Jane doe

Did the city of Cleveland Heights already kill her?

Its been only a couple of days since they confirmed they were going ahead with killing the few deer around. I haven’t seen her.

She is usually here at some point every day. She doesn’t come near me. And I would never try to approach her. She was always happy to be here though. She would bounce over to my yard with such happiness ❤️ not to see me, but she knew I wouldn’t chase her away. She could bounce right past me and graze to her hearts content. Just beautiful.

If I have something I don’t want animals eating I have rolls of chicken wire and posts. Anything open is for eating.

Plants are meant to be food. Plants and insects are the foundations that support life, good soil, and a clean world.

It is always a joy to see her, and all wildlife, enjoying what my little place can provide.

But she may be gone already.

I’ve lived in this city for over 30 years. Before that, as a Chagrin Falls teen, I’d come here with friends to hang out.

CH had always been filled with wildlife. When my children were young we walked all over the place. Any day could be used to watch the life outside and study animal behavior, bugs, birds. We homeschooled for years with the CH co-op so we had time to see how much was living around us.

I’ve been a dog walker now for over 14 years. I know the streets around. It’s know what times to watch for other animals around.

It’s not a problem anymore though.

No matter where I am walking there is a disturbing lack of wildlife, insects, and birds. The yards and streets are emptied of the all the lives that used to flourish here.

The deer. There have been years where deer were hanging out on every block, in every field, and crossing streets all over as I’d drive from dog to dog.

It’s been rare this year to see more than the beautiful girl at my house.

The city had the option to sterilize the few around this year and keep the numbers low.

They could have put in the work to secure anything they felt the deer are destroying. They could have given those people who value pristine plants over lives the tools and information to make their home unfriendly to animals.

Instead they chose killing.

I emailed them. I’m sure others who want to preserve life here did too.

Some of the council members said they prefer sterilization. Some of them wrote back giving me some hope that their more careless council members would not get the chance to murder.

I feel once again betrayed by this city administration.

And I am very concerned about the future of all of the animals in Cleveland Heights now.

What species is the next ‘nuisance’ to be eliminated?

I’ve seen an increase in people hating certain animals lately.

Skunks, cats, groundhogs, raccoons, geese…

Every animal in our city has a job and a purpose.

The skunks and opossums provide incredible pest control. They work hard all through the night. Aerating the soil as they work. groundhogs provide valuable aeration as well. And create further habitats for the other animals. Raccoons are terrific, and adorable, garbage collectors. All those people calling to eradicate outdoor cats need to read some serious history. The amount of suffering every culture suffers that has done so is well documented. And Cleveland Heights has enough mice and rats even with our outdoor cats.

For the record: people killing of insects and trees are killing the birds. Not cats! Geez, these people are trying to start a plague!

The list of the jobs our wildlife do for us is vast. And it’s ignored.

This is definitely another rant. It’s my blog so I get to rant.

I’m going to miss this little die if she’s really gone. I know immever going to stop looking up and down the street for her.

Wherever she is now I love her. I’m honored to have given her a space she knew she belonged.

❤️❤️