We get to experience all kinds of pets and wildlife at daycare

Not all animals are handled by the children but are often used as a learning experience.

     WILDLIFE We often see deer at the edge of the field in the mornings as well as bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks, and more. Three sides of the two acre yard border up to 45 acres of field in all three directions to the east, south and west so a lot of wildlife passes our way through those 135 acres.

             Peep and Daffy Easter  (2008), we bought two baby ducks, they lived in a play pen in the house and played in the water table until they got too big, then we took them to a farm to live with other animals. The baby ducks were animals the children could handle and enjoyed playing with. They loved watching the baby ducks swim and waddle around.

      PRINCESS Meet Princess, a spotted gecko. She comes out a lot during the day but only Cindi handles her. We got Princess in 2007. She eats crickets and meal worms and likes to sunbath in her water pool. Sometimes you see her just sit there with one foot in the water cooling off. One end of her tank has a heat pad and a cave like house, the opposite end is not heated but also has an adobe style house so she choose what temperature she likes at all times. She also has a infra red light above the tank.

            ZORA Meet Zora, this summer (2009) we were eating watermelon in the back yard and she wondered up begging for something to eat, she actually tried to climb up our legs and followed us if tried to move away from her as we didn't know she was not wild and would not bite nor did we know where momma raccoon was so Cindi got us all in the house. Once all of us kids were safe in the house, Victoria, Cindi's granddaughter age 16 could not help but go back out because Zora was crying at the back door trying to come in. Victoria took her out some baby formula and fed her, afterwards Zora climbed in Victoria's lap and fell asleep, momma raccoon never showed up. Well the rest is history. We figured out that she was about a 12 week old orphan. Many phone calls were made for someone to come and get her but they were unsuccessful so Jack, (Cindi's husband) built Zora a cage so she would be safe from cars and other wild animals. After several weeks when she was old enough to start fending for herself she was let go. She came back once but then we never saw her again. Although the daycare children were not allowed to handle her due to diseases our family treated her like a pet and she often came in the house and played. We would spend hours outside every night playing and interacting with her. She was also given all her shots just in case, come to find out, they get the same shots you give a puppy so we went to the pet store and obtained all necessary vaccines. Of all the animals that have wondered through here Zora was my favorite. She would take naps in your lap, pick your pockets and hide the treasures she found. She had such a personality and she is truly missed. You can see how small she was in the first photo, by the time she left she had almost doubled in size. Her favorite foods were marshmellows and bananas. She was very curious and played just like a little puppy. She loved sitting in the porch swing every evening with Cindi and would follow Cindi wherever she went. When Cindi planted some plants around the pool Zora copied and helped pack the dirt down with her front claws. Zora even enjoyed the swimming pool but would not get in unless you were in with her and she stayed close to the ladder. I really miss this little creature, she made such an impact on me.

    TIMMY TURTLE A few years ago we found a little turtle about the size of a quarter. It actually had a wet leave stuck on it's back and Heather noticed that the leaf was moving so she took a closer look and saw a little snapping turtle underneath. We set up an aquarium and kept Timmy until he got too big at which time we took him to nature center where they added him to their super large tank with other turtles. When Timmy left us to go live at the nature center his shell was about 4" long, so he had grown quite large and was still growing.