Wildlife Wonderland

Nothing about quilting, but I thought I would share about the beautiful place where I live; it is a wildlife wonderland. We have the normal wildlife, deer and skunks and squirrels and snakes, but we also have some less common. Every spring a pair of ducks and geese lay eggs in our pasture. They are in the outside pasture that the horses aren't allowed into until the grass is not quite so fresh, so the eggs are safe from being stepped on. There are two swallows who have a nest at the back of our shop porch...this makes entering and exiting quite the challenge. If you don't look first, you're likely to be dive bombed!

The other day when we went to get hay, the truck and trailer were parked on our main road about 20 feet from the house. Because its been so dry, there is a fine layer of dirt everywhere. I looked down and saw bear tracks....apparently, he'd been checking things out to see whether there was any good trash in the trailer. Of course, our ever present Border Collies had slept through the whole thing!


Later that night when we went down to feed, two Sandhill Cranes flew into the outside pasture about 30 yards from the horses. Sandhill Cranes make the most interesting noise...its very unique. The four adult pones were far more interested in the hay than the cranes, so they all started heading in.
Emma, however, is almost two and very curious. She started walking toward the cranes, who didn't move until she was about 20' away. Then they split up, so she followed one, closing the distance. When she was about 10' away, she looked over and saw that we were almost to the field with the hay so she ran as fast as she could toward the crane, turning at the last minute to come in and eat. I wonder if she was disappointed--the crane wasn't intimidated by her at all!