
My neighbor brought his son and 5 year old granddaughter over on a"hike". I picked one of my foxgloves for the little girl. She was delighted to observe that it was taller than she, taller than her Dad and taller than her Granddad. Just as she handed Grandpa her walking stick so she could use both hands to carry the flower home to show Mom, a young snowshoe hare hopped up to see what was going on. The bunny hopped right up, gave us a good look, flicked its ears at us, and hopped off into the woods. I like to think it was okay that we just stood and talked to the little hare since we are adjacent to a nature preserve where probably its lack of fear of humans will not become an issue. (We have given Island Heritage Trust a conservation easement on our bordering land.) We find that many bird and mammal species here on Deer Isle seem to think they are in some Shangri La or Brigadoon. A chickadee once came down and plucked a thread from Ken's collar as we sat in the morning sun having a cup of tea. Amazing.