Sustaining Little Lives

May 19, 2025

I was pondering this morning how much we do each day to sustain life. Not my life or my husband’s life. But the care we extend to the critters, in and out of the house. We feed the indoor cats dry food throughout the day, and wet food at dinner time. For the feral cat, the same. But she gets little treats here and there in hopes of gaining favor, perhaps a lap sit, an upgrade from some leg rubs. The bird feeders are filled. Mixed seed in bird cam feeder and regular one, black sunflower seeds in another. A suet feeder in the colder months, and a hummingbird feeder in the warm ones. A little birdbath. The feral cat’s water dish, her preference over a bowl. And birds and bees. Rocks in the bottom so the bees have a space to land. Unsalted in-the-shell peanuts bought in ten-pound bags for the squirrels, chipmunks, and birds. The foxes next door have chicken legs and livers occasionally. Leftover livers attracted vultures which I find are quite large up close! The raccoons will eat anything in their nocturnal rounds. They are quite messy with leftover peanuts. They eat, and then in the morning, we blow the shattered shells from the deck with the leaf blower. Skunks scavenge the bird seed. Deer tip the feeders and drink bird seed that pours out like water. Or eat flower tops and tree branches. Opossums eat leftover cat food. I think that covers it. The only animal we haven’t seen in the yard is a bear. It wouldn’t surprise me though.

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