Make Believe

I glance beneath the soggy branches and muddy terrains. Where did all the humans go? There used to be thousands of them coming into the forest every day, scaring my babies with their chaos. In one way, it’s good. They’re not coming into our home and leaving their litter everywhere. On the other hand, I love their curiosity. I just wish I could do something about the rubbish.

The ones that I have see loitering around wear blue clothes on their face. They look like thin fur from a mouse. Sometimes they come in lots of different colours and I saw somebody have cats and dogs on theirs. I think humans call them face masks.There’s a nasty virus in the world that’s wiped a lot of them out. At first they blamed bats, then it was the Government’s fault, then Brexit was responsible.

Although I don’t see so many people in these neck of the woods anymore, I really want to peck at some of them. I’m not angry at the joggers who need to urinate by the trees. I apologise to anyone who’s had to wear my stools. You gotta go you gotta go. Sex dosen’t bother me either. It’s weird to see how the men in blue all of a sudden are giving fines for stuff they’ve been doing centuries. I know they’re trying to stop their human hospitals being overwhelmed, but it does make me wonder if Mother Nature has planned. Humans are lucky, if they get hurt there are people to help them. If us owls or any other animals get hurt...we’re not so lucky. That dosen’t apply to domestic animals though.

The virus has created social distancing. I hope this virus never hits us at home along with the other animals. I hope the pandemic is over soon. People watching is by far my favourite activity. The bird watchers are the best when we’re watching each other and you never know weather they’re going to pose or you. I’ve made lots of good friends though people watching. I met a lovely rat from the sewers last week before he was eaten by my sister. Mother Nature bless his soul.

Come to think of it, there’s Trotter. How can I mistake that red fox for anybody else. He and his family moved to the urban areas to avoid the fox hunters. I remember Trotter saying that the locals feed them well there too.

“Morning, Trotter.”

Trotter spits red plastic. “I wish people would take their rubbish with them. That’s the third time I’ve almost eaten a condom today. I was hoping it was cheese.”

Trotter getting sick wasn’t the only thing that was peculiar. His front paws were matted with a darker shade of red. “What’s happened to your paws?”

“I got caught caught in some glass.” Blood dripped from his paws.

“We’ve got to do something about the litter.” Enough was enough.

“How are we going to tell them?” Trotter asked.

“I shall have to pick the litter myself and put it in the bin.”

“What about your babies?”

“I’ll get them to help me, they’ll be old enough to leave the nest soon.”

“That’s genius!” Trotter barked. “I’ll ask everyone I know to take part!”

The way I saw it was if humans could see us taking care of the forest, they would be more inclined to do it. Horrible things are happening to the world. If we can help influence humans to be kinder to the gifts Mother Nature gives they will be around for all of us to enjoy.

It wasn’t long before the humans took notice of what we were doing. I never wanted to dip my feet in a filled condom again. Though to be honest, I would rather do that then save a neighbour entrapped in a beer can.