I grew up on a farm and we always had animals of some kind. My father raised beef cattle, hogs, and rabbits when I was very young. We always had cats and at least one or two dogs. As I grew older, we no longer had hogs or rabbits, but we acquired chickens, geese, turkeys, horses, and mules and still had the cattle. So there was ample opportunity for watching a variety of animals.
For entertainment, we'd take walks in the woods and sometimes would come across wildlife, whether it was squirrels, a snake, a bird, a box turtle, or an insect. And we listened for the different bird songs or insects noises. During one of these walks we came upon a king snake eating something...I don't remember if it was a mouse or frog. Poor snake couldn't move. I've never again come across a snake eating its lunch. I still like walking in our woods or at any of our local parks because you never know what you might find....and the fresh air is great, too.
Sometimes, on Sunday afternoons Daddy would take us for drive. Occasionally, Grandma and Grandpa, who lived on the next farm down the road, would ride along with us. It was fun to see turkey, geese, or deer out and about.
Which brings me to the present. Now I'm an adult and though I did live in the city limits for a period of time, my family and I live in the country on our few acres and have for many years now. We have goats, chickens, cats, a dog, rabbits, and guineas. It is so entertaining to watch the animals! They all have their own personalities.....just like people. The goats love attention and follow us everywhere when we are in the barn, field or woods with them, especially the baby goats. They jump around, running here and there and back again. There's the boss goat who doesn't like any of the other goats, but is so sweet to us humans. Even our buck wants to be hugged on. All of the goats love their cheeks rubbed and they love to eat sunflower seeds. Not all of the cats get along with every other cat. Some of the cats are so sweet and cuddly while others more stand-offish and don't want to be bothered. The chickens crack me up when one finds a worm or some tidbit and another chases it trying to get it for itself. The rabbits are just cute and furry. Some are more friendly than others. The guineas can be rather stupid at times. They fly over the fence, but then can't figure out how to get back over it. But they eat the ticks and bugs!
Wintertime is fun because I keep my bird feeders filled and enjoy watching the variety of birds that stop by. I like the cardinals, probably because they are my favorite color. Last year I watched something I had never seen before....a male cardinal picked up a seed and "fed" it to a female cardinal. I think the little tufted tit mice are very cute. I usually have a downy woodpecker who visits the suet feeder. And there's lots of dark eyed juncos...also known as snowbirds, a couple kinds of sparrows, nuthatches, and sometimes yellow finches. I have my bird feeders hanging on the posts on my front porch so I can see the birds up close. I can look out my front door and watch them for many minutes at a time.
In town or in the country, animal watching is very entertaining and I highly recommend it!
