Fauna

A discovery that has reminded me of all our animal encounters in Maine inspired me to write today.  Yes, seeing a moose is right up there with visiting the Grand Canyon our bucket list.  No, it wasn't a moose (though one of our guests recently reported a sighting).

Just outside our bedroom window is an occupied robin's nest!  The fuzziest little guys are getting fattened up in there.  While we have seen robins at our erstwhile homes, we've had plenty of first encounters here, too.  Even ignoring marine life, we'll certainly never forget the group of wild turkeys that crossed the road and disappeared into the woods without a trace.  In our own yard we've seen a beautiful red fox as well as a frequent visitor we call the "attack duck".  He really likes to hang out in our bushes but gets scared when you come close.  The first attack duck sighting was really an unidentified object flying straight at my head.

We've even found the oreo cows in Kennebunkport!  I often see Belted Galloways on my way to the grocery store, just past the shipbuilding school.  Because there's obviously a shipbuilding school in my neighborhood.  I enjoy passing the pastoral scene.  Oh, look, ponies!  What a sweet vegetable garden!  Hey, it's a goat!  What a cute goat.  And it's standing right next to a man with an axe...  I almost craned my neck beyond safe driving limits to see what happened next, but some will be happy to learn that I discovered the goat safe and sound the next week.

To New Englanders this all may sound silly--just as being excited about kangaroos makes little sense to those Aussies who routinely shoot at them--but encountering wildlife or even domesticated animals outside of our personal norm is a great perk of moving to another region.