"I shot an elephant in my pants. How he got there I’ll never know." Groucho Marx

I saw a large eighteen-inch garter snake in my son's flowerbed. It was busy trying to escape our presence as it found itself in the spotlight of our attention. He also has a resident raccoon and groundhog beside the normal birds, skunk and other animals that you might find in the city, like the squirrels and rabbits. Since we both live near a metropolitan park system, we seen deer and on a rare occasion, a fox.

None of these animals are threatening, even the snake is nonpoisonous. The cardinal rule is don't corner them or disturb their home or den. Leave them be. Other parts of Greater Cleveland also have had these same animals but their approach to deer is interesting. Trim them out, cull the herd. Kill them. Paid hunters have, at one time, stationed themselves in tree blinds with high-powered rifles waiting for them to cross their path.

"Deer hunter Miles G. Floit, 51, of Rochelle, IL shot Charles D. Pittman, 79, and his dog, Kelly, on November 22, 2006 in Mississippi Palisades State Park. Pittman was walking his dog in a part of the park that was closed to non-hunters and was not wearing any blaze-orange clothing. Floit told investigators he was shooting at a deer and hit Pittman. When Floit went to investigate, he mistook the dog for a deer getting up off the ground and shot the dog, Doran said. Both Pittman and the dog died at the scene."

With all the mishaps that can occur with a stray misaimed shot, this community is willing to take that risk. An accidental death has been boiled down to a calculable statistic; less than one tenth of one percent. While they trivialize the consequences, the outcome could remain the same—a fatality. Personally I'd rather let the deer munch on my flowers, and take pictures of their exploits, than know that a human life had been eliminated.

K.