[Novelafemme]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Belle,

Thank you for this! I am home all day, and I find so many different kinds of animals. I have found bats, birds, dogs, cats, elk, deer, and even a bison that wondered off his owner's property. I work with animal rescue, along with my vet who also works with both animal rescue and ASPCA. She is a Godsend to me, and the animals she has helped.

I only take in strays. I have a dog, Dino Martini. And I have 3 cats, Madison, Gabby, and Sophie. I rock them to sleep every day until their eyes roll to the back of their heads and they start to snore.

I cannot imagine my life without my animals. They are a huge part of who I am as a human being. I feed birds, squirrels and chipmonks. I recently found 2 box turtles this year. I took them into my vet, who is making them well. They had some disease that she is treating with medicine. Once I get them back, I am releasing them back into the woods. The boxwood turtle I found 3 years ago is now huge. His mate had babies in my front yard in my iris's. The eggs were looked like chocolate eggs you get at Easter. I watched them like a hawk, and soon enough, the babies were born. It was wonderful to watch. The one think I do to know that the turtle's are mine is to dab a bit of white out on their shell. Not a lot, but enough to last for a while. And I reapply it when the white out fades.

I can just talk and talk about animals. They are such a joy.

Love,
Andrew

{{{{Andrew}}}} I just love your post and can relate to so much of it!

As a child ~ animals were my sanctuary. I found safety and refuge in caring for them and in the peace they offered amongst the craziness of my life.

As an adult I have had to work diligently to not bring home every stray I come across. Living in a border town means that I see A LOT of homeless animals and it tears me up to not be able to help them as freely as I would like. But...I do what I can by volunteering at our local animal care centers and by offering my home as a foster site when I can.

There are animals that I have had in my home that, due to experience, I would not have back...but for the most part I can weigh the benefits against the draw backs and find that the unconditional love and laughter these animals have brought into my life have, by far, been well worth the time, money and energy spent.