flooded again after a dry spell, and to my supreme happiness, a new and previously-unseen-by-me species of duck flew in to spend a few days dabbling at the water's edge in our backyard. After paging excitedly through my Audubon book, I discovered that our new visitor was a Lesser Scaup (not to be confused with the Ring-neck Duck!). Unfortunately, we also discovered that duck hunting season runs from October through January here in Oregon, and since we are about a mile outside of the urban growth boundary, it is perfectly legal for someone to stand on the other side of our pasture fence and blast away at any living creature that might happen to be flying near our house. Around dawn on Christmas Eve, I was outside on my back deck, trying to determine why there seemed to be shotgun blasts eminating very close to my house. As it turns out, some of our neighbors actually hopped into their motorboat and snuck into our pasture (remember, it was flooded) to shoot some ducks. Upon spotting me, they panicked and roared back and forth trying to escape. It was quite amusing watching them get bogged down in the shallow areas, or get tangled up in the submerged fence. The police, however, were not much help at all, even though they said these people were indeed trespassing.
The following morning, I again discovered hunters in our pasture. Since the water had receeded quite a bit, they were actually on solid ground, having boated in off of the river. Because it was so early, with the fog and mist still heavy on the ground, I had a hard time spotting them, but I noticed that every time I went inside, they would start blowing their duck calls frantically. I was alarmed to find that there were about 40 decoy ducks floating in our pasture. I called my mother and sister and asked them to come down to the house, as I intended to paddle out there and retrieve the decoys, but was afraid to do it alone in case I ran into any hunters. However, a few minutes later I spotted the hunters themselves, dressed in full camoflauge gear, standing beneath my trees along the river, with their shotguns pointed towards my house. As I went in and out, they repeated their game of going silent while I was outside, and then loudly sounding their duck calls when I disappeared inside. I called the police, and this time they sent some officers out right away. Although I think the police were anything but sympathetic, these hunters WERE trespassing. The officers got on the PA (boy, I bet my neighbors really love me now! The whole block knows I'm no fan of hunting) and told them to leave, and they did. If they come back, they will be arrested. In the meantime, I guess we need to put up higher fences. It's a real shame that some people can't enjoy the beauty and diversity of wildlife without blowing it to bits and then nailing it to a wall..... |
