A New Chapter Opens in the Valley

Spring came at last to the Valley. Babies were born and eggs hatched. Green shoots carpeted the meadows and flowers were beginning to open. The mystery of Rabbit disappearing was a distant memory, but still remembered.
One day a young squirrel named Chips was playing on a log with a young raven called Blackie. They were jumping and tumbling off the log when Blackie loudly whispered "Be still! There is a man coming. We must be ready to hide if he gets any closer!" Well, he came closer and they hid, Chips under the log and Blackie  into a nearby bush. The "man" turned out to be a young human, what they called a "boy".  He walked up to the log, sat down on it and began to talk to himself. Chips was astonished to realize he could understand the boy and quietly listened. The boy told himself a story he had heard from his father about the Valley and the special relationship their family had with it. They managed the trust that keep the Valley a Sanctuary, and when both his father and grandfather were young they could actually talk to and with the animals there. While his father had lost that ability, his grandfather, called "Little A" talked to animals all his life. The boy, whose name was Billy, wanted to see if he could find any animals to talk to and his father dropped him off at the gate to the Valley.
Billy told this story to himself as he sat on the log. And then just said "I hope there are some animals around to talk to. Are there? Can you understand me?" and he sat quietly.
Chips at first was very puzzled and even a little afraid. Who was this "boy" and could he possibly be telling the truth? Then he remembered a tale told by Grandpa Tortoise at a gathering about a man named "Little A" who was a friend to all the animals in the Valley, and who was even buried on the burial hill. "This boy must be his grandson! AND I CAN UNDERSTAND HIM!!!!"
Chips crawled a little way out from under the log and said "Boy, can you hear me?" "Yes I can"  and so began a wonderful and long friendship between another human and the folks of the Valley.
Chips took Billy to meet Grandpa Tortoise and they talked for hours, and when Billy was getting ready to meet his father at the gate, Grandpa told him about Rabbit, and asked him to think about what might have happened to him. Billy was sad to hear the story and pledged to do all he could to find the answer to the Mystery.
In the years after this first meeting, Billy spent many hours in the Valley, and was never able to solve the mystery, but by then, several more young animals had just disappeared. None were ever found.

Image: http://www.arkive.org/raven/corvus-corax/image-A24692.html
Image: http://www.arkive.org/grey-squirrel/sciurus-carolinensis/image-A21942.html

A Tragic Mystery in the Valley

Rabbit was hiding in the tall grass

There was good news and not so good news in the Valley. It was a school holiday, the good news, and it was a cold, dreary and misty day, the bad news. Near and downstream from the beaver pond was a rocky outcropping of stone, and in that was a cave. Several friends had gathered there to play, but the dreariness of the day was making everyone a little gloomy.

Finally, Otter suggested a game of hide-and-seek. “Good for you Otter” said Mouse. “You are waterproof but the rest of us get really wet in the rain.” “Oh come on Mouse, it’s only misty outside. You won’t get THAT wet. Just a little damp.” Mouse and the others, Rabbit, Weasel, Tortoise, Hawk and Snake talked it over and decided even getting wet was better than just sitting in the dark with nothing to do.

Otter volunteered to be “it” first and counted to 50 while the others left the cave to hide. The only rule was that they couldn’t go farther than the dam or the big bolder, or out of sight of the stream. That left plenty of places to hide. Otter yelled “Ready or not, here I come” and ran out into the forest. He quickly found Tortoise and Snake in a burrow not far from the cave, and soon found Mouse hiding under a Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Weasel was harder to find since she had decided to climb into a bush and stay very still. Hawk had flown onto a low branch of a Beech tree and hid in a cluster of leaves. Otter had a hard time seeing her too, but finally spotted her and yelled “Gotcha!”. After each of the friends was found, they went back to the cave to wait for the second game to start.

Something was wrong. Otter ran into the cave out of breath and said “I can’t find Rabbit! I looked and called but he never answered. We must all go out and look. He may be in trouble.” So the friends all went out into the drizzle to look for Rabbit. They called and looked everywhere but no trace was found. Rabbit had disappeared!

They ran back to Grandpa Tortoise’s burrow for help. Quickly a search was underway with all the parents and siblings on the hunt for Rabbit. They looked high and low, and well outside of the boundaries of the game. The Hawks glided up and down the valley using their excellent vision to try to find the missing Rabbit, but to no avail. As dark was approaching, Owl said that he and his clan would fly all night looking for Rabbit, but by daybreak, still no sign was found. All the next day the animals of the Valley searched for Rabbit, but no trace of him was ever found. For weeks after his disappearance, there was a sad and quiet feeling in the Valley, but gradually life returned to normal. On the hill where meetings were held, next to the hill where the dead were buried, a remembrance was held, and everyone told their favorite “Rabbit” story. There were tears and laughter, and afterwards most felt better.

But never again did the friends of Rabbit play Hide-and-Seek. And in years to come, children were warned to stay away from the cave. The mystery was never solved.

Image: http://www.arkive.org/rabbit/oryctolagus-cuniculus/image-A21550.html

The Valley Gets Some New Familes

Mouse was out one afternoon just being lazy. He wandered around the Valley just looking at the trees and meadow and stream and being amazed that all this was a safe place to live. Safe from Man, that is. Of course there were predators, and some invasive rats, but mostly the boundaries that Little “A” had set up as a preserve  protected them from Man.

