We live in a time when liars are supposed to take care of verifying information, thieves are supposed to take care of your money, and murderers are supposed to take care of your health. It's only natural to feel hopeless at some point when we focus so much on the bad things. So, if the burden gets too heavy, just spend some time relaxing out of this nightmare of a world. Remind yourself of hope, humanity, humility, love, affection, care, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFKTEaq-WA4
People are much more productive when they are positive. When we live in a nightmare, hope for a better future is hard, but not impossible. When people search for the ugly truth, they are bombarded with stats about death, another lie that very few people know about, the next hateful message towards them, etc. With so much negativity around us, we should have time for the positive things also. https://youtu.be/WgFBfUHI-X8?t=463
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." - Mat. 5:6-7
I feed some squirrels that come around every once in a while, and my brother and I taught some of them how to wave. One will even throw his hand straight up and spin in circles.
Another one (real tiny guy) has a penchant for doing ridiculous acrobatic displays. One time he found a wobbly branch and tried to "trick" it in every conceivable way...like for fifteen minutes straight. Phenomenal. He could even roll up like Sonic and would trick out of the rolls.
One funny side note is that I began to feed ravens peanuts as well, and they are no less impressive. And then I saw the Bible quote from Job 38:41..."Who provides nourishment for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God, and they rove abroad for food?" Well, I do. :)
And I know, it's God that provides, but that's not to say that one can't be a vessel for that providence.
Fantastic, I had a squirrel buddy I named Billy when I was about 10 years old. He brought his family with him after and was a delight to hang with.
I wanna give one some pets, but the one that gets closest always freaks out...and he kinda acts as the peanut gatekeeper, so the other ones stay back. The ravens similarly have a main guy that tries to address me, and he'll even load up on peanuts and spit them out for the other ones.
I like how if squirrels catch wind that you are looking in their direction, they'll try and look as cute as possible and go into puffball stance with their hands clasped. Now I'm sure they do it for peanuts in the long run, but they like the attention too.
I had no idea squirrels lived so long either.
I've been running out of peanuts and a couple of days ago the main dude that comes by climbed my balcony and shredded a cigarette in an ashtray looking for nuts. I was really confused when I saw the cigarette at first though.
One thing that was really funny is the very first time I saw the ravens and squirrels together, three ravens were playing with a squirrel by flying at him, trying to grab one of feet, and then twisting their heads real fast to fling the squirrel in the air end over end. It was several hundred feet away, so I'm not too sure the squirrel was enjoying it, but the ravens were having a blast. The squirrel was unscathed too, so it's pretty obvious they were just messin'.
The ravens and squirrels actually get along quite well.
LOL...I don't think I've ever seen a quail. Maybe once, but it might have been a pheasant, and the tail definitely made me think pheasant, but my eyes suck.
The only downside to feeding the squirrels is that they occasionally get picked off by a rather large red-tailed hawk that comes around. Also a beautiful creature, but they are pretty vicious. I even caught a raven hiding an egg from the hawk...behind the drain pipe at the top of a building. The hawk will just go around the tree tops stealing raven eggs.
Also, one time there was 40-50 ravens that kept flying around this huge tree, and I was really confused...there was the hawk in the tree, and ravens kept landing all around it, and they even chased him later on...but ALL the birds just kept jumping off the tree and flying into this really strong headwind that kept them all nearly motionless in the air. The hawk was making its trademark attacking sound too, constantly, but perhaps it was just enjoying the air surfing.
The hawk tried to attack the ravens once outright when I was feeding them peanuts, and the ravens didn't come back for months, even though they are always in the vicinity.
Do yourself a favor and look up ravens in UV light...you can see those markings in daylight sometimes if the sun is right.
And I don't see rabbits too much, but I've been lucky enough to see them at night, chilling in the grass. Watching rabbits do binkies all over the place is pretty funny...I still think animals tend to ham it up more when you are watching. It always makes me think of quantum mechanics and the "observer effect"...and why it's important to recognize where your focus lies.
been doing this for over 20 years. It was way harder before. So many people who are joining these days