Water Worries

I was sitting on my patio this afternoon, admiring the pink water lily blooming in my backyard pond, when I noticed a squirrel approaching the water. He must not have spotted me, sitting quietly on the bench nearby. He positioned himself at the corner of the pond and leaned over to get a drink. I moved just enough to take his picture. He finished drinking before he finally noticed me and scurried away.

This spring, I've noticed plenty of birds perching on the big rock in another corner of the pond, where they can also drink, and quite a few neighborhood cats, as well, who often jump the fence to gaze longingly at our eight goldfish, and get a drink of water. I've also noticed that we've acquired at least one neighborhood opossum; I've spied it hugging our house as it turned the corner and headed toward our backyard.  I didn't think anything of it until a couple of weeks ago, when my neighbor called me over to the fence. 

Wendy wanted me to know that another neighbor, across the street, had spotted a bobcat in her yard. In addition, Wendy and her husband had noticed a coyote in their yard one evening as they were letting their dog out one last time before bed. The coyote quickly jumped over the fence into our yard, where it undoubtedly got a drink from the pond before it left to continue its nighttime foraging. I wonder what other wildlife has been frequenting our yard in  pursuit of water.

Here in the Nebraska Panhandle, we are in the midst of the second driest year in the 132 years that records have been kept. In a normal year, Gering would have almost eight inches of precipitation by mid-June, but we have received only 2.6 inches of precitation so far in 2026.  There is virtually no irrigation water available because the mountains that feed the North Platte River received very little snow last winter. This means that many area farmers and ranchers are unable to plant regular crops, instead choosing to plant drought resistant cover crops in an attempt to ward off any inevitable dust storms that are sure to happen when the wind blows over their unplanted fields.

 

I don't even want to mention the wind-driven wildfires that have burned nearly a million acres of grassland and trees in Nebraska this year, most of them in the Panhandle. Farmers and ranchers are extremely grateful for the first responders who have traveled from near and far to assist in getting the fires under control. Likewise, everyone is thankful for the generous donations of hay, grazing land, fencing supplies, and time to help rebuild what has been lost, but it will take years for the sandhills to be rejuvenated, and some ranchers may never recover from their losses.

My house is located only a half mile from the western edge of town, so it isn't too unusual for the occasional deer to be observed, roaming our streets after dark. I think my yard is safe from the deer, though, because they are much more likely to drink from the more accessible, rebuilt water feature at Northfield Park, a few blocks away. At least, I hope so, because I don't want any deer helping themselves to my garden produce before they leave my yard.

 

 

I don't begrudge any of the smaller animals the use of my pond--anything smaller than a mountain lion is welcome--but I wish we would receive enough rain to make their water needs less urgent. As it is, when it rains a little bit, the resulting puddles evaporate in no time. That's what happens when the humidity sits at less than 5%.

Please join me in praying for Nebraska's farmers and ranchers, and in asking God to send abundant, soaking rain. It may be a cliche, but it's true: "We really need the moisture!"

He covers the heavens with clouds;

he prepares rain for the earth;

he makes grass grow on the hills. 

Psalm 147:8