Good Doggie!

I walked out of the Kroger the other night and as I approached my car, I saw this:

I think dogs can be hilarious in so many ways. But this one was rather unique in that in waiting for his master....

he took a chill pill.

Yeah!
It would have been no surprise to me if Jazz music was playing from the radio and there was a thin line of cigarette smoke rising out of his nostrils.
Dogs are so great.

I Found Two Chickens, Part Two!

If you click HERE or just scroll down to the previous post, you will know what all this is about.

Last I left you, I had two beautiful hens that had spent the night and were starting a low burrrrrr noise (which I caught on both films below) when I was brushing my teeth. After I gave them a drink of water, I gently lifted them out of the box one by one and put them back in the carrier in which I'd brought them upstairs. One didn't want to go -- and tried to stick it's foot against the door, which I can only assume meant that I was a fabulous hostess.

I am kidding, you know.

Other than that millisecond of hesitation, they went into without incident. Here they are:

I covered the carrier with my leopard blanket and went down in the service elevator, again praying I wouldn't be discovered. But if I had been -- can you picture that encounter? Though this being Texas.... maybe it wouldn't surprise anyone. It was about 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning, so that helped. The elevator was deserted. And seeing that we're moving out in about 10 days, I had little to lose.

Once I secured the cage in the passenger seat, I drove carefully for 15 minutes or so to The Wildlife Center. On the way, I took the blanket off and put the window down so they could enjoy the fresh air and morning sun (for anyone who doesn't know, it's roosters that cock-a-doodle-do at the first hint of morning).

When I got there, I was instructed to put them in one of the outdoor pens, which was my hope. Then I went to get them a nice big pan of water and another filled with chicken scratch. What's great about volunteering at this place is that it allowed me to take care of them all the way through. It wasn't a day I was coming in, but instead of just dropping them off I could get them settled before I left.

But there was a little surprise.... there just so happened to be a handsome white rooster next to them, and it was a riot when I put the girls in the adjacent pen. He immediately zeroed in on them, and for the first few minutes, they were both standing side by side, giving him an audience. He proceeded to bu-kaw and strut, and scrape the gravel back with his feet like James Brown. He paced back and forth working his neck as I melted into a puddle. I mean really, I'm a city girl. No matter how long I've been around wildlife now, it's all new to me. I thought this shit only happened in cartoons/comedy skits or was exaggerated, but apparently, it's art mirroring life.



Mistah Fiiine Feathas... Now I see where Jagger gets it.




By the way, I have since caught myself (always when alone mind you) making that low burrrrr burrrr sound out loud, including variations, to amuse myself. I may have done it unconsciously though, god knows how many times. Perhaps I did it in my car, and someone may have seen me and wondered if I was singing to the radio or talking to someone on one of those blue tooth earplug things that I abhor (but never say never). Thank goodness for a place that forces you to have the AC on in the car so the windows were up. That's my guarantee that no one could have actually heard that I was, in fact... clucking.

Found: Two Chickens!

OK, so I was driving home from a bar, having had two shots of tequila and a beer and I found two chickens.

Sounds like the start of a joke, but it's true, and it gets better. At least I think it's funny. I was at the bar for farewell party for someone at the zoo, where I volunteer. I was heading back home before dinner and as I drove past the mansion-filled street en route, I saw two beautiful black and white hens pecking away at the grass.

I have never forgiven myself for not taking The Chicken at the Park and ensuring her safety (I finally went out with a carrier, cracked corn and a net and never found her... and I've never seen her again). As you can see by clicking HERE and HERE, after the construction on the site of her old home, where the little train shack had been in The Park, she took to living under a little bridge in the parking lot. While this provided plenty of coverage, insects to peck at in the plants and a water source, I saw her waaay too often in the middle of the road. YES, OR TRYING TO CROSS THE ROAD.

Either something really good happened to her, or something really bad. I was not going to risk it with these two. So I gave them some corn to eat while I rang a few bells in the neighborhood to ask after them. No one had ever seen them before or knew who they belonged to. That was all I needed to hear.




I had a carrier in the trunk and by now, a tattooed girl who was riding past parked her bike and helped me catch them. It was very easy, so I realized they were used to human beings. When we got home, we tossed a blanket over the carrier and snuck them up the elevator in our high rise. They don't allow wild animals so I was hoping no one would let a BUK-KAW rip at that very moment. The girls were good. Very very good.

I had no idea what to do to make them comfortable for the night but after a little thought it ended up that I put them in a big new deep Dell box with a floor of thick newspaper. I added a towel and a tee shirt to half. That whole thing went in my egg shaped bath tub in the guest bathroom where they would not be disturbed by sound or light for the night.

Before I tucked them in, I put cracked corn in the corner and they started pecking, so they couldn't be too upset. Then I held a tupperware container of water about beak level and they very delicately drank quite a bit. I was able to rest easy knowing they had their fill; if I'd left it in there for the night they'd have spilled it.






I put a light blanket over the top of the crate, as there were air holes on the sides. All was a quiet. Fast Foward to 7 AM the next day:


Good Morning Chickens! Time to sneak out and take you to The Wildlife Center.



Apparently they slept standing up? I gave them water and in the 20 minutes it took for me to get ready to go, one of them was starting a hysterical low buuuuuur noise. Cracked me up.

