Sharon's 'Paddy' Gets His Book—
Story of a Companionable Grouse
By Sandy Cooch

Vivian Miller Moor, author of "Paddy: A Ruffed Grouse Chooses Our Farm," signs copies of her book at the Sharon Library. (Herald / Sandy Cooch)

The story of Paddy the extraordinary grouse is now in print.

In a handsome, 140-page book published this fall, Vivian Miller Moore has lovingly chronicled the two-and-a-half years she and her husband Wilfred were befriended by a young grouse that took up residence in and around their Sharon farm.

Paddy was first introduced to Herald readers on March 2 of this year, in a front-page article by Moore, describing the time Paddy helped the Moores’ friend, Roger Salonis, bag his buck during hunting season.

Paddy liked to be where the people were, and he took to spending hours with Salonis in his tree stand during the fall of 2003. Salonis dozed off, and the young partridge, at his side in the stand, plucked at the hunter’s shirt to wake him—just in time to see a big buck amble into range.

That is only one of several extraordinary tales in Moore’s book, which comes complete with a series of color photographs that show Paddy and the Moores’ hill farm.

Moore introduced "Paddy, a Ruffed Grouse Chooses Our Farm" at a book-signing event at Sharon’s Baxter Library earlier this month. She noted that Paddy made his first appearance in late August, 2003, as her husband was putting up the year’s firewood in a woodlot on the farm.

From that point on, Paddy made a point of seeking out the Moores—and their friends and family—whenever they were out. He also spent his first winter in the farm yard, frequently roosting in sheds, barns, and even on the front porch, at night.

"We assume he was a spring chick in 2003 and learned to enjoy our company before he learned he was a grouse," Moore said.

He wasn’t shy. When Moore followed her husband out to the woodlot that first day to see the friendly grouse, Paddy quickly approached and circled her, "alternately lifting his head to stretch his neck as high as he could, then scrunching down to try to look under me."

Then it was a tug at the seam of her jeans, and a jump up, to sit on Moore’s shoulder.

Paddy had his whimsical, unpredictable side—and he had a few obsessions.

Attack Bird

One of the latter was his predilection for attacking farm machinery—tractors, manure spreaders, and the like—while they were operating.

Here is a description by Moore:

"Paddy heard the equipment when Wil put the next load of manure into the spreader. Suddenly he stopped his chatter, tipped his head, and listened to the tractor change gears.

"He listened some more and waited. The instant the tractor appeared at the edges of the field, he dropped into his torpedo shape and raced toward it.

"He followed the spreader, running as the beater threw the manure high and dropped pieces all over and around him.

"Bigger pieces bounced off his back, but he kept his head down and ran for all he was worth behind the machinery. Through the shower of manure, he picked up speed, then suddenly launched his body to fly at the wheels."

Moore notes that she often tried to distract Paddy away from these activities, for fear he would be injured or killed.

In the end it was a natural predator, however, that ended the grouse’s life, in April of this year.

Moore notes that Paddy first appeared in her life the month her mother had died, and he left—a trail of feathers on the forest floor revealing a violent end—as more family members were being born.

For the two-and-a-half years that Paddy was around, Moore spent hours—in the woods, fields, farm yard and outbuildings—observing her wild friend, enjoying his quirky company and companionable sounds, and settling into the slower rhythms of the natural world.

"I cherish the years, visits, and interaction with this wonderful little creature," her book concludes.

"I learned so much about the totality of life, about patience and peace, with him. I know this is the way of nature. Only his crafty skill at dodging predators kept him with us as long as he was.

"I learned in a more complete way than I knew before that life isn’t just what we humans live, with our striving to ‘get somewhere’ or ‘be’ somebody. Our purpose is to be a humble being in as near total harmony with nature’s ways and seasons as we can manage."

"Paddy, a Ruffed Grouse Chooses Our Farm," is published by Full Circle Stories of West Hartford, and is available at Sharon Trading Post; at Dan & Whit’s in Norwich; at VINS in Quechee; and in Woodstock at Shiretown Books and the Billings Farm Museum. Or contact Moore at 763-7081.

Moore will sign and sell copies of her book at the Baxter Memorial Library’s "Cookie Walk," Saturday, Dec. 9, noon-3 p.m.

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