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Taming Wild

Until a year ago the shed in my yard was completely uncared for and very rarely visited. I saw a a sloughed snake skin hanging from a peg once and then there was a bird's nest that clearly looked like it was in use. I might not have been scary but was disturbing the peace by going in there so I stopped. Then at some point that space was needed and organization set in. 

The bird stopped using the nest that year and never returned. I wish I could leave the lawn un-mowed and let the wild take over. It is simply not practical if a person lives in the middle of a patch of wild. The greenery will encroach into the cracks of everything and everywhere - nature can move at furious and exuberant space. I will have saplings growing through crevices and through the walls of my house in no time. Along the perimeter, where there is a line of tall trees, there are also many invasive species that can completely suffocate those trees. They need to be cleared away too.

 So the interventions and meddling with the wild begin - to clear my living space, give the native greenery a chance to thrive and so on. The tall grass is a great home for many things including snakes. While every snake I have spotted in my yard over the years has been non-poisonous, I cannot claim I feel comfortable having them milling around. The fact that a human occupies a certain amount of space (arguably a lot more than they need or should), is automatically a problem for every other creature that has claims to that piece of earth. I generally let things be, never use any chemicals on the land and never planted any grass - that is as far my abilities go as far as living in harmony with the wilderness.

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