Critters

I used to dream about the horrors I might find in my sons' pockets one day, but truly, they aren't as bad as all that. Ironically, I find that its the older men in their life who are trying to live vicariously through my children, that convince them to have pet ticks, capture turtles, or drop a spider on their mom's unsuspecting shoulder...

Here's a peek at some of the critters that both the little AND big boys have brough home this year!

 Well, to be quite fair....this trip, it was just a bunch of ticks, and a nice little 2-day cold....I can handle that most the time.

Jason spent a LOT of his spring, going fishing with Daddy, Aunt Janice, and/or uncle Micah. They caught alot of fish! Most of them were itty-bitties though, but the fun in catching them was worth the toss back. He was always super cheerful about when the grownups caught the most, or largest fish :)
Janice would fry them up for us, and they were SOO good!

 This is a dead butterfly that Micah just loved, so he carried it around with him for a few hours while we were in the mountains. He got upset when he set it down somewhere and forgot where he had put it, bless his heart!







We actually have had TWO turtles this summer! The first one, uncle Micah found, but we didn't really have a place to put him, so we let him soak in a little bucket outside on our covered deck, so escape the heat of the summer day. We went out to find he had disappeared, and he was nowhere in the near vicinity. Jason and Tyler cried a bit, but we knew it was a good thing, because it is REALLY hard to feed/care for wild turtles.



A couple months later, Jonathan found the turtle pictured here, and we kept her for a few days...she LOVED the garden produce (sugar baby watermellons, roma tomatoes, greens..), so we let her hang out in our bathtub for awhile. The boys really enjoyed it, and they were great sports when we said it was time to let her go back "home". Jason released her by the creek in our woods ♥


And THIS...
The mole. Buck, our cattle dog, was digging in the woods, and cought the mole, but Jason snatched it before any  harm was done. It went almost into an oppossum state, really lethargic and whatnot, so he decided to bring it inside to show me! :) Oh joy.
I thought it was knockin' on death's door, but he kept saying "no, mom, its breathing, its alive!". They even set it on their little table, and took turns "petting" it...really cute, but, I was expecting death and stifness at any moment now.
All the sudden, it perks up, and starts wiggling its nose, and moseying around their table, and I was thinkin now, "Praise God it didn't bite them!!!" Off Jason was sent to release it into the wild. He said he dug a little in the ground, set it down, and it quickly burrowed in and disappeared!

So, no harm, no foul, mama was happy :)

I don't have photos of these or anything, but, we also have had a couple birds, toads, frogs, and slugs...you'll just have to take my word for it!