Many, many people travel during the holidays. But for me, being home is the best place to be!

Our winter, snowy celebration with a large family begins today. I’ll be back blogging first thing next week!

Meanwhile, and especially for my friends in Africa, I thought you’d like to see a few scenes of the wild animals outside my office in Galena, Illinois, seven miles from the great Mississippi River!

We have many, many white-tailed deer, and quite a few beautiful stags like this one. They do present a problem, though, as many cars end up especially at night hitting them on the highways. And usually, more damage is done to the car than the deer!




This is Arnold the Possum. He is inside the small heated outside shelter that I built for the many feral cats in the area, and as a result, none of the feral cats now use it!







Skunks, like bears, normally spend much of the winter in a deep sleep — not quite hibernation, but called a torpor. They do wake from time to time to eat, as this one is doing.






Wherever you are, whatever you may be doing, enjoy the holidays and be safe and happy!