In Which People Learn to Regret Letting Me Watch Doctor Dolittle as a Child

To clarify, I am referring to Doctor Dolittle as played by Rex Harrison in the 1967 version. Because, you know, classics.

I react to animals in much the same way people react to celebrities. I'm in total awe.
This has been the case my entire life, and has resulted in dozens of stray cats, the temporary residence of countless snakes, lizards, and insects, as well as lengthy interactions with several birds, and a few relationships with harbor seals and sea lions. I don't have insticts with people at all, but I don't have to think about animals, it just comes naturally.

Currently, I am blown away by the harmony of the animals surrounding me.
What I mean by that is, there is this stray cat whom I named Van Helsing (or Lady Van Helsing, Lady, or Fräulein) she was on the property when we moved here two years ago and none of us saw any reason to scare her off.
Van Helsing is the most compassionate, level-headed creature I have ever met. Despite obviously being an outdoor cat her entire life, she doesn't hunt other animals. Birds don't fear her, neither do mice or squirrels. I have actually seen her intimidate other cats away from birds and squirrels.
She has brought injured cats back to the house and has given them her food (including one cat who had half his face nearly ripped off by a raccoon) and then she came home with a kitten.
She was so protective of this kitten that we assumed it was hers and didn't have the heart to shoo him away. Turns out, the little guy wasn't hers, just abandoned. I named him Lionheart.
Then came a squirrel, a very personably squirrel who likes to stand up straight on her hind legs while clutching tofts of the fur on her chest, giving the impression of someone hooking their thumbs into their jacket, or clutching their lapels. I ended up giving her some nuts, and then she became a regular. Her name is Daphne Darling.
Daphne, like Van Helsing, is a caring little creature, so soon she brought along a smaller, more frightened squirrel. He too became a regular, albeit a shy one. His name is Shy Guy.

Now, when I take my dog outside in the morning we generally find ourselves in a pile of creatures. My dog is a sweet, stubborn, entirely adorkable black labrador who adores cats, espcially Lionheart whom she will go crazy for if you let her. Strangely enough, it sometimes takes Van Helsing to calm her down.
Basically though, I take Addison outside, Van Helsing comes out to greet her, and then I'm waiting for her to be finished when there is a rustling in the trees. Pretty soon there are several squirrels, none of which are concerned about having a large black dog and a cat barely a foot away. Then it is the march back to the house where I am following behind a dog, now two cats, and several squirrels who all bottleneck at the door and try to trip me when I feed them.

Daphne will come to the window and see if people are inside, and then once she makes eye contact she runs "into position" and waits to be fed. She also comes when you call her, which is pretty great.
I think there are about five or six squirrels now...
Anyway, that's the routine now.

If you don't hear from me again it's because they have all finally succeeded in tripping and eating my body.