The World Beneath the Underbrush

  Earlier today, there came an eerily familiar fracas from deep in the creek bed.  It grew in intensity until I had to quit painting, grab the camera and slip unseen through the underbrush.  The cacophony reminded me of a saddening situation a few years back.  I witnessed a large male raccoon literally slaughtering the young of a small female.  It was breeding season but she already had kits. Since the massacre took place high in the top of a dead pine tree, there was nothing I could do to help the sweet little mama.  I watched and cringed as I saw the male pull the tiny babies from the nest, bite them and fling them to the ground.  Little Mama tried valiantly to protect her litter but it was to no avail.  She finally gave up and flung herself from the treetop.  She would rather plunge some sixty feet to the ground than watch her babies be so brutally killed.  This horrifying massacre lingered in my mind for years to come and, today, it surfaced with each scream.

  As I edged my way through the underbrush and down past the palmetto clumps, I was thankful for the cool air.  Hopefully, all cottonmouths had crawled back in their warm spots for the day and I would not tread on any.  The screaming continued for the full ten minutes it took me to reach the spot where I could see what was happening.  Thankfully, it was too early for kits yet but this was equally brutal.  Sweet and gentle love is not a common thing in the critter world.  Four large males were competing over a small female but she was caught in the middle of the brawl.  No matter how she tried, there was no escape.  She was bleeding and screaming as the males battled over her.  Since no kits were involved (yet), I turned to leave.  There was no reason for me to be there and, in fact, it would have been dangerous (and foolish) for me to intervene with nothing but a camera to use as a weapon to protect myself.

  As I clamored up the hillside out of the creek, I was suddenly sidetracked.  Without realizing it when I was racing down, I had plowed through a virtual fairyland of beauty!  Dropping to my knees, I admired the beauty of mosses, ferns and tiny flowers!  The overhead canopy of trees and bamboo had protected the area from the elements and allowed this natural wonderland to flourish!  Oblivious to the melee going on about fifty feet from me, I started photographing the captivating beauty of the forest floor.  Key word here is "started".  After only two photographs, the camera went dead and, in my rush to be a "savior of baby raccoons", I forgot to pick up extra batteries.  Yep, my wonderland would have to wait until I have another opportunity to weasel my way beneath the thickets.  Since it is to be cold tomorrow, it should be a perfect time if the opportunity presents itself.  Then, I SHALL remember to grab a pocketful of extra batteries!