Who Lives in a Field

Contents :

• The Barred Owl
• The White-Footed Mouse
• The Short-Tailed Shrew
• The Woodchuck
• The Cottontail Rabbit
• The Gray Fox
• The Boy

WHO LIVES IN A FIELD

All the animals knew the old sycamore tree. It stood near the pond in the little grassy strip on an unused part of the farm. A stream flowed quietly into the pond and the woods beyond provided cool shelter from the sun.

During the winter there was little activity around the old sycamore as it stood tall and silent in the frosty air.

With the arrival of spring the ground became soft. The barred owl had already chosen her nest and laid her eggs. A woodchuck woke from its winter sleep and enlarged its burrow. New green leaves appeared on the trees and the shrew inspected a log near the pond. A rabbit ate the fresh grass growing near the old gate while a gray fox chose a rock-covered bank for her den. The white-foot mouse darted through the grass eating the new shoots.

A boy from the farmhouse on the hill often came to the old sycamore tree. He was sure the animals were there for he had often glimpsed them, but every time he arrived they disappeared. He had wondered how he could sit quietly and watch animals and birds as they lived their lives without disturbing them. A treehouse built in the old sycamore would be the place to watch the creatures that lived here in his favorite spot on the farm.