ENHS Nature Trails February 2005 Article 2

Nudity at the Window
by Melody

I'm lazy, and morning at my house can extend into the afternoon, reading the newspaper, shifting notes and mail from one pile to the next, and listening to the latest chicanery gleaned from world news sources at 5:00 AM by my husband (Jim). But all the while I notice what's happening outside my windows. Luckily, my husband, knowing my penchant for continuous observation, approved my choice of 7 foot windows in all rooms of our home, windows that go all the way down to the floor. Even the commode is a window seat. From the guest bathroom one may observe the towhees and juncos scooting out from under a dwarf (not so dwarf anymore) Englemann spruce in the morning , or if it's past March 1, enjoy Mr. Rufous at the hummingbird feeder. (All of the life outside my windows have titles or epithets at least.) At the other end of the house one can comfortably sit and look into the woods and often view a sapsucker drilling a tree or a chickadee inspecting the shrubbery. But this morning, I had a naked visitor, really quite pink, even succulent, perhaps an early sunburn, definitely no identifying markings. I knew him by his stance though, and remembered back to when we saw this same naked character last spring. He had scooted up the birdbath to enjoy a drink when we first saw him, and we were sure we had some kind of a a mouse, maybe a rat with that long, pointed, seemingly hairless tail and those perky ears. I have read so many children's books about wildlife, all of the Thornton W. Burgess books detailing how the critters frequenting the Smiling Pond got their short tails, striped or spotted coats, noisy voices or long ears—Grandfather Frog told most of those adventures. But I never learned why chipmunks explore the world in spring without their coats.

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