Earlier this summer my husband brought a friend to visit. This happens quite often at our house. This time our guest was a little snapping turtle.
Sometimes it's a toad. Sometimes it's a little garter snake. We just love our neighbors! Last spring hubby brought in a lovely red salamander.
We bring them into the house, ouh and ah over them and then wave goodbye as they hurry away.
This is a pic of him making his getaway. That was his signal that he was done visiting and really wanted to go home now. So we took him outside and sent him on his way.
We live on 16 wooded acres just on the edge of the Jersey Pine Barrens.
The state has a program that we are quite proud to be a part of. It's called "Forestry Stewardship, and means that we are given the task to keep our little bit of forest healthy, to promote healthy habitat. So we cut trees for firewood, but only those that are damaged, downed, dead, diseased or dangerous. The healthy trees are left standing and the forest floor is kept tidy, thereby cutting down on the danger of forest fire.
So, even if our guests don't get invited in for a cuppa, they often hang out in the yard. Why, right this very minute there is a momma dear and her tiny twin fawns are right outside my livingroom window!
It's really, really cool! We are so blessed!