Tune in tomorrow for part two -- a happy ending.

Baby Barn Owl update

Whether or not the temps are going crazy where we live, spring is definitely here... The best proof of it is that the animal world is having babies, babies, babies.

You may or may not be a fan of how much technology has become a part of our lives. I straddle the fence on that issue, but I have to say being able to see a close up of a Bald eagle sitting on her nest, then watching eggs hatch and seeing the babies grow until they fly away has been a miracle afforded only by the fact that cameras and the internet exist.... and the good people who set all of it up and run the video. Come to think of it, if you and I have been enjoying all these links, it probably would be a pretty good thing to donate to them... even the cost of a Starbucks for one day. Or better yet, the price of a movie if you've been watching a lot. I'm going to be sure I do that this weekend, and I didn't think of it until I started writing this!

One link I've been watching a lot is the owl cam with Molly the mother, and McGee the dad, who hunts and does a great job of bringing she and the babies food, while she sits on the nest. At first she tirelessly turned them, and, after positioning her legs just so, sat back down on them to keep them just the right temp. Though she dozed a lot, she never seemed to get more than a minute or two of sleep before she adjusted again. Then we watched as the fist egg hatched Max, then the second, third, and fourth.... only leaving the nest twice each night for a a minute or two to stretch her wings and poop.












McGee's dramatic entrances (she starts making a clicking noise and he flies in with a field mouse and they screech a lot before he flies off) are not to be missed. Watching the little ones baby barn owl faces, their dark eyes blinking, those little wings lifting and sprouting fuzzy feathers is just fabulous. At any given time they have tens of thousands of people watching world wide.

CLICK HERE to see or go to: http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox

I'm telling you, even if you're not into owls, it's a must see.... you will become a fan! The cameras go to infared at night, because they are so active then. But no matter what time of day you tune in, there's something going on. Right now I'm watching mom feed them little strips of meat as their heads bob out from under her body!

thank you to www.slcrr.org/ wildbirds.html for the barn owl with rodent picture and to www.owltime.co.uk/ Creche.htm for the pic of the baby owls

Lunch!

I keep trying to capture the utter bliss and bonding that happens for squirrels and substitute moms alike when it's time to nurse, but I can never seem to hold the squirrel, the milk and the camera at the same time. This though, is one of the better attempts. It caught a little of the paw action, those cute little pads that are so warm and those long, long fingers with what looks like a very fancy kind of manicure.... those little nails.

But I think I like this one because it catches the little mouth movement that some do after drinking. A little smack of the mouth, moving the last of the milk around on that little tongue like it's the best milkshake ever. And there is a full on face shot that I hope conveys just how cute these little fellas are.





As you can see by the last few frames, it's only a few seconds before the little one is in motion again...

Actually, after milk they usually go down fast, crash right in your hand and are fast asleep in 10 seconds flat. I wish I could sleep like that!

Little Deer Teeth

OK, this is what I live for. I was just walking to my car in the parking lot and had this little encounter with a very pretty (not to mention sociable) doe.




Oh, and those big liquid doe eyes!

When this kind of thing happens, and it happens a lot these days, I think I'm dreaming, and my life could not get any better.... well, if I were living in Paris and drinking cafe creme and writing /reading/dancing all night, or lying on a beach in Hawaii, or living with all the money in the world in a fabulous apartment in New York City, able to give lots of dough away like Bill and Melinda Gates are doing, that would certainly ALSO be great.

But I have to say, when I am with animals, I completely forget there is anything else in the world. I've tried to describe this before but I think I fail to convey it well. When I was walking to my car I probably had my mind on a million things. I had just been at a meeting, needed to make some notes when I got home, was thinking of the next place I had to go, and how I'd fit in several other errands and phone calls. I was probably composing an e-mail or two and thinking about canceling or setting up another appointment too (It's been a REALLY busy time).

But when I saw these three does enjoying the fresh air and sunshine on the lawn, I became instantly and completely engaged on all levels with the here and now. Does that ever happen to you?

If I am hungry, have to pee, need to be at an appointment, have something sad going on in my life, or there are a stack of bills waiting to be paid, they all become suspended while I am in communion with these fascinating creatures. No wonder they have such powers to delight even the most hardened criminal, heal hearts or bodies as they make theraputic rounds at old folks homes, hospices, childrens hospitals, and do their rehabilitative magic for the disabled-- not to mention those stories in the news of special companion dogs that powers to warn their masters before the onset of a heart attack or the hospice cats that take up residence on the bed of a person who is about to pass away, holding vigil.

There is something else going on behind the veil, and I'm not sure I will ever know what it's all about. But for me to stop everything and focus completely is no minor feat. And an animal will do it to me every single time. Now that is quite a miracle of nature.

Does it work that way for you too? Do you have your own amazing results when you have an animal encounter?

Hatched Duckling update

I wrote a few days ago (CLICK HERE or scroll down one post to see) about a baby muscovy duck who hatched when I was walking by the incubator. Here she is, just two days later!! Notice the two toned tootsies. That's my favorite part!

As you can see, she's doing fine, running around her little temporary tank. Ducklings like to be in a group, as soon as she gets a little bigger she will be put in one of the bigger outdoor pens in fresh air with other ducks. In the mean time, I'm sure young ducklings will get brought in and she will have some company to cuddle up to well before that.