Quads For Birds

If you read the ATV magazines and study the ads in those magazines you know that some people just HAVE to take their quads flying over hills and down dales and they'll go a hundred miles to find a mud hole to splash in. Their quads give them the raging excitement of doing the Whoops on a sunny Saturday.

That's okay. We are different but we can understand their fascination with speed, gravity defiance and sliding around sand-strewn curves. Yeah, we were young at one time ourselves.

However, quads are ALSO good for SLOW travel, LONG LOOKS, and DEEP breathing.

Farmers don't have to pop a wheelie on their quads to feel like they are getting something out of their investments. They can throw their shovel in the back and go putt-putting down the turnrow to see how the water is going. No farmer can pass near his rice or his beans -- no, no, not even his okra -- without letting his eye linger over the progress God is producing in his fields. A little speed? Sure! But his eyes are on the fields, not peering anxiously ahead for some silly whoop to whop.

Quads are good for bird enthusaists too. You're probably thinking that all that noise from the exhaust would frighten the poor birds to kingdom come. But birding enthusiasts have learned a secret about their quads; when you turn that little key all the way back to the left there is a sudden burst of SILENCE! Birds LOVE silence and that stringent lack of exhaust fumes doesn't hurt their feelings any either.

After picking their spot carefully on hill, dale, woods or trail, your birding enthusiast can turn that little key back to the left, lean back with a dreamy look on their faces, and just flat out ENJOY being where they are at.

Instead of using the throttle to make the wind hit their faces, they can SLOWLY turn their noses to sniff out the wind from the mountains whence it comes so naturally. Instead of ripping their way through the brush and sending birds and animals scurrying for their lives, the gentle birding enthusiast (and nature lovers too) can meet the wilderness on its own terms. A good pair of binoculars will bring the mountains up close, and show the meadow larks playing in the meadow. Why, they even have time to tilt back their heads and gaze up into the sky to see any full grown eagles passing by.

Sure, your birding enthusiast can stay in town and count pigeon toes, or sneak out into the back yard and build a solemn retreat where birds almost tame can be suckered in. But you know as well as I do that the real thrill of birding is seeing birds up close and personal in the wild. How many Ivory Billed Woodpecker are going to be found scrounging for popcorn amongst the pigeons? It is an irrefutable fact that these birds don't even like to dent their ivory bills on a concrete post. Far from the haunts of screeching brakes and squealing tires the wild bird is wont to peck.

Quads can get you there and make the journey fun. Take time out along the way to count the flowers and and note the curious mushrooms too. Breathe deep, drive slow, and enjoy nature as you go.