The fox stood at the edge of his den. The sun was just starting to rise and he needed to hunt for his mate and cubs. He padded away towards the old oak tree the mice and squirrels liked. The air was crisp with the smell of freshly fallen rain and wet undergrowth. He stopped to scent the air and caught the scent of mouse. Slipping into a crouch he slowly stalked forward putting his paws down gently. Off in the distance he heard branches cracking, the mouse froze and bolted. He pounced but he was too late, the mouse was long gone. He stood and trotted away. All of the prey would be long gone now and he headed deeper into the forest to a huge tree the squirrels loved. Finding a spot within the braken that covered his russet fur from the tree he crouched and waited. He did not have to wait for long before a squirrel came down the tree. He moved forward silently. He could not afford to miss this time. The squirrel tensed but it was too late. The fox leaped scooping it up with his forepaws and killing it with a bite to the neck. The fox hid his kill and moved on to catch a sparrow and a mouse. He collected his prey and headed back to his den. When he reached it his cubs tumbled out of the den in the ravine, their freshly opened eyes wide with excitement and crashed into their father.  He dropped his prey and shook them off. They ran towards the squirrel and shared it between them. The fox ate the moes and the vixen took the sparrow. When the pups were finished they played in their little clearing while their parents basked in the setting sun, their coats flushing a fiery red. They rose and padded into their den. His mate and cubs curled together, asleep. He walked towards them and wrapped his body around them. As he laid he kept watch listening to the sounds of the forest. An owl hooted and bats squeaked as they flew in between the trees. Wind rustled the leaves gently as the fox slipped into sleep, his belly finally full after a long winter, lulled by the familiar sounds of his forest.

The fawn sniffed at a new shoot sprouting from the forest floor. She was still unsteady on her legs and everything seemed new to her. She lifted her head to see her mother watching her. She bounded over to her and started to suckle, savoring the warm sweet milk. She finished and her mother turned and headed towards a small clearing to graze. The fawn bounded around sniffing everything she could without falling behind. Suddenly she heard a cracking sound behind her and whirled around. There was a strange creature standing there, it looked similar to her and her mother but it was too big and it was making strange noises. She walked cautiously closer and sniffed at the creature, it snorted and pranced around. The fawn's mother came back urging her away from the creature but she wanted to play! She darted towards the creature and nudged it with her nose bounding away from it. The creature followed her whinnying. It caught up to her and nudged her with its nose. The fawn stumbled a bit and her mother decided that she had had enough. She started to shoo the fawn away when they all heard a loud nicker. There was another much larger creature standing on a hill close to the edge of the forest. The small creature trotted to it and they disappeared over the side of the hill. The fawn and her mother step back into the safety of the forest. The sunlight shone through the leaves and dappled the forest floor with speckles of light dancing across the leaves on the ground. They slipped quietly to a nearby stream that had swelled to twice its original size with the rain from the recent storm. The nearby willow trees long branches swished in the water as the mother and fawn went to get a drink from the stream.  The fawn nosed at the base of the tree and saw a small flash of gray fur. Her mother motioned that it was time to go find a place to spend the night. They walked through the forest while the sun set. The fawn was tired, she had had a long and exciting day! Finally, her mother found a good spot to spend the night and settled down. The fawn curled up beside her wondering what she would discover next as she fell asleep.

A gentle breeze blew through the treetops. The falcon lifted her wings and took off, leaving her chicks in the nest. She glided above the forest watching for prey. A flash of movement catches her eye. She sees a mouse underneath an acorn tree but it ran away before she could even think about catching it. She moved on towards the edge of the forest where she settled in a tree to watch for field mice. Off in the distance she could see a fawn and her mother grazing near the forest line. Farther into the valley she could see a herd of horses galloping towards the mountains. The falcon refocused on hunting and quickly saw plenty of mice. She pushed off her branch and then swooped. She snatched up a mouse in her talons and was gone before the other mice knew what had happened. She flew back to her nest and fed the mouse to her chicks. She headed back into the forest, the sun warming her tawny feathers, to catch something for herself. A little farther into the forest she saw a small bird sitting on a branch. The falcon caught it and sat on a branch to eat it. When she had finished the sun was setting. She stretched her wings and took off. She did not see well in the dark so she needed to get back to her nest quickly. She flew over the forest she had known her life and listened to the familiar sounds of the owls getting ready for their nightly hunt. She settled into her nest with her chicks. Soon they would be able to fly and leave the nest to begin their lives without her to have chicks of their own who would continue to hunt in the forest until it was no longer there.