As he passed a fallen log, a black and red shadow glided past and landed on the log. Mouse squeaked in alarm when the big bird said “Don’t be afraid! I am only a Pileated Woodpecker looking for a home. Can you help?”

Well of course the mouse recognized the big bird as a woodpecker, but not a kind he ever had seem before.

“I don’t know if I can help or not. What do you need? “

The woodpecker introduced himself as “Redtop” and told Mouse that his home had been destroyed by Men, and he had always admired the Valley when he flew over it. He asked if there was an Elders Council for making important decisions, and if so could Mouse take him to meet an Elder.

Mouse knew where Grandpa Tortoise was sunning himself and took Redtop to see him.

When they finally got the the clearing where the old tortoise had been napping, they found him awake.

“Who is your new Pileated friend, Mouse” asked Grandpa.

“His name is Redtop, Grandpa Tortoise, and he wants to talk to you.”

And so, Redtop told the old tortoise of his plight and before he got very far, Grandpa interrupted and said “This is a matter for the whole Council. Can you come back tomorrow morning to meet with us? We meet on the big hill that overlooks the stream. In the mean time you and your family are welcome to feed and roost in our forest,”

The next morning, all the Council was present: Grandpa Tortoise, Old Man Badger, the Great Owl with his tufted ears, and the very old and very large Old Oak Snake.

Redtop and his spouse Redtip had never been that close to such a big Snake and asked politely if they were safe. “Of course” replied Old Oak. “I only hunt invasive rats and other creatures bent on destroying our homes and children. You are perfectly safe and welcome. Now, tell us your problem.”

The woodpecker related how Humans had invaded his home vale that was not far away, cut down the trees, plowed up the ground and built big boxes for them to live in. “My spouse and I were taking care of our eggs when the tree came crashing down and we had to fly for our lives. Many other animals were killed by the machines and loud sticks the Men carried. I came here to ask if my spouse and I, and our child from last year, could settle here in your valley, if we could find a vacant tree.

With almost no deliberation, the Council all shouted “OF COURSE! And plans were made to find an unoccupied tree for the new family.

Later that day with the help of the woodpeckers who lived in the Valley,  Redtop, Redtip and young Woody searched the trees and found a perfect place to drill a nesting hole.

Later that year, many other animals found their way to the Valley from their destroyed home and all were made welcome. The Elders were very insistent on bringing in new families because, they taught, one of the strengths of the Valley was welcoming strangers and learning new things from them. New ideas and points of view were very important to the Elders. Why, look at Little “A” for example. Without his Very Important Love for the Valley and folks who lived there, none of this would have been possible.

The summer passed in peace, and fall arrived on a cool breeze. All the families were well underway for preparations for Winter.

Image: http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/F2/F2482F77-4DBD-4ECD-AFAF-5608C6B4730B/Presentation.Large/pileated-woodpecker-close-up.jpg

Winter in the Valley:A hard way to Learn a Lesson

Winter had come to the Valley, and it wasn’t an ordinary one either. Bitter cold and deep snow took their toll on many of the animals who were permanent residents. Some birds had gone South for the winter, but others were locked into a never-ending cycle of changing seasons without migration. Hard winters were tough on these hardy souls.
Meanwhile, while snow piled up on the surface, some life went on underground. Old man Badger was warm with his cardigans and blankets, and the many mouse families were snug in their nests of dry grass and fluff and stores of food carefully put away for cold weather.
Others were no so lucky.
While preparations for the winter were going on in the summer, none could anticipate the just how deep the freeze would penetrate, or how deep the snow would be. Familes who didn’t dig deep enough or store enough food were destined for tragedy.
One such family of tortoises was in trouble. They had recently arrived from further south and were unprepared for the onslaught of the winter. Old Man tortoise, a long time resident of the Valley, had warned them of the danger of not burrowing deep enough and not storing enough food, but they didn’t listen. Instead, they enjoyed the summer fruits and only reluctantly retreated into their shallow burrow in the fall. Now, they were freezing and starving. And no help in sight.
Meanwhile, young Mouse was wondering about his new tortoise friends. And worrying too. So he asked Mole to see if he could dig a tunnel to their burrow to check on them. Mole, being bored and needing exercise, was delighted to have a project and immediately began to dig. It wasn’t easy either. Frozen ground doesn’t yield readily, but Mole persisted. With Mouse helping remove the diggings and briging water to drink, Mole eventually broke through into the cold burrow of their friends. Mouse ran in and found his friends nearly dead from cold and hunger. While Mole enlarged the tunnel, Mouse carried food and water to the Tortoise family. Warm air from the tunnel began to warm the burrow, and soon the Tortoises were feeling better.
Later, with the tunnel much bigger, the Tortoises were able to move into deeper ground, and with the help of all the Valley folks were able to survive the Winter.
When Spring finally came, all the animals got together to celebrate the warmth and first shoots of green, and the Tortoise family thanked everyone for saving them. They pledged to work hard during the coming summer, to dig deep, and to help others whenever they could.


And they did.

Image: http://www.yosemitecloseup.com/wp-content/uploads/IrasWinter1.jpg