Spring has ended but its bounty is still much apparent across the countryside.
Baby horses, cows and even llamas abound. On the Parsons ranch just west of Chinook, adult llama Special takes care of her daughter and another llama's son, and baby miniature horses frolic with their mothers.
You don't have to leave town to find baby animals.
In Tim Messineo's store, The Tropical Stop, baby Chinese hooded rats huddle together inside their aquarium, a papa finch sits on top of his newborn hatchlings, parakeets whistle as they sway on swings and turtles paddle around in their underwater fortress.
As far as baby animals are concerned, he said, they cannot be sold until they are weaned from their mothers.
"When I order (animals), they're ready to go," he said. "But if it's something ... that's with its mother, it isn't weaned and ready to go.
"They're just like babies. They require constant attention," he added.
Evon Berger, who is in charge of day-to-day operations at Kitty Keepers, knows exactly what Messineo is talking about. There are about 170 cats residing at Kitty Keepers in Havre. Berger spends on average 60 hours a week taking care of them, along with three little black kittens: Huey, Louie and Yacky.
Kittens are the first to be adopted in the facility, making them a minority.
"We try to push the older ones," she said. "Kittens are the first to go. The first thing that people ask is if we have any babies."
Huey, Louie and Yacky are 9 weeks old. Their mother was recently adopted and taken to a farm. Dutchess, a stray cat who's been there since March 2003, took the three kittens under her paw. Daily she bathes and plays with them. Dutchess' own maternal experience taught her how to hold on to each kitten during bath time.
"She's a very good mom," Evon said.
