Dan's Papers - September 26, 2008

Come-when-called is a conditioned response. Though usually it's a dog that's doing the coming, it's not exclusive to canines. Baby Boy is a male Canadian goose that has learned to respond to his name and will fly home, land in my lake, swim to shore and waddle up to my house when I call his name. Mrs. Baby Boy, as I lovingly refer to her, is his "mate for life." For the past two years, they have shared their world with me and I have stood in the cold and rain biting my lip with worry as I watched the female sit on her eggs, turning them at the appropriate intervals of time, and picking up the shredded grass and twigs that drifted away from her nest on the edge of the lake, as Baby Boy maintained his position as guard goose, protecting her and the soon to be born goslings from predators that stalked them from the nearby woods.

To me, their lives are as precious as the dogs that share my home. I see them as parents and babies and siblings that stay together, take care of each other and eat, swim and enjoy the sun. Once the goslings are born, they will share the lake with other families of geese. My home is open to them and hopefully it provides as much of a safe haven as possible, as it is also home to deer, fox, raccoons, turtles, fish, bats, a multitude of various species of birds and God only knows what else, who come in search of food and refuge. Most of them have the ability to understand that I am not a threat, but instead, someone who will watch over them and they have more than once left a wounded member on my doorstep. I remember watching the late Marlin Perkins, in Wild Kingdom, with amazement and a bit of jealousy.

Often, I exchange similar stories with my close friend Maria Tennariello. Many of you know Maria for her warm and charismatic personality and social grace, her contributions to Dan's Papers and her involvement and devotion to many organizations and events in the Hamptons. Maria also shares a part of her life caring for the delicate innocent deer in the photo. Badly injured and unable to use her left front leg, the deer has found comfort and safety within the confines of Maria's property and has become one of the not so wild, wildlife guests that regularly come to dinner at her house. The deer has actually become trusting enough to allow Maria's daughter, Michelle, to hand feed her.

It is Maria who inspired me to write this column. I do it with hope that, even though our wildlife is usually out of sight, it will not always be out of mind. If I can heighten the awareness of just a handful of readers, and you slow down just a little when the geese are crossing Montauk Highway, or have a little more tolerance for the deer who may be foraging in your garden, then I've accomplished what I set out to do when I sat down at my computer and began to type.

Question: If all dogs go to puppy heaven, where does the wildlife go? Is there a special place for them?