Creatures of the Woods

They are utterly disarming in their
shy trust of us, those generations of small
wild creatures, recognizing us as distinct
from others who invade their territory.
Anxious to confront us, receiving their
daily due of nuts.  They are sleekly
well-furred, black and grey and red.
It is the former who approach engagingly,
the latter who prefer to evade then pounce
and withdraw, prize retrieved, pride and
security intact.  Ah, the greys and the
blacks however, are bold and do not
hesitate to approach with their direct
appeal, courageously facing in close
physical contact with imposingly large
creatures not of their own species.  We
observe their hurried, purposeful approach,
dancing around us as we respond.  We 
hear behind us the rustle of desiccated
leaves, tannin fragrancing the air.  They
have no quarrel with the crows, dark and 
alert, who raid the cache spots in their turn.
Those delightfully wild but cleverly
social creatures choose also to overlook
our little canine companion who languidly
reproaches them at times for their impudence
their lack of timidity, but they nimbly bypass,
then skirt back for additional offerings of
nuts to swell their private commissaries.