In Port Townsend/qatay we’re both tragically blessed and wonderfully cursed to be living with so many other creatures.

Raccoons and otters getting into where they shouldn’t. Crows always asking for a share of something. Coyotes roaming the night painting public art with strange symbols. We may honestly have the most deer-to-human ratio of any city in the U.S. 

Who knows? What a strange thing for some folks in our town to call this a “problem that needs to be solved.” It’s many things: a hassle, a gift, a learning, a frustration, a conversation. 

But it is certainly not a “problem.” There is no “solution” to another creature. Only a whole lot of complicated and tangled ways of living with one another in the time that we are given. And when has learning to live with anyone (human or not) been without frequent (often difficult) miscommunication? The fawn crossing Discovery Road has no idea you are texting while you drive, it has no idea what a phone is, or private property, and has only just begun to pick up the nuances of streets and vehicles from its herd.

Likewise, I’ve no idea what the crows are yelling at me this morning, maybe something about winter or zoning laws, but I do know that two of them have looked after me when I’ve had a hard time, and they make dumb jokes in the summer.

Certain deer know the seasons way better than me, and are much younger. They know exactly which bush takes first to an early spring. And the coyotes, yes, understand night better than any of us, by far.

Conner Bouchard-Roberts
PORT TOWNSEND