The Feeding Station

Liz Kollar

Halfway up a Mountain in Virginia not far from Charlottesville and called Buck’s Elbow, on a wide shelf of land surrounded by tall Oak, Pine and thick brush and brambles, a beautiful brown house sits shaded by the dappled greenery of a Weeping Willow and wild Wisteria which grace one side, while a long curved drive on the other side, leads to the foot of the hill. Huge boulders from some ancient cataclysmic upheaval, hug with violent beauty, the perimeters of the property.

A stream of pure and sparkling water runs across the bottom of the hill, delighting the wild animals that came to quench their thirst on hot sultry mornings. The house itself is a two-storied edifice with a large deck on the side facing away from the woods and from which can be seen miles of mountain views and farmland, with horses and cows dotting the fields. A large woodpile below the deck hides snakes and woodchucks, the snakes sunning themselves on the warm logs and the woodchucks peeking out of the crevices.

On the railing of the deck hang a half dozen bird feeders designed to fool the squirrels that come to steal the tasty seeds and nuts provided for the birds. But they are clever little beasts and soon dozens of them, gray squirrels who come by day and flying squirrels who come by night, raid the feeders. Lazy creatures, they’d rather steal the bird food than do the hunting themselves.

The birds that come are of every variety, Woodpeckers, Hummingbirds, Finches, Nut Hatches, Morning Doves, Chick-a-dees and many more. My son and his wife, Jean, fill the feeders daily and have counted over forty different kinds of birds, including Hawks, and Palliated Woodpeckers that look much like birds from prehistoric times.

The biggest surprise came one night when Frank and Jean turned on their outside lights and discovered a bear looking in their window. He was leaning against the floor to ceiling window, all 700 lbs of him pressed against the glass. When their dog ran snarling over to the window though, he turned and disappeared over the deck railing. The bear had cleaned out the feeders and thrown some of them to the ground below. He has come back several times probably because he loved the peanut butter that coated some of the seeds. He also raided their garbage cans until my son had to hide them in his horse trailer until collection time. Oh, yes, my son also has two beautiful horses he keeps in a local stable. They belong to his daughter, Nikki.

Inside their home, they have a dog, four cats, six cockatiels and a tank full of fish. As of this writing, they have discovered there is a cougar roaming around their property and they have a photograph of it slinking through the bushes to prove its existence. They wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it came on their deck one night and stole the bird food like the bears, or even went after the Jackals that roam their woods. Buck’s Elbow is an amazing place and I sometimes wonder what other animals come to visit this remarkable feeding station in the dark of the night while my family is asleep and safe in bed.

©Liz Kollar 2004