As we observe various bird species, we can’t help but label them with unscientific character traits. Some birds, like the Chickadee, with its trusting countenance and happy voice, are seen as cheerful little birds. Swallows are graceful, Owls are wise and stealthy, and Nuthatches seem to always be nagging about something.

Crows, Ravens, Jays, and Magpies, members of the corvid family, are clever birds that may either delight us or annoy us, depending on the circumstance. My brother knew a Stellar Jay that was so crafty it would mimic the sound of a cat to get his dogs to follow it away from their food dish. It would then fly back and help itself to their kibble while they searched in vain for a furry feline to chase. Definitely a clever bird, that one.

Tony began showing his Brown Swiss and Holstein cows at the Puyallup Fair around the age of eleven, exhibiting ribbon-winners for the next nine years. As an adult, he's still active on the fair scene with his "famous" pet steer Oliver.  Oliver proudly holds the title at the Puyallup fair as the county's "Pet Cow." Tony's other cows, Jodee and Karabelle, are staying with friends on a small dairy farm in Puyallup.  He misses them very much, especially Jodee. Not only was Jodee born on his birthday, she is also the first heifer born through sixteen years of raising dairy cattle, and she shall forever hold a special place in his heart.  Locally, Tony tries to help the 4-H community as much as he can, and if he wasn't so busy with the store booth, he would be showing his cows in our local Ferry County Fair.