What did Mr. Lincoln enjoy doing?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Liz, his passion for kids and animals, especially regarding his era and - later - his position was one aspect that "attracted" me. (I wonder if e.g. Edward Bates pulled his 17 children around in a wagon or let them climb on him...)

I just re-discovered another bird rescue mission that is not so often mentioned and which was recalled by Edwin Stanton's son Lewis:
"Mr. Lincoln and my father arrived at the cottage [Soldiers Home]. They at once noticed the peacocks who were roosting in a small cluster of cedar trees with the ropes and sticks caught in the many small branches and recognized the dangerous and uncomfortable position when on the morrow they would attempt to fly to earth. The two men immediately went to work, solemnly going to and fro unwinding the ropes and getting them in straight lines and carefully placing the small pieces of wood where without catching they would slide off when in the morning the birds flew down." (Matthew Pinsker, "Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldier's Home", p. 151)