YEH!!! you got a new shelter dog!!! I live on 20 acres and have 16 dogs (all fixed). I keep them basically in three groups. I have lots of fencing and cross-fencing. My husband has electrified the bottom of the fence in some of the areas. I do have several that would kill each other if they got together but I've got it managed well. So I laugh when people think a third dog is "crazy." I don't work and that's helpful, of course. Late last year I did give my pug to rescue. There's a strong pug rescue group in my state so I knew she'd probably find a better place than here. I didn't think I could keep her from becoming obese. So I recently replaced her with a new shelter dog. He's so cute. He's gentle and quiet so far - an important thing when you have so much canine energy in one place. So many, many great dogs in the shelters - I could find one any day in there that I would just LOVE!!. vicky

We LOVE our rats! We have two and they're just part of the family. :) They snuggle, play, come when called, are potty-trained and even love our dogs. Rats are very clean and don't like it when their cage is dirty. We have what we call a rat-mansion in our DD's room. It's a VERY big cage so that they can roam around it and play chase with each other. They're hilarious- honestly, they have their own sense of humor and love to make you laugh. If you ever have a chance to observe them, you'd be surprised at how smart they are. Rats get a bad rap simply because the FLEAS they carried were what spread the European Bubonic Plague. Blessings! Haley

I don't have as much trouble with wild animals as I do with neighborhood dogs. They seem to like to use my garden for a playground and my plants suffer. Now I like dogs as long as they are properly cared for and behave but when they mess with my garden that I have put in several hours of work and several dollars I draw the line. If the owners won't do something about it, I will.

You have a 3 toed box turtle (tortoise). See link below: http://www.aboxturtle.com/threetoed.htm The hind legs have 3 or 4 toes; the front legs have 5 toes. I have seen these in southern Illinois as well. These are land animals and people in that part of the country refer to those as "land terrapins". They are often found along roadsides and edges of farm fields.