Tristen Crouser has been enthralled with animals since he was 6 or 7 months old.

Dogs. Donkeys. Pigs. You name it.

If it has four legs, the Sun City boy with the cheeky grin is a fan.

On Sunday, Tristen, a 5-year-old who has been battling leukemia for three years, was surrounded by a veritable menagerie during a Make-A-Wish Foundation event at the Bouris family ranch in Menifee.

And it looked like the young "farmer for the day" loved every minute of it.

If he wasn't riding a tractor ---- an electric one donated by Walmart or the Bouris family's small gas-powered John Deere ---- he was roping something with his lariat. He fed a calf with a bottle. He chased a chicken. He declined the opportunity to milk a cow.

"I'm not touching his privates," he said, when placed in front of a cow's udders.

For Tristen's family ---- dad, Rick; mom, Monique; and 8-year-old brother Kodee ---- it was a welcome chance to laugh and play with Tristen. And the family savored that chance, because moments of levity are rare.

Rick Crouser said that Tristen was scheduled to return to the hospital on Sunday night to start another round of chemotherapy.

Before Sunday's excursion, Tristen had been in the hospital for 40 of 45 days, and his doctors are concerned about his latest test results.

Through all of the gloom, the family has tried to keep hope.

Family members and area clergy are praying for Tristen, and Tristen's dad said any extra prayers from people in the community would be welcome.

To see Tristen, his pale scalp shielded by a straw hat, smile while cruising around the ranch or energetically arrange his egg cartons in his produce stand, it was hard to imagine him sapped of energy on a hospital bed.

"He's been buzzing," Tristen's father said. "His energy level is way up there."

And it was constant through the entire day, said Tanya Christensen, a Make-A-Wish volunteer who helped coordinate the day's activities.

"He's been going 100 miles a minute all day long. He's been trying to rope everything," she said.

In the morning, Tristen helped make the rounds and feed the animals. The animals, brought to the ranch for Tristen, were donated by the Heritage Grange, a Perris 4H club and the Lake Elsinore Future Farmers of America.

Christensen said Tristen also rode a pony: "He was super excited about that."

To help create a genuine farmer experience, Rose Marotta of Riverside worked with the Make-A-Wish volunteers and area businesses such as Star Milling and C & R Produce to set up a produce stand and a feed store on the Bouris ranch.

Stocking the produce stand meant Tristen got to try collecting eggs from a chicken coop and picking pumpkins from a pumpkin patch.

After a hearty lunch of fried chicken and potato salad that was donated by Stater Bros., Tristen got to work selling his wares between breaks that involved playing with the animals or riding tractors.

"It's his day, so we will just follow him," Christensen said.

Marotta and Christensen said it was amazing to see so many organizations and the area's farmers ---- the Scott, Zeiders and Bouris families ---- come together in such a short time frame to make the event a reality.

"It was two weeks to make a dream come true," Marotta said. "This is all for Tristen."

The Crouser family said they were very thankful for all the hard work put in by the volunteers.

"They've done an outstanding job," Rick Crouser said.

Monique Crouser said Tristen might not be a farmer when he grows up, but she's confident he'll have a bright future.

"When, not if, he pulls through this thing, he'll do something with animals: a veterinarian or roping them," she said.

Call staff writer Aaron Claverie at 951-676-4315, ext. 2624.