"Chickadee: Fluffball Genius in Disguise"
Don’t be fooled by the adorable “chicka-dee-dee-dee” call — the Black-capped Chickadee is a survival mastermind. Every fall, they basically hit “refresh” on their brain, growing new neurons so they can remember hundreds of hiding spots for food.
Imagine updating your phone’s memory every season, but cuter. Also, the more "dees" in their call, the higher the emergency level. (Translation: "Dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee!!" = "Something is trying to eat us!")
Nature isn’t just sunsets and soft breezes — it’s also full of tiny thieves, feathery soap opera stars, and animals who could win gold medals for drama. From dive-bombing hummingbirds to marmots who basically sleep through life, meet the wildest, weirdest, and most wonderful creatures you might not have realized were right outside your door.
You know those yellow-eyed, furious-looking owls? Yeah, those are Great Horned Owls — and they are basically the thugs of the bird world. They’ll eat skunks. They’ll evict bigger birds like Red-tailed Hawks from their nests. They’ll even glare at YOU if you happen to walk under their tree. Their talons can crush prey with 500 pounds of force per square inch — the same as a strong dog’s bite! If looks could kill...well, Great Horned Owls figured out how to do both.
Many humans believe that there are good and evil spirits to contend with. Most believe that the majority of animals are good and even that most animals are better than most humans. Thousands of stories are available to tell us how dogs, cats, horses, and other animals came to a human's rescue. The bible itself tells us how God sent ravens to feed Elijah in his time of need.
Many also believe that each animal has characteristics that we can learn from and it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to think that God would send us examples so we could see and feel what love feels like and then hopefully imitate it since He teaches us that love is the most important thing we can do. For instance, the wolf is known to have incredible loyalty to its family or pack, ants and beavers are hardworking. These things can teach us what is good. The animal totem or spirit animal idea is based on that. If you see lots of Magpies maybe it's time to try and socialize like they do. This doesn't go against any religion it should show you a loving God that is trying to help you by sending you examples of things you may want to consider.
Sometimes animals are simply a comfort to those who need love and companionship and what greater privilege than to love and comfort someone who needs it.
I have found in my lifetime (and I've been around a while) that God has used animals to help me many times.
When I was a young girl living in the country I had a Border Collie named Shep that was my best friend. We did almost everything together. Then one day when he was outside and I was in the house alone I decided it was a beautiful summer day to go for a walk. I pushed and pushed on the door but Shep wouldn't budge. He sat so firmly against it until I got frustrated and went around to a window to see if something else was stopping the door from opening. In the berry bushes, just a few feet away was a big black bear. Shep never barked or made a noise he just sat firmly against the door so I couldn't go out. When the bear moved on so did the dog and the door opened freely.
That was my first encounter with an animal protector. I was thankful for the dog but also thankful for the one who made the dog and gave him the ability to do that just like He sent the ravens to feed Elijah.
Magpies
Since moving to our present property we've been neighbors with several generations of Magpies. Each year a couple would successfully raise about 5 young ones. As soon as they were old enough to fly they come to our yard where I keep running water and dry cat food to help them out. Once they are old enough the whole family disappears for days only stopping by occasionally.
This photo is a young one and I'm not sure if it's guarding the food against others or catching the sun to dry off after playing in the sprinkler. Interesting behavior I'd never seen before.
