When we first moved to Minnesota, a buck came to my office window to investigate. I sat very still and let him observe. He moved from one window of my office to another, keeping a close eye on me. Eventually he moved on. It felt like he needed to check me out to decide whether it was ok to let my little family live in this house. Not totally sure whether we passed the test, but thirteen years later, we are still here.

Moving to Minnesota from Boston, I was startled by the wildlife at first. But I got used to them, mostly – birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer. Foxes (and kits!) sometimes, and even gray wolves occasionally. They come to the window and watch me while I work, as though there were a sign somewhere nearby letting the animals know that there’s a human to observe this way.

This morning, a bunny is stopping by – he’s not far from the warren in the nearby woods, but he looks a little more suspicious than the deer or birds or squirrels usually do.

“I’m supposed to be observing you,” he seems to be saying. “You are supposed to be doing human things.”

“OK, little bunny,” I tell him. “I’ll go back to my human things.”

He watches for a little while longer, and then hops off to do his bunny work for the day, keeping one still-suspicious eye on me.

“Come again sometime,” I whisper after him. And maybe he will.