- By Betty Cortus -
Because our community is encircled by a wonderful belt of natural greenery we share our environment with all kinds of native fauna. Among the many species that choose to make this their home, we occasion-ally see rabbits, coyotes, ground squirrels and all kinds of birds from long-legged waders to tiny hummers. We do not always live in complete harmony with all of our feral neighbors; rabbits nibble our cherished plants, a giant crane has eyed our koi and coyotes menace our small pets. But one rare visitor that could only cause a gasp of admiration is a magnificent stag, which one of our residents recently spotted, perfectly at home in our gardens.
As a child growing up in Australia, where deer are not a native species, my first introduction to these beautiful animals was seeing a picture in my grandmother’s living room, of a mighty antlered stag on a hilltop, reigning supreme over a romantic woodland gorge. I later learned the original painting’s name was “The Monarch of the Glen,” the work of a 19th Century English artist, Sir Edwin Landseer, a great favorite of Queen Victoria herself. Over the years, prints of this painting became a popular part of many a household’s décor. It was eventually used as a logo or advertising graphic by such widely differing companies as Pear’s Soap, Dewar and Sons the whiskey distillers and the Hartford Insurance Company.
It occurred to me recently that perhaps that elusive stag seen in our grounds (not to be con-fused with his artificial brother lurking behind the carports at Hillside) might make a fitting real-life logo for our community; an apt symbol of the good life we and our wild neighbors share…our very own Monarch of the “Glen.