True Stories

In September's issue of Outside In, Professor Nutkins asked young readers to send in stories about their encounters with wild animals. We read tales of birds, fish, house cats, coyotes, squirrels-even one about a baby sister. Here's a selection of some of the best.

Tasty Treat (if you're a snake)

One day my father was mowing the lawn in our campground, and he called to us. Once we got down to where he was standing, we could see why his voice sounded urgent. A large snake had its head stuck in the ground.

It was wriggling and curling its tail, and our father told us he thought it probably had a field mouse in the hole. I sent my brother to get our mom because she would love to see it capture the mouse, and she would tell us what kind of snake it was. (She loves snakes and will even pick them up and take them into the woods without hesitation.)

It was a ribbon snake and after an hour or so, we found out two more surprises: It was almost three feet long, and it had bitten a green hibernating frog. The frog only had its leg slightly torn and was still asleep after the snake left. We think that the frog's leg may heal, and he'll live to hop another day.

Dawn Staab, age 13, Brumley

Unsolved Mysteries

We found a groundhog living in our drainage ditch, and once there was a snake in our tree. A bunch of birds were trying to get the snake out of the tree. Another time there was a snapping turtle trying to lay its eggs. An hour passed, and the turtle was gone. It's a mystery!

Mike Staab, age 9, Brumley

Just Another Opening Day?

It was the first day of deer season and my first year on my own. Dad fixed me a deer stand overlooking the creek at Grandpa's. Just as it was getting light, two does came to get a drink. But I was waiting for a big buck, so I sat back and watched the does play. After a while, four more does came.

After they all left, I got bored just sitting there and climbed down. I took my gun up to grandma's house and went down to see the horses. As I was playing with the colt, Dandy, two does and a big buck came out of the woods by the horse trailer. I started sneaking up to the house, and they took off.

I got my gun and decided I could try to track them since there was a little snow. Taking the round-about way, I stopped by Grandpa's new guinea barn. On my way past, something jumped by the door. But I couldn't see anything. I was hooking the door shut when something came running around the corner, just about giving me a heart attack.

It was only my grandma's old mother cat! I never did find the buck that day, and the next day I only saw one doe.

Sheena Mitchell, age 13, Knox City

Here Kitty-Kitty

I would like to tell you about an animal I saw on my farm. You see, my mom and I were burning brush, and I sat down to pick sticktights off my pants. Out of the blue, mom yells, "Elizabeth, there's a coyote! No . . . wait. That's our neighbor's cat . . . Elizabeth, it's a bobcat!" It had blackish gray hair and pointed ears. It just ignored us.

Elizabeth Dillsaver, age 11, Koshkonong

Snakes Alive

I have seen a lot of snakes since I moved to the Ozarks from California. Once I caught a rough green snake in the creek by my dad's field. The green snake was long, and it scared my dog, Bandit. He would not come near the snake, and he was supposed to be protecting me. Some guard dog, huh?

And one time in May, Bandit's puppy, D.J., started barking at something. She kept barking so

I went outside to see what she had found. She was barking at two copperhead snakes, and the snakes were mating. I went and told my dad. He told me to lock up the dogs for the rest of the day so they would not get bitten. So I locked them up, and the next day the snakes were gone.

In October, Bandit and D.J. cornered a big black snake under a tree. The black snake was coiled up with it's head sticking up and was hissing at the dogs and me. I stayed and watched the snake for a while. When I left, the dogs were still barking at the snake but the dogs left after a while, too.

Jaymi Miller, age 15, Laquey

Watch Out for the Stingee-Thingees

One day last summer I got stung by a horsefly on the head. It left a big red spot, and my mom had to put some peroxide on it. It burned really badly. The same summer, my sister got stung by a bee, and she started to cry. My mom put some alcohol on it, and my sister felt better.

Whitney Adrian, age 8, Hannibal

The Perfect Christmas Tree

My family and I had decided to cut down a Christmas tree instead of buying one already cut. After we got our ax, we walked until we saw what we called a "perfect" tree. We looked it over, and my mom ruffled the branches. She saw something moving in the tree and she called us over. We moved back the branches just in time to see a brown field mouse scurry down the tree. We ruffled the branches again, and two more field mice stuck out their heads.

We all agreed that this was a perfect tree but apparently the mice thought so, too. So we decided not to take their home. In the end, we found a tree, but it was not as perfect as the mouse house.

Allison Hederman, age 9, Des Peres

Masked Marvel

The sunday after Christmas we found a raccoon curled up against our back patio door. We didn't know if it was hurt or not, but we knew we shouldn't disturb this wild animal. All day long and into the evening, we watched "our" raccoon. When we looked out the door, he sometimes lifted up from his sleeping position. He really seemed to be looking back at us.

Our parents said if he was still there on Monday, we would call Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center and ask what to do. But the next morning our guest was gone. Our mother told us we had received a Christmas present from Mother Nature. We both agreed. It was a special treat to observe a raccoon up close.

Robert (age 12) and Steven (age 7) Shrout, Independence