My old campus was a catholic university with its own monastery. The monks taught theology classes mainly, but also took care of the grounds, as the campus had some ridiculously huge, building-sized trees. But the real strange part was how the wildlife behaved. One expects wildlife to be nervous around college kids, but they were oddly calm and docile. Squirrels would walk, finches landed on a branch right in your face, hawks chilled beside you on fence posts. They didn't care at all. 1/2
It's really something else to see wildlife so completely unafraid of humans, even humans in the age range most likely to fuck with them. But, honestly? I never knew anyone who fucked with the wildlife beyond handfeeding squirrels or selfies with the hawks. It was like we all knew something would happen if we took advantage of their trust. Often we whispered that the monks had them under a spell, but now I wonder if the monks had an agreement with local fae. Those trees were huge after all. 2/2
