Ava Caught a Pigeon

Before I had kids, I imagined having a rough and tough dirt loving little girl. Crazy enough I got her! I seem to have created the ideal daughter.  When it comes to animals and bugs, Ava is fearless. She always consideres spiders and insects her friends. She even has one living in her room right now that she fed a freshly caught cricket. Ava specifically asked me not to clean her window sill because thats where her spider friend lives. Fine by me, I have only cleaned them once in the 6 years we have lived here. This dusty dirty sill makes the best kind of spider house.

One day when Ava was 4 years old she found a large dead rat and brought it to me cradled in her hands like a precious treasure. It was freshly killed and stinky, but she was the happiest kid around.

Ava has been bitten by so many animals we now have a running tally. Her favorite thing to do is to catch wild creatures. It seems the fear of getting bitten is overshadowed by her love for these critters.

Animals who have bitten Ava


1 - Wild lizards, her favorite thing to catch
2 - Beasty - our bearded dragon, she thought her finger was a meal worm
3 - A gopher - she tried to rescue from the cat, literally grabbed it out of Apollo's mouth
4 - Our old pet mouse, after Scarlett squeezed it so hard and  Ava rescued it. She was rewarded by a chomp on the finger.
5 - Chickens
6 - Cats
7 - Her old pet spider, the fuzzy one with the orange back
8 - Pincher bugs, she used to carry them around as her little sweeties
9 - Meal Worms we feed to the dragon
10 - Stung by a bumble bee, she was carrying it around cupped in her hand. She still likes to catch bees and pet them...

The other day we were at the beach with her grandparents and she was feeding the pigeons. I see her assume the stocking position where she gets extremely still. Next thing I know she snatches one into her arms and is beaming ear to ear. Thats my girl! This was one of her favorite moments and I am so proud of my fearless daughter.

Ava grabbing the pigeon

The stinky dead rat Ava found and loved

Ava caught this lizard

Ava and Apollo both have a baby wild mouse 

Ava's Pet Mouse