the flora and the fauna

[mellowtigger]

I don't have the pager from work this afternoon, and I felt the urge to burn some energy, so I went walking/running when I got home from work.  Mostly walking.  I've never been able to run very far.

I passed a deer on the right.  She stood her ground about 6 yards from me, turning to keep me in sight as I ran along the trail beside her.

I passed a rabbit on the left.  It hopped away quickly.  Shortly afterwards, I passed a small red squirrel that also ran away as I ran alongside it.

Towards the end of my route, I travel past a Quaker Oats facility.  I always smell very good oats from that place.  I don't know if they make Cheerios or breakfast oats at that facility.  (I couldn't find the location mentioned at either quakeroats.com or pepsico.com.)  While watching the plants and enjoying the smell on the wind near the Quaker territory after I passed over the train bridge, I noticed something unusual.

That's not grass.  Well, it's a kind of grass, sure, but those are oats!

Apparently some of the oats have escaped the Quaker mill over the course of many years, and some of them have been growing in the wild near their building and along the road near the train tracks.  I wouldn't have known, except that I threw some oats in the back yard this year and watched them grow and seed out.  I recognized them near the bridge because I knew them from the back yard.

*pleasant afternoon*

Comments

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

so you, well Quaker, was sowing wild oats?

For some reason this amuses me :-D

Reminds me of seeing the foxes - local vixen has had kids, 2 young foxes with white tipped tails, obviously not learnt too much fear yet so spent a good while in the neighbours garden sunning themselves and scratching (and one was coughing like he was on 60 a day, an odd sound).

Strange to think I'm in the middle of a city, really.

[mellowtigger]

"(A) Quaker sowed some wild oats by the train tracks."

There's something wrong about that sentence, but I can't quite figure out what it is. ;)

:o)

[otterlover01.livejournal.com]

And it was really pleasant to learn about your pleasant afternoon Terry! No doubt we live in two very different biogeographical provinces, I usually stumble with a very different, much smaller, fauna! Big hugs my friend, Luis. :o)

Re: :o)

[mellowtigger]

Back in West Texas, it would've been horny toads and lizards and ants. Not nearly as cuddly. :)

Re: :o)

[otterlover01.livejournal.com]

Well, here in southern Baja it would be very similar to that, some lizards, desert iguanas, Gila woodpeckers, roadrunners, desert squirrels and the eventual desert fox or coyote! :o)

[vulpesferox.livejournal.com]

Wow, sounds like you were jogging through Oregon Trail! :)

[mellowtigger]

There's still a lot of nature to be found along the Mississippi River. :)

googlemap

On foot, I go west on Saint Anthony, turn north (where the critters were) along 37th, and back east along 44th (where the oats were). It makes a nice route. On bicycle, I go a lot farther but there's less opportunity to examine the landscape because of the faster pace.

[ogam.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh*

You make for such good companionship on the journey of life.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

It sounds wonderful! You should map this out on Google Maps and share the path, marking where you saw the deer, rabbit, and oats! :)