Hey all - Live out in the country north of Fort Collins and thought would see who else likes that rural lifestyle? You know, chores, critters, million-dollar views, wildlife? It is a big contrast to life in town, not for everyone.

Have been living out here for number of years and one thing have noticed is it seems the farther away your neighbors are, the better you know them. When in town, did not know neighbor's names. Out here, know them and their kids and their grandkids, their hobbies, medical conditions, extended family, etc. haha!

Heya -

A number of times ravens will come when I mimic their call, presumably out of curiousity. Have read that they are one of the smartest of all birds and believe it. They will hover over me or fly around me to see what's up, what's going on. Love it. Such beautiful and graceful fliers too. They remind me of the book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach. They sometimes will fly straight-up ballistic and then tuck their wings in and dive down. Or sometimes they will invert for a moment, then right themselves. They mate for life. Juveniles fly in packs called "Unkindnesses" of all things.

My question, is how to make my house a regular stop and hang-out for them. I have bird food out. Understand they like cat food and don't like dogs. Well, to put the food in a way so rodents don't swarm it, seems it is too small to get their attention. Also, the "no-dog" zone is inside of the "dog zone". It is fairly large, but how to convince them it is safe no-dog zone?

Looking for foods and strategies that are really enticing for these awesome wild intelligent beings.

RATS ARE AWESOME! We (back when there was a "we") were owned by a black & white girl named "Mama Mouse" of all things. She came from the pet store pregnant so in no time at all we were up to who knows how many rats living outdoors around and in the trailer. Things got out of hand for a minute there hahaha! Man, lots of great memories though. Here's to you, Mama Mouse, Rhodie, Lance, Chelsie, Big Bobbie, and dozens more all the way back to childhood and the pottie-trained kid I had who would follow me from room to room or else climb up onto my shoulder to help me navigate the house haha.

Love the Scout Report books because in metaphorical ways there is a lot of the "Black Wolf"/"White Wolf" Cherokee legend weaved in, plus there are some wolfdogs in the narrative.

"Only ones you will find that love you more than themselves." Was up to four doggies but two have crossed the rainbow bridge.

Dogs are amazing for sure. The best.

Have a number of wild snakes around the house: rattlers, bull snakes, hog-nosed snakes, and garter snakes. Wild snakes are the best! There is one bull snake in particular that has reappeared a couple times. He gets relocated to some happy hunting grounds far away from the house, then shows up a few months later sunning on the driveway again. No, cannot be sure is the same one, but each time the snake is larger and sunning within a few feet of the last time. Was about 5' the last time I saw him. This year...?

Snakes are so amazing, especially the rattlers IMO. Feeding them is hard for me, as I also dearly love rodents. So...wild snakes are the best!

I work hard to maintain the herd of bull snakes, as they are aggressive hunters and snag all the easy prey that lie-and-wait snakes (aka rattlers) like. In an indirect way, they manage the rattler population humanely. Have some awesome snake habitat on a portion of the land, with grass up to the knees and bushes and birds and rodents galore. Suspect there are some really huge bull snakes in there by now, 6'-8', though have not seen any larger than the 5'.