Animals in the backyard, which one would you choose?

Photo by Kailynn Doane

Cotton candy, the hot-buttery smell of popcorn, dusty dry walkways and the screams of death seekers from the carnival rides are the dying embers of memory from summer's county fair.

After the fair closes, other concepts push to the surface: a hutch with rabbits that might fit in the corner of the backyard, a city-size chicken coop on the side of the house, a woolly lamb that might wander over the grass with soft fiber that could be spun into yarn.

County fairs inspire the community to get up close and personal with animals and with youth who devote a 4-H year to animals. Not far from the kids are the parents who drove them to every meeting, Occasionally, parental politics surface during the fair experience -- the parents who want their kids to win over than the lessons learned from participation. The whispers churned up in the aftermath of overbearing parents waft in the corners of every county fair. Back in town, the politics of raising animals within city limits spring up as quickly as the ideas to bring home chickens.

Scratch the llama idea.

If rules and regulations were not an issue, what animal would you bring home from the fair...if you could?

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