The Little Fence that Could!

Once upon a time, not so long ago, and not so far away lived a train station. Now this train station was not very old, not as train stations go, but this poor building had a problem. I’m sure this dilemma was one that many of the much older stations had to deal with as well in days past, except for one difference. Those older and much simpler stations didn’t have the newer machines that seemed to complicate life today. They didn’t have something called Air Conditioning. Without the sleek grey boxes sitting on their boardwalks they didn’t have to worry too much about the problem this new station was now facing. Without these containers the neighborhood gophers could wander freely up and down under the older stations’ protective covers and not find themselves in trouble.

Gophers, being gophers, can get into mischief. When spring comes and the young venture out of their underground tunnels, they find it important to romp, scurry and explore everything within calling distance of their burrows called home. Some of them in their wanderings one day discovered something not seen before sitting in the shade of this new train station. Something cool, grey and having interesting pipes running close to their eye height. Now those pipes had some wonderfully chewy black stuff on that was fun to take nice big chomps out of! Little did those gophers know that this new game was something frowned upon greatly by the builders of that brand new red building out there by the tracks. Being young gophers they didn’t think twice about going back to this new adventure park over and over again.

Upon discovering the antics of these young prairie dwellers, the owners of the new station knew something had to happen. Something needed to be done quickly! Before another day passed those zealous gophers had to be stopped in their tracks – so to speak. That black foam was very important and needed to stay on those pipes. With the station dwelling out there right now with little to protect it from the large family of rodents living within a stone’s throw of its walls, at least the grey boxes and pipes could be saved from their eager little teeth.

What should be done though? The containers were there to help the builders of that station work comfortably inside the freshly painted walls. The grey boxes needed to have lots of fresh air to do what they do best. So some more walls were out of the question. What about a fence? A fence that would still let the grey boxes breathe in the outdoor air and cool it down before exhaling inside the new station by the tracks. Remember though, a quick fence it needed to be. So a quick fence it was. One small roll of spun wire for keeping chickens in place and a few rods of wood from the station builder’s workshop was all that was needed to build that rapid little hedge. So with wooden stakes in place and wrapped with the wire fencing, the grey boxes and their important pipes with black cloaks should now be safe from the mouths of the many bold and chattering gophers too brave for their own good.

Older stations may have laughed at the grey boxes now sitting proudly beside the walls of that new station, fences and all. But I’m sure they couldn’t have made their dwellers as happy as that new red train station by the tracks was pleasantly doing for its new owners.