20 THE WILD ANIMALS

CHAPTER 20 THE WILD ANIMALS Wildlife can be very good for farmland. Insects pollinate the plants. Snakes eat the pests. The droppings of rodents and birds and every other animal act as a natural fertilizer. Roz wanted more of those helpful creatures on the farm, so she let the unused sections of land go wild. Up from the ground emerged native weeds, flowers, woody brambles. And with the wild plants came wild animals. But then some creatures came skulking around who were not helpful at all. It started when Roz noticed a

heavy scent floating on the breeze. She followed the scent out to a narrow strip of forest on the edge of the property. There were clumps of fur in the undergrowth and claw marks in the dirt. There was blood too. Lots of it. And then she found the carcass. A deer had recently been killed and eaten. The robot's head slowly spun around as she scanned the area. Not far from the carcass was a pile of droppings. It looked like it might have come from a dog. But Oscar wasn't large enough or ferocious enough to kill a deer. What kind of animal could have done this? Roz had been standing there at the edge of the property for a while. She imagined Mr. Shareef in his office, sitting at his computer, eyeing her location on the map. Any minute now, he would hobble out to his truck and come racing down the driveway to check on her. Roz didn't want to upset the man, so she left the carcass where it was and returned to her work. But from then on, she kept a careful watch for any more signs of trouble.