Daniel and Sarah love to go to the creek at the edge of my parents property. They collect various critters and bring them home. Right now we have 1 fish, the lone survivor of about 30 from last summer. One "crayfish" I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's in that family. And numerous snails, some which have hatched from eggs they collected and others that were already about the size of English peas.
It's been interesting to watch the critters grow and change. Surprisingly, they tolerate very little attention, unlike store-bought fish. So even though they have let the water go way to long, the critters seem to be thriving.
I guess when we started this homeschooling journey almost 7 years ago, I would never have been willing to have the bugs, birds, critters, etc that we have observed and fed and dealt. But homeschooling has taught me to tolerate yucky stuff. (Finding a pretty much intact squirrel skeleton was a biggie). Snake skin? No problem, lets measure it, take photos, write about it...
Now, I still won't let them get any rodent type pets, or lizards, or birds, but observing in the great outdoors? That's a different thing all together.
Isn't God's creation amazing?