Collateral Damage

Most folks think the term "collateral damage" is only used in the movies or during war.  It is not true.  I see collateral damage far too often on my wild little mountain.  It is mostly due to human depredation.

During hunting season I get every suburban and urban weekend warrior from the northern Virginia and DC area converging on all of the properties surrounding my little mountain.  I live between two large wildlife management areas, which is code for a free for all hunting craze beginning Thanksgiving week.

The locals hunt too but, for the most part, they are following rules, boundaries, and providing for family and neighbors winter food resources as well as culling the herds.  It is the non local weekend warriors that annoy me.  They invade my posted property lines -which is threatening to me and my dopey dawg as we toddle around on our daily hikes across my mountain.  I am required to dress myself and my dog as a pumpkin in order to avoid being mistaken for prey - the "drunk hunter" loophole.
What I find equally irritating is the waste.  In the past 10 years of living here, I have found several wounded animals that I have had to put down. Then there are the complete carcasses (minus a rack or a bear paw) discarded in my stream or on my property.  It is one thing to kill an animal, but to waste the life of that animal  for nothing more than a trophy rack or claw is unforgivable.  One is not a great hunter if you cannot finish kill by dressing out the animal and using as much as possible for the good of your family or your community.

This is a sad collateral damage story.  These twins were born here on my mountain.  Mom did not survive hunting season this year.

 Spot nearly lost her life too. You can see the entrance and exit would on her shoulder.  For the record, there is no "fawn season" in this area.  Spot is healing and the twins are relatively safe as long as they do not wander off my mountain and into the sites of the periodic poachers or an oncoming vehicle.

What does this have to do with art?  Well, as an artist, I "see" things in a different way than most. My gift can be a curse when one is a synesthete.  I feel everything I see both physically and emotionally.  So in that respect I am the collateral damage of the shooting of Spot.

Bucket List Item

Ever since I was 15 years old, I have wanted to go to the land of Misty and Stormy of Chincoteague.  For those that don't know, these were titles of books that I read as an adolescent. I was completely enamored with the stories of these little horses carving out a life on a wild barrier island. 
 It was all so close to me in the south western Maryland shore of the Chesapeake but it was always just beyond my physical reach.  

The Chesapeake Bay is a pretty big barrier.  Ticking off a bucket list item was the original plan but upon arrival on Assateague for the first time in May of  2015, I fell in love with the charm and beauty of this wild place. 

During my most recent visit in the fall, I participated in plein air workshops and discovered this new passionate pursuit.  


 Next spring, I will be spending 3 days in the back country painting the wild denizens of this beautiful barrier island.  I can hardly wait to return to see all of the wonderful and wild creatures that are beginning to seem like amusing old friends.