Spring brings new life

Along with flowers and green grass, spring brings with it new babies of all shapes and sizes.

There’s nothing like driving past a field and seeing all the new little lambs or tiny black calves with their shiny coats. And then there are the new foals, kicking up their heels as they chase each other around the paddock.

It is definitely a time when farmers and ranchers are putting in long, exhausting hours putting in crops and making sure those little ones come safely into the world.

This spring I’ve been a little obsessed with another kind of birth waiting to happen -- the birth of April the giraffe’s calf at a zoo in New York.

The zoo is live streaming a web cam on the Internet, straight from the giraffe barn, 24/7, so people all over the world can witness the miracle.

Myself, along with an average of over 200,000 viewers at any given time, are glued to their computers watching and waiting for the 150-pound baby to make its appearance.

Now I’ve watched calves being born and even helped pull lambs a couple of times, so why am I glued to this particular birth?

This baby is going to drop six feet to the ground when it’s born. Talk about a rude awakening. One minute it’s nice and cozy and the next it’s free falling to the barn floor because giraffe’s don’t lie down to give birth.

And just like the rest of nature’s mama’s, we have no idea when this little one is going to make an appearance, so we wait and watch.

Hooray for spring babies!