Tennessee Wildlife Connections

[Mikayla Young 2]

As the sun rises, animals begin to play, marking the start of the day for everyone to enjoy.
During quiet moments, I appreciate the beauty and majesty of Tennessee's landscape and fauna.
I frequently believe that we are more connected to and similar to the wildlife that lives near our homes than we realize or believe.
But, for you to believe it as well, let me provide some examples so you can better envision the invisible strings of the natural connection between ourselves and the animals that roam the enormous Earth, our home.

We are intelligent yet not afraid to cause mischief on occasion, much like the raccoon that wanders through the night in quest of food and adventure in the night light. We persevere in the midst of murky seas, swimming with all our might against the negativity that tries to drag us down, much like the smallmouth bass. We are diverse in look, personality, and characteristics, similar to the powerful catfish that causes waves in every body of water it inhabits. The majority of us are as kind and pleasant as the Tennessee Walking Horse.

We have the capacity to brighten someone's day or night, much like the lightning bugs we catch and admire on summer nights. We have the power to construct and protect relationships houses, and become hard workers like honeybees, who are always buzzing around creating and protecting their queens or generating honey. Though we may seem small at times, we are a powerful and colorful element of the Earth's system, similar to the tiny red and black ladybug that roams the leaves of a vegetable plant in a sunlit garden. We are each gloriously distinct in our decisions and journeys, much like the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly flying across the skies among the breeze that cools us on a hot summer day.

We, like the Tennessee Cave Salamander, live in a variety of habitats, including near bodies of water, forests, and rocky landscapes. We, like the eastern box turtle, have a shell of protection that we utilize to defend ourselves from the unpleasant things in life. Even though the turtle will most likely outlive us, it doesn't mean we cannot appreciate the simple or slow things in life like it does. We love the rapid playing of a song or the beautiful singing of a mockingbird, which sings a song or two every day in the hopes of communicating with many people via the art of music.

We, like the animals stated, are intellectual, brave, strong, sometimes mischievous, colorful, powerful, diversely unique, hard-working individuals who live in many states and habitats and love the small things in life. For this and many other reasons, we have a natural connection with the animals around us that is sure to remain till the end of time.