Hare was sitting in Raccoon’s parlor. “Somebody’s trying to ferret out what happened at the party in the barn,” he said. “Who?” asked Raccoon carelessly. “Ferret,” said Hare. “I heard you the first time,” said Raccoon, “I meant who’s doing the ferreting.” “Ferret,” said Hare again. “You can’t miss him. He looks like a smaller… Continue reading

“It was pretty frightening,” said Raccoon. “He had me believing I’d done something wrong, and that there was something bad happening at the party in the barn.” “Me too,” said Hare. “I even started thinking he was a policeman.” “And that whistle,” said Raccoon with a shudder. “What about the whistle?” asked Squirrel. “It was…”… Continue reading

“You can’t fool me, Raccoon,” said Dog. “There are not that many numbers.” “Yes there are,” insisted Raccoon. “There are more numbers than one, two, three, and ‘a lot’, Dog.” “Are not,” said Dog, laying back down in the grass. “I’ll prove it,” said Raccoon. “Look here, Dog, I’ll make some marks in the dirt.… Continue reading

Porcupine proudly held up what looked like a piece of cloth. “Look at this,” she said, “I made it myself!” Hare, Dog, and Magpie nodded appreciatively. “How’d you make it?” asked Magpie.  “Knitting!” said Porcupine. “Beaver lent me a book with instructions. In the book they use things called ‘needles’, but I just use a… Continue reading

“Ferret, why did you just spit on the ground?” asked Hare. “I had no choice,” said Ferret, “I had to do it.” “What do you mean you had no choice? It’s a deliberate thing, spitting on the ground like that. And it’s rude,” said Hare, who was slightly offended. “It’s Raccoon’s fault,” said Ferret. “She… Continue reading

Raccoon snorted and jumped up. Otter was shaking her awake. “Hey, Raccoon, you fell asleep.” “Drat, how could I let myself fall asleep?” Raccoon muttered. “Did I miss it?” “Miss what?” asked Otter. “Sloth, of course,” said Raccoon. “Look out, Otter, you’re blocking my view of the tree.” “You want to look at a tree?… Continue reading

Oscar T. Thompson — Otter, to his friends — grinned over at his friend as he drove his pickup toward the zoo. “I’m telling you, Musky, they have no idea. We didn’t leave a single clue. And we’re gonna do the same thing next time, soon as we pick out which one to rescue.” “We’ll… Continue reading

Hare blinked at Dog. “What did you say they call you?”  “Daisy,” said Dog, idly scratching an itchy spot. “I don’t get it,” said Hare, “a daisy is a flower. In fact, there are some right over there in the meadow.” “I know,” said Dog. “But it’s just one of those things they do. My… Continue reading

1 “That is the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” said Magpie.  “But maybe it would work,” said Squirrel. “It would be very nice to…” “No,” said Magpie, “it wouldn’t. The whole thing is more complicated than you realize. And besides, you can get away with taking things that are already thrown out, but now you’re… Continue reading

Otter and Muskrat were showing off their new hobby to everyone. It was a little raft, and they were sailing it around Beaver’s pond.  “Ahoy!” called Otter to everyone gathered on the shore. “Avast! Keelhaul! Six points off the starboard bow!”  “What’s he talking about?” asked Squirrel. “He’s just yelling all the sailing words he… Continue reading