Animal Whisperers and Animal Rescuers

The other day I went outside to see what my husband was doing outside.  He had been gone for a long time, and I wondered what in the world he was up to.  I walked out to find him sitting perfectly still outside our chicken coop.  My first thought was, "How sweet; my husband is spending quality time with our chickens."  My second thought was, "How weird; my husband doesn't normally bond with animals (he's more apt to shoot and eat them)."  So I called out to him to say hello, and that was when I spotted the other animals.  How cool!  My husband was sitting by the chickens, but about 10 yards away a deer was laying in the grass by him, and another 10 yards from the deer a wild turkey was loitering too!  It made me smile and shake my head because I never imaged that my hunting husband would turn into an "Animal Whisperer."  :)

 

The other crazy wildlife event that happened to our family last week was the discovery of a fluffy little screech owl on our picnic table.  I had sent the kids outside to go weed the garden, and my son Michael came running inside and said: "Mom, come quick, there is something really weird outside."  So I came running and found this:

At first we thought it was asleep, but after all of us got close and made noise and it didn't fly away, I though for sure it must be dead.  But then I got really close and saw it's eyes blink.  So, I did the next logical thing---I ran and got my camera!  After taking pictures of my kids with "Little Screechy," we decided to leave him alone for awhile and see if he would fly away.  After a few hours, he moved to the the other side of the table, and then a few hours later it moved under the table into the shade.  But we could tell he was not doing well.  For example, he never opened his eyes or moved his head.  So I decided to call the Fish Wildlife and Parks Service, and they said that if we could safely put him in a box, they have a lady who tries to rehabilitate injured animals to eventually set them free back in the wild.  We easily put the little owl into a box.  He didn't put up a fight, but he did surprise us by opening one of his bright yellow eyes (the other eye must be injured).  Now at least we know he is in good hands.  It goes to show that you never know "who-who-who" might show up at our house for dinner, and it was sure fun to feel like "Animal Rescuers" for the day!  :)