Taking the Scenic Route

Nature right up close and personal.  The kids discovered a young bird in the backyard, almost stepping on it.  It wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about moving and seemed pretty unsure of where to go or what to do.  It eventually walked to the corner of the yard and we sat outside and watched it for a long time.  Occasionally a mama bird would come by and try to scold us and lure us away.  We were in and out of the house to watch it throughout the day as it tried to fly.

By the end of the day it figured out how to fly.  What a treat to watch the process.

*warning* for the snake phobic before you scroll down, there are pictures of a little bitty snake.
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On his way in for his lunch break today Zach noticed a little snake on the sidewalk. The little guy was cold enough he was hardly moving and seemed pretty lethargic. Because he wasn’t moving very fast he asked Zora if she wanted to see it. Silly question.

After observing it for a while, we decided to put him in a warmer, more sunny spot so he would feel a little better. We remembered the rock next to the tree, so Zach wouldn’t accidentally run over him when he went back to work after lunch.

The snake, naturally, lead to a discussion about snakes. Zora argued with us, insisting that snakes were nice and won’t bite. We explained that little snakes probably eat things like bugs, and bigger snakes eat mice, rabbits, cats, dogs, and they really do bite people. We mentioned that snakes like meat, to which she gave us that “you’re crazy” look as she countered “Bugs aren’t meat!”. Then finally, “What kind of meat are bugs?” (as compared to cows are “beef”), and she had us stumped for a second, and finally said “bug meat”. We then talked about bugs usually being eaten whole, not cut up like chicken, which finally deteriorated into a conversation about making sauteed cricket breasts for lunch. I have a strange family.

The mama bunny we see around the yard a lot decided to have her babies here. She dug a hole in the yard and had about 4 little guys, and we discovered them around the time they all had fur and were about the size of a med-large mouse. This one kept wandering out of the nest.

Eventually Mama did move the babies to another spot so we could mow the lawn again.