Reviews for Scratching the Woodchuck: Nature on an Amish Farm

The average rating for Scratching the Woodchuck: Nature on an Amish Farm based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-07-29 00:00:00 Gerald Huntley A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. Henry David Thoreau There is a mole living in one of our basement window wells. Earlier, in the spring, a toad was hanging out there. I don't know if there was an epic battle over the territory, or if they are somehow sharing the space, sort of like nature's Odd Couple. (I imagine the toad would be Oscar Madison, though I could be wrong.) Every now and then when I'm out on the patio, I hear little scratching sounds, and if I sit very still, the mole will waddle quickly by my chair, off for a day of doing mole stuff. The first essay in this delightful book is about moles. Kline devotes much of his time to studying and writing about the more "unlovable" creatures that dwell in the fields and woods. Spiders, snakes, toads and weasels are all given their due. And all serve as reminders that though nature may be cruel and messy, and occasionally gross and smelly, it is always, always magnificent. Kline has more time to notice the world around him than many farmers as he plows his fields with horses instead of a tractor. His essays range from owls - (currently trendy, cute decorative items in teen girls' bedrooms, they are in reality quite vicious predators) - to woolly bear caterpillars - (as I always suspected, their coloring is entirely a matter of genetics and NOT a predictor of the severity of the coming winter.) This book meant a lot to me, since I seem to be the only person I know who really enjoys looking at things that dwell in the outdoors. My kids will humor me long enough to come take a look at an unusual bird or an interesting bug, but then they hurry back inside where Facebook and season-whatever of 'Top Gear' await. I know the neighbors think I'm nuts for standing in the yard, staring at the sky. What a relief to find there's someone else like me. Here is just a bit of Kline's essay called "Clouds": For me, the most enjoyable clouds to watch are the puffy, low-level cumulus clouds of warm seventy-five degree afternoons. Sailing like clipper ships through the otherwise clear sky, a cumulus cloud the size of a football field may contain only enough water to fill a bathtub. Even as the clouds race east with the currents of a brisk wind, there is a constant roiling within as parts move into the wind, then turn and billow back into the rest of the cloud. Recently I was told that great egrets, those lanky white heronlike birds that wade around in murky swamps watching for fish and frogs, are the departed spirits of birders and cloud watchers---which explains that permanent crook in their neck. Hey, I'm cool with that.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-12-25 00:00:00 William Vanderven This kind of book may not be written anymore because too many of us have our eyes fixated on our smartphones. Kline describes the wildlife which makes its way to his farm in Holmes County, Ohio. In short chapters he describes the sleeping woodchuck he tickles with his walking stick, birds, flowers and more which he discovers while he farms and walks around his property. We live on the edge of a small town and while reading this book we had several inches of snow. A few days later no human has walked in our back yard, yet the snow shows we've had many visitors, numerous birds, rabbits, squirrels, maybe a coon or opossum. I will need to start paying more attention.