You Never Know What To Expect

Over the years at My Father's World there have been many unexpected visitors. Sometimes, these unexpected guests cause quite a bit of commotion. Years ago, when the company was still operating in the garage of the owner's house, I was working at my desk and I heard a sound from the window. "Mooooooo!" I looked up and there was a cow. I'm not good with types of cows — I only know it was just a full-grown cow and it was staring at us through the window. If the house had been next to a pasture — this would not have been unexpected. However, there were no cattle anywhere in the vicinity of the house! We contacted a friend who had a pasture and he came and got the cow and moved it to his pasture. We tried for weeks to find where the cow came from but were unsuccessful.

Another visitor was out at the print shop. I was working on running some network cables one day. There is an access to the area above the ceiling in a closet. As I was coming out of the ceiling and headed back down, I hear a co-worker shout at me, "STOP!" I've learned when someone yells, "stop," it is best to freeze first and ask questions next. That is what I did. When I asked why they told me to stop, I learned I was about the step on a black snake. It was stretched out on a ledge in the closet. I just sat frozen for a bit as we tried to figure out how to remove the snake. Before we had time to do anything, the snake decided it was time to leave and slithered back out the way it came in. We named the snake Roscoe and spotted it outside many times, but we only saw it inside the building that one time.

Some of the critters that have visited over the years have been fun or just interesting. One year, a fox decided to raise its litter of kits in the woods next to our office. It was fun to watch the kits playing and exploring as they grew. Once they were grown they moved on. We do see a fox from time to time, but generally they are just passing through. Many times, we have found moths resting on the window screens, waiting for their wings to dry from the dew. The Luna moth, pale green with a wing span up to 5 inches, is always fun to see. Also, the Polyphemus moth, brown with prominent eyespots on the back wings with a wing span up to 6 inches, is interesting. We have also had a visit from a striped bark scorpion, native to Missouri. They are a yellowish tan color with two dark stripes. The one that visited us was small — about 3/4 of an inch long. They can grow up to 2.5 inches. I have lived in Missouri 55 years and this was only the second time I had found a scorpion. These scorpions are venomous but they rarely sting people and if they do sting, it is similar to a wasp sting — painful but usually doesn't need any special attention.

The last critter for now was a baby lizard. This was a prairie lizard. They are gray or brown with stripes on the back and tail. This lizard was about the size of a quarter and came running under the door. The chase to capture the lizard to get it back outside would have been a great video to share, but thankfully, I was the only one at the office at the time so there is no video. I did manage to capture the lizard and get it back outside. He has lived outside in the gravel bed next to our building for several years now and is now almost 5 inches long. He doesn't fit under the door anymore. He has many friends and it is fun to watch them. I don't always name the visitors but the lizards are all named Pete, unless I see 2 at once, then it is Pete and Re-Pete. When I see a baby lizard, it is Baby-Pete.

I enjoy living and working in an area where you never know what visitors will show up.