Critters in the Country

Some people, mostly city-folk, tell us we live in the country. It is a small town about an hour outside of San Diego. 40,000 people call it home. If the definition of 'living in the country' includes people who have slowed down enough to smile at strangers, give courtesy freely in traffic and neighbors who take care of each other, then yes, I guess we do live in the country.

Our neighborhood is a planned community with pools, a golf course, equestrian centers, fitness and horse trails. We don't keep horses but several of our neighbors do. There is room for some critters to roam. We have seen coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, owls, bats and my favorite...quail. There were a few families of quail across the street. Then sombody bought the lot and built a house. We didn't see the quail for several months. We thought they were gone. Our property line is marked by 20 feet of huge granite boulders. There are a few eucalyptus trees, manazanita bushes as well as landscape that we planted beside the boulders. We love to feed the birds so we have several feeders and platforms nestled in among the trees. Between us and our nearest neighbor is a horse trail. The horse trails are like a critter freeway.


Today, in our boulders and in the manzanita we were pleased to see a bevy of quail. There were at least 6 babies. I ran to get the camera but when I got back, I didn't see them. I listened for the clicking noise and watched as they flew from the safety of the manzanita bush to the horse trail. I was mesmerized. But I snapped out of it long enough to snap this photo.