Family Affair!

Once in a while, something happens here on the Bayou that just causes me to sit and watch.  No..more often than not, something does that!  I watch a lot of things and I usually learn a lot of things by watching.  I am referring to the times that I spend observing the animals around here.  Whether we want to admit it or not, animals could teach us a thing or two about life and how to get along with our neighbors.  We could also learn a few important tips about family.

I was out back behind the new shed when I heard a bit of rustling in the leaves.  I stared long and hard at where I thought the noise was before my eyes focused on a small bird.  A baby thrasher was ever so slightly moving in the dried leaves. It was not making much movement at all but rather was amusing itself with pecking at softly at a blade of grass. After a long while, I wondered if the mom was still around or if this little one had been abandoned or even was an orphan.  It seemed to be large enough to be out of the nest but maybe not smart enough to be on its own.  Then my question was answered.  The mom and dad were both around..they were just tending to another babe at the moment.  This couple had twins!  The parent birds would give full attention to one baby for quite some time.  They would scratch in the leaves and peck the ground.  The little one being taught would follow closely behind and mimic the actions of the parents.  Plenty of bugs were being gobbled up by the hungry tyke.  When that little one was full, the parents' attention turned to the other babe.  They would follow the same routine with this one, teaching it all the secrets to survival.  Once its belly was full, they went back to the first and repeated the actions.  A could twenty minutes or so would pass between these shifts of duty.  All the while, both babes were learning extreme lessons in life.  The one being tended was learning how to forage for food and the other was learning patience. The parent birds would even go so far as to reprimand the one if it interrupted the lessons being taught to the other.  Pretty amazing, if you think about it.  Human parents would do their children a huge favor if they would only teach the art of patience.

I watched these parents at work.  They taught their little ones all that was needed to be successful in the avian world.  They worked as a team.  It was that teamwork that impressed me as well as the patience.  Somehow, those birds knew that it took two to raise the little ones.  There was no squabbling, no competitiveness just teamwork..just family.  Most folks today would benefit from watching and learning a thing or two from this Brown Thrasher family.  Then, again, most folks could learn a lot if they would just observe more of what was happening around them.  Life's greatest lessons can all be seen in nature...if we just take the time.