The foal pranced around in the wet grass. He snorted and looked up at his mother. He wanted to play but his mother and the rest of the herd just stood around and grazed enjoying the sun after the storm. He ran over to his mother and nipped her belly. SHe snorted and moved a little farther away. THe foal lifted his head and looked across the valley towards the mountains but there was nobody out there to play with. He turned to the forest, maybe something there would play with him! He looked back at the herd to make sure he hadn’t been caught and trotted away into the forest. There were so many noises and smells! He sniffed a bush with little white flowers on it but before he could decide if he wanted to eat it or not he saw a very strange creature. It was quite a bit smaller than him and had very strange markings. The foal took a step closer and stepped on a branch, the noise echoing throughout the forest. The creature's head whipped around and stared at him, its ears twitching back and forth.It took a step closer and sniffed him. The foal snorted and the creature nudged him with its nose and bounded off into a small clearing. He took off after it and nudged it back.The creature stumbled a little and another much larger creature ran over and started pushing the small creature away. The foal still wanted to play and took a step forward when he heard a loud whinny behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw his mother. He galloped over and his mother started sniffing him all over and then started to head back to the herd. The herd greeted them and nuzzled the foal. The lead mare shook her head impatiently. He was taking the herd to the opposite side of the valley to graze. They headed off towards the mountains. Soon the sun started to set and they stopped to graze and rest for the night.  The exhausted foal stood by hi mothers side, suckling. He pulled  away and laid down to sleep wondering what he might find near the mountains. The foal quickly fell asleep tucked into his mothers side.

The cougar lifted her head and looked out across the valley. The recents storm had washed the last bit of snow from the mountains and caused the streams flowing into the valley to flood with melted snow and rainwater. She sat outside her den watching for something to bring back for her cubs. She decided that she would hunt near the stream at the spot where it flows into the valley. She padded across the ledge that leads to her den and set off for the stream winding her way around boulders and large stones. She reached the steam and started to head downstream when she heard the sound of hooves clopping on the opposite side of the stream.SHe found a group of rocks that she could hide in and waited to see what was coming. It was a small group of mountain goats. She forces herself  to be still and wait until they moved farther downstream so they wouldn’t catch wind of her.The goats slowly made their way downstream nibbling at shoots here and there until they disappeared around a bend farther along the bank of the stream. The cougar slid from her hiding spot and jumped across the small stream. She walked farther into the copse of trees on this side of the stream and followed the scent trail of the goats. She came to the top of a hill and below in a small dip between the hills were the goats. Shechose one of the goats  to aim for and stalked closer alert for anything that might startle the goats. She got as close as she could without the goats seeing her. SHe crouched and leaped forward streaking across the open space between her and the goats. The goats scattered, bleating, into the surrounding hills. The goat she was after tried to run into the woods but she pounced on it and held it down until she could kill it with a swift bite to the neck. She picked it up and carried it back through the trees, across the stream, and back up into the mountains to her den. She set the goat down inside the den and her cubs pounced on it mewling with eagerness. After the cubs were finished there was still quite a bit left and she quickly finished the rest of it pushing the scraps to the side. Outside the den her four little cubs were wrestling and pouncing on each other's tails glad to be allowed outside of the den. The cougar watched her cubs until the sun began to sink behind the mountains and she shooed her cubs back into the den where she began to give each one a bath, covering each one with brisk licks. She finished and pulled her cubs closer to her and laid down to sleep for the night. She twitched her tail and wondered whether her cubs were ready for their first trip away from the den and into the mountains and valley below.

The blue sky shone with sunlight as the thick rain clouds faded. The forest gleamed every leaf, every branch glittered with freshly fallen raindrops. The forest floor was scattered with debris, fallen branches and shiny green leaves. Mice scavenged for seeds on the watch for foxes.. Brightly colored birds flitted between the branches of the trees. The falcon whistled as she carries food home for her young. The deer passed silently on, the doe and her fawm, the magnificent buck. The forest comes to an end. Rolling hills of emerald grass thunder as the horses gallop past manes flowing tails like banners behind them. Hills lead to mountains scraping the sky. The cougar hunts through the rocky mountain face bringing food for her cubs. The eagles rams triumphantly he knows he is king. The wind whistles through mountains and over green grassland and blows the trees gently. The wind blows faintly and whispers of new life to come.