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July 25, 2014 by tomdalzell

Animals from the Woods

We have our share of real-life animals from the woods – deer, raccoons, opossums, skunks, and the occasional fox and the less occasional mountain lion.

Mountain Lion Altar But that is not what this is about.  This is about artistic depictions of woodland creatures, mostly in our yards. The woods.  The forest.  They conjure up fear.  When we say that we are not out of the woods yet, the woods are something that is not specifically good.   In popular culture, the woods are where danger lurks.

PW Book 2 PW Book 1

hd_100091892_01PW Book 3Peter and the Wolf – an archetype of the woods as a frightening and fearful and dangerous place.  And – a great piece of music. PW Sheet Music

Hansel and Gretel, also a narrative in which the woods are dangerous.  I have written about it elsewhere, about my grandmother and her six brothers and sisters performing the operetta in German for their parents in the 1890s in Champagne, Illinois, where her father was the head of the German Department at the University of Illinois.

HG Books 1 HG Books 2 Another great piece of music. HG Books 3 My grandmother sang us this song in German when we stayed at her house in the 1950s.  I find it profoundly moving.

But none of this is what this is about.  This is about the animals of the woods – excluding bears, who are treated elsewhere.  Let’s start with the woods themselves- trees and leaves:

1216 Burnett

1216 Burnett

1640 Spruce

1640 Spruce

536 The Alameda

536 The Alameda

Here are the critters that I’m talking about:

1620 The Alameda

1620 The Alameda

1107 Colusa

1107 Colusa

2412 Mathews

2412 Mathews

2217 Parker

2217 Parker

1600 block Bancroft

1600 block Bancroft

1601 Hopkins

1601 Hopkins

7 Virginia Gardens

7 Virginia Gardens

1509 Vincente

1509 Vincente

1712 Stuart

1712 Stuart

2249 Glenn

2249 Glenn

1640 A University

1640 A University

Fox 2134 California

2134 California

 

Fox Court, University Avenue

Fox Court, University Avenue

34 Panoramic

34 Panoramic

1575 Hopkins

1575 Hopkins

2233 McKinley

2233 McKinley

1315 HENRY

1315 Henry

1947 9th

1947 9th

847 Mendocino, on Indian Rock Path847 Mendocino, on Indian Rock Path

847 Mendocino, on Indian Rock Path
1322 Shattuck

1322 Shattuck

1610 5th

1610 5th

1914 Hopkins

1914 Hopkins

 2321 Ward

2321 Ward

1545 Acton

1545 Acton

1515 Derby

1515 Derby

1709 Franklin

1709 Franklin

1681 Visalia

1681 Visalia

59 Poppy

59 Poppy

1888 Virginia

1888 Virginia

69 Menlo

69 Menlo

1322 Walnut

1322 Walnut (gone now)

626 Santa Barbaa

626 Santa Barbaa

2315 Russell

2315 Russell

I asked my friend about this collection of woodland critters.  He had talked to Gabby after seeing the draft posting.  Gabby had sent us some photos of the very quirky Magical Garden of Fernand in Brittany and my friend called to thank him.

Gabby apparently got going about Peter and the Wolf, marveling at the fact that it was a piece about a Young Pioneer commissioned by the Soviet government to entertain Young Pioneers.  And, of course, Gabby had photos of his Peter and the Wolf record album collection to send on.

We got back to the animal photos.  My friend is generally not a critic when it comes to production values, but even he noted that many of my photos of woodlands creatures are not top-drawer photos.   I acknowledged this freely, and acknowledge it here again.  But what did he think of the critters?

IMG_3677

2134 Californ 

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