… voices in me said, If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.

But must I confess how I liked him,
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of this earth?

- from D H Lawrence, “Snake”

We’ve seen lots of wild animals in the last week. A skunk has been seen visiting the garden, and a raccoon peeking into the house during the daytime. I had to swerve to avoid crashing the car into a tarantula crossing the blacktop. The dry weather has started to take its toll on the vegetation and the animals are having to look harder for food.