I've had a long-standing feud with what I consider the lowest, vilest species of rodents, rats and mice. Actually, it's more than just a feud, It's all-out war. Warning: this content isn't for the very sensitive, the gung-ho live-animal-trappers, or those who can't abide killing anything. Rodent Invasion It started about seven years ago in 2019. Before that rodents must have lurked around unnoticed, but that year they over-ran my yard like a scene in a horror movie. In broad

A rare deer sighting in my neighborhood With food and water in abundance, wildlife are bound to visit. There are very few deer in my neighborhood, but just two blocks away is a community garden with a wet-weather stream and woods. I get a glimpse of one every now and then, like the deer I saw on my morning walk today. Aren't those foliage colors beautiful? It's not even Fall yet. The one good thing about being sandwiched between houses with fences is that deer don't get in. I

God’s involvement in my life, even in small things, is always a new surprise. In April of 2020, in the midst of extraordinary events, such as viral and political unrest, another extraordinary event was happening in my garden. I experienced a rodent infestation like I’d never seen before. I’m completely at peace with birds, squirrels, lizards, butterflies, and the occasional opossum and raccoon that visit my backyard paradise, but rats are unwelcomed guests (despite the fact