My backyard has become a kind of drive-through eat & greet for birds, squirrels, rabbits, possums, raccoons, deer, skunks and various other creatures over the past few months. It's been a lot of fun watching these animals interact, and my 12 year old son and I get a big kick out of watching the action from the window above. I've taken some pictures and videos, and I'll post them when I figure out how -- along with a lot more commentary/description as I find the time.

But for now, here's how it all started.......

While cleaning out my kitchen pantry back in October, I found a bag of sunflower seeds that were recently expired and probably a little stale. Instead of tossing them in the trash like usual, I thought "hmmm...I wonder if the birds and squirrels would like these." So I sprinkled them on the ground outside my back door, and went back to cleaning the pantry.

A couple hours later, the sunflower seeds were still there on the ground, untouched. "Hmm, okay. Maybe they're not interested" I thought.

But the next morning they were gone. So I thought to myself, "I wonder if they like peanuts? There's a big jar of old peanuts in the pantry, let's give that a shot."

So I threw the peanuts out there, and a couple hours later, there were 2-3 squirrels, a bright red cardinal and a blue jay pecking around at the peanuts. "Well okay," I chuckled, "there seems to be some interest." So I grabbed everything I thought they might like -- stale bread, old pecans and a few other tidbits, and carried them out to my back yard.

By the next morning, everything was gone...not a crumb left in sight.

As I looked out the window, the thought of feeding a bunch of random animals gave me a really good feeling. But I thought "there's no way I can keep putting human food out there every day -- that'll get expensive." But I really liked the idea of giving these creatures a daily meal through the winter months.

So as I drove to work that day, I wondered "how can I keep up this little mission of mine without breaking the bank?" Later that afternoon, I figured out a workable solution.

To be continued.......