![\"Gingersnap](\"http:\/\/www.8statekate.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ginger.jpg\")
<\/a>Gingersnap the Cat<\/p><\/div>\n
In September, Ginger hopped up on the stove in the kitchen. She knows she’s not supposed to be up there. But she was obsessing about something in the range hood. She took a swipe at the filter\/guard above the stove, her toenail got caught and she pulled the whole thing off. The next thing I knew she was presenting me with a little mouse.<\/p>\n
A month or two ago, Ginger sat in the middle of the kitchen floor at night. There was no evidence of mice in the kitchen, and I couldn’t figure out what was drawing her there. Then I discovered little bits of insulation on the floor in the basement below and learned that mice were running along the pipes on the basement ceiling, just below where Ginger sat in the kitchen at night. I’m sure animals sense a lot that we don’t get, and I’m learning more and more from Ginger. Winter came early here this year, and it seems like a lot of mice found their way in.<\/p>\n
On November 9th<\/sup>, while walking the dogs by the St. Croix River, I spotted a pileated woodpecker drumming on a pole. I was able to take several pictures before it flew off. In the 25 years that I\u2019ve lived here, I\u2019ve often heard pileated woodpeckers, but can count on one hand the number of times I\u2019ve seen one. A couple of weeks later, I learned that a friend\u2019s fianc\u00e9 had passed away in a car accident on November 8th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Pileated woodpeckers had appeared to his family and his fianc\u00e9 that weekend, and she had remarked that it would be just like Carl, a logger, to visit as a pileated woodpecker. So was it merely a coincidence that I saw the woodpecker that weekend?<\/p>\n Pileated Woodpecker<\/p><\/div>\n Those of you who have been reading along know that we lost our Australian Cattle Dog Bandit to multiple myeloma in March. On the day that he crossed over and countless times since, bald eagles have flown over our yard and the field where we walk every day. Chase usually spots the eagle first and runs along with it, barking up to it. Often I\u2019ve seen a bald eagle crossing over the highway just in front of my truck as I\u2019m driving 50 mph or more. I don\u2019t know how they do it.<\/p>\n November 13th<\/sup> would have been Bandit\u2019s 11th<\/sup> birthday. There wasn\u2019t much opportunity for me to see an eagle here that day since I had to walk the dogs in the dark that evening. Knowing Bandit\u2019s playful spirit, I figured he\u2019d do something different anyway. When I arrived home from work that day, his stuffed basketball, which had been in the same place on his bed since March, was on the other side of the room, right in my path as I walked through the house. Chase and Cay had been kenneled while I was gone and hadn\u2019t moved that ball since Bandit left us. The ball is too big for Ginger the cat to move. So it felt like a \u2018hello\u2019 from Bandit.<\/p>\n On Bandit\u2019s birthday, Chase brought me the jolly ball like Bandit used to, and Cay brought me Bandit\u2019s rubber chicken. They must have sensed his presence too.<\/p>\n Cay and Chase<\/p><\/div>\n A few days later I was walking the dogs up on the hill, thinking that I should tell a friend the story about the stuffed basketball. Suddenly, Chase took off full speed across the field, looking up at the sky, and let out a bark. I looked up and there was the bald eagle, making a pass across the field. He just made that one pass and then was gone. If Chase hadn\u2019t pointed him out, I would have missed him. Chase continued to look for the eagle in the sky, and barked every once in a while. I think Chase and the eagle were communicating. I wonder if Chase felt Bandit\u2019s spirit in the eagle as I did. I don\u2019t completely understand these interactions, but I\u2019m intrigued by them. Most of us miss so much and understand so little about our natural world.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>