Category Archives: animals

“Come and get it!”

June 14, 2020animals, cats, Chickenssusanmanzke

What happens when I call “Kitty, Kitty”? Cats come for the food but so do my hens.

It’s supper time, and my 4 hens won’t head into their roost until they have a nibble of cat food.

The cats do not bother the hens. They even move out of their way when all four rush up onto the porch. The chickens never have to worry about our cats considering them as a meal.

Later, after dark, the raccoon/s visit to look for crumbs.

Critters abound on Sunnybook Farm.

Friend or foe

May 9, 2020animals, catssusanmanzke

There are barn cats that come to the house for food.

We never brought outside cats to our farm. They just found us.

My critter cam caught these two touching noses. I don’t remember hearing a catfight, so this just might have been a greeting in passing.

I just thought I would share this photo of Squinty and Tom today.

They usually observe social distancing when eating, never staying this close to one another.

Now they have found sunny corners to warm themselves on the farm. Again living at a normal distance.

The rescue

April 28, 2020animals, nature, Odds and endssusanmanzke

It was time to take Sunny for a walk this morning. I hadn’t planned to go far. But ended up walking for 30 minutes.

Along the way, I noticed a few worms had wiggled onto the shoulder of the road. They were covered with bits of gravel and soon would die.

I picked up one and deposited it back in the grassy ditch, not where it would drown, but where it could clean itself of the gravel and not get smashed on the road.

During my walk, I rescued 6 worms. It’s nothing earthshaking, except for those worms.

There are so many others in our world today who are real rescuers. I honor them all.

Still, doing my part this morning made me feel useful, if only to a half-dozen worms.

Eggs of different colors

April 26, 2020animals, Chickens, wildlifesusanmanzke

Every day, I go to the chicken coop and look for eggs. I have five hens, but only rarely do I have five eggs. Mostly, I get two or three.

So where did the little blue egg come from? Not my chickens, for sure.

The little egg was not near a tree. It was on the edge of the road, on the blacktop. Really odd, so I picked it up.

I wonder about the bird (probably a robin) who left her egg in an inappropriate location.

Usually, I find eggs that were hatched, broken into pieces. This was whole.

I had found a similar egg long ago. I put it in a pill bottle, set it in the refrigerator for years. After that long period, the inside dried up and eventually went to a science teacher–I will try to do the same with this one.

The chicken eggs were used for a pecan pie. They were delicious.

Today I shared with you just a little bit about the wildlife on Sunnybook Farm. I hope you can find nature’s beauty where you live, too.

A furry visitor

April 25, 2020animals, Sunny, wildlifesusanmanzke

There are a lot of animals that visit our farm, but usually, they don’t live close to the house.

Adult rabbits have not been seen here for a couple of years. They are not the target of rural cats. Owls, hawks, coyotes, and bald eagles take the larger rabbits they find. Mostly, its the baby bunnies that end up as an easy meal for a cat or as a toy for Sunny.

I had one rabbit come for a visit today.

At least I hope it was just for a visit. The last rabbit made a nest in Sunny’s pen and Sunny found it.

Our dog did not eat the bunnies, but he did play with them. Like Lenny in of Mice and Men, Sunny doesn’t know his own strength.

I had to chase Sunny before I could take the last baby bunny from his mouth. It had not been torn to shreds. I think it died from the shock of being in Sunny’s mouth.

Anyway, I hope this is a rare sight and this rabbit has moved on to find safer accommodations. I sure don’t want Sunny finding more ‘squeaking’ toys.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person