Just Ducky!

Look at this face!

Who couldn't love a face like this? I see this picture, or this one...

(even if it's a little blurry, the comedy still comes through)

...and I just have to SMILE

This fawn and white Indian Runner duck belongs to the zoo, and is the first animal I took out on grounds for the visitors to enjoy after I completed my animal handling training -- the last part of the close to 9 month training process it takes to become a proper docent.

This breed is aptly named, because they don't waddle, they run, and when they get where they're going, they often stamp their feet as if they are very excited, or had a lot of Starbucks. There is only one Runner in The Park, and I took a shine to him right away because of these charming antics. CLICK HERE to see him.

While this one is trained to be held, I found he was more comfortable when I set him on the top of his carrier. Think about it. Ducks are low on the food chain, and anything bigger than it, trying to hold it is akin to being caught to be eaten. While this duck was doing fine in my arms, I wanted him to be as comfortable as possible, and he was very well behaved while standing. I was impressed!

I've grown to LOVE love LOVE ducks and geese after spending quite a bit of time with them at The Park next to my house, where they reside in abundance. I've gotten to know who hangs with whom and what their personalities are like, what each pecking order is, etc. In fact, between my time there, The Zoo and The Rehab Center, I have come to have a real respect, love and appreciation for all kinds of living being that I never thought I'd feel that way about.. all because I have spent some time learning about them and observing them.

They say you can't hate someone who's story you know, and I believe this is true for animals as well. It's one of the things that attracts me to educating folks about them. The more people know about any animal, the more they may be respectful to them, teach their children and grandchildren to do so, and hopefully that will extend to caring about preserving them and their natural habitat.

It takes a lot to get a duck to trust you. This one was delightful -- well behaved (though he tried to pluck off my buttons and name tag repeatedly til I hid them) and very responsive to what I was asking of him. It's been in the triple digits here for most of the last three weeks (CLICK HERE). Though we stayed close to where he lives and I parked us in the shade, after 20 minutes he looked so hot, I packed him up to take him back for a dip.

And I think it was just the right thing to do. Without delay, he walked up his little plank and posed at the edge of his personal pond.

I took a little movie for you to see how he cools off.... At 100 degrees, I was ready to join him.



That quacking has quickly made the short list of my favorite sounds.

I look forward to taking this one out again and introducing him to many more people. And now that I've introduced him to you, what do you think?

Zen Moment

And I mean just a moment...





I've been so busy since I got back to town and I leave again July 22. I've had to play some catch up with hours at the Wildlife Rehab and the Zoo and have done some wonderful new things:

**Bottle fed a baby deer just Tuesday

** Today took my first animal ambassador out on zoo grounds on my own to teach the public about waterfowl, a Runner duck who was very well behaved and who I LOVED being that close to.

** fed a newly hatched vulture. Great story behind that one.

** saw and fed for the first time ever 5 coal black, noisy little chirping chimney swifts, a trio of night hawks, terns, barn swallows, a bluebird, many bluejays, grackles, starlings, screech owls, kill deer, herons --all babies or fledgelings.

** Met an all white baby lamb who followed us around and did little leaps much like the baby goat....

The list goes on and on. I've so many little stories to tell, and some pictures/videos to go along with them but I just haven't had the time to write anything up. Even if I could, I for the last few months I've had trouble downloading new pics. My hard drive is full and it's been a complicated thing to get it clear enough... Suffice to say, you see why the tranquility brought on by this 30 seconds of a clear natural spring rushing over the rocks (from a fall trip to Virginia, hence the leaves) is such a nice little moment of zen...

Enjoy, and hopefully I'll be able to get some new things up this weekend.

Worship at the Church of the Orally Fixated

A ways back I may have mentioned that there is a young giraffe at the zoo who always sports a mohawk. It looks like someone put hair gel down his mane from the crown of his head allll the way down that really long neck. It sticks straight up, day after day.

Then I heard about the Auntie who apparently has deemed herself his hairdresser. Keeper stories abound about this comical turn of events. But then the other day I saw one who looks much shorter doing this to a taller one. Perhaps the tables have turned. Take a look.




You'll notice that the one being groomed is ALSO licking the tall fence post that surrounds the habitat. When you think about it, it's pretty normal behavior for them. In the wild they'd be using that long dark tongue to tear off leaves from the tree tops and pull them to their back teeth to chew. They probably had to graze all day long, because you never know when the next tree will come along... But at the zoo, they get their food from their keepers, regularly so... no one goes hungry. And yet basic instincts like these don't just disappear. Now, it seems to serve to pass the time, and much to my amusement! Here's all that a little closer up.




So funny. I will be sure to ask the keeper about this again to see if I have my facts straight when I go to the zoo this week to volunteer.

A Little Visit with a Very Little Owl

You may remember the first little introduction to this charming little screech owl at the rehab center. This little guy likes to sit and watch everyone in silence. All day he has a ringside view of the action -- every animal someone brings in, every VIP visitor, every volunteer goes by his cage or the front lobby, where on special days he enjoys perching in this little log house.



CLICK HERE if you'd like to see the other post I mentioned above.

Trying Out New Wings

I live practically next to the Natural History Museum and there is an oddly cone shaped glass building attached that is covered in what looks like vines from the inside. After many moons walking past the thing, I learned it's a butterfly pavilion. Having never seen it before, I decided to visit when a girlfriend of mine was in town with her two kids.

There we saw a display area where we could observe

I should be using this post and the questions it brings up to research the answers and bring them to you. You'd think that I'd have the answers from whatever the plaques said at the museum, though I don't actually remember many of those. In case you don't check in on my other blog A New Yorker in Houston, you might not know that I've been kind of buried under the completion of something and have barely managed to get something up here. Posting Lite I could call it.

For now I will throw my questions out there, and in a few weeks when I have a life again, maybe they can be answered. Or maybe some of you can help. Here they are:

How do they know when to cocoon? And how is that made...they must make it themselves around them. And what is this incredible gold substance? They look like beads from an egyptian necklace.


And I was captivated by the shiny milky gorgeous emerald green ones. They remind me of those dished Martha Stewart has, lol. The row above them look like leaved and wilted leaves above those. I want to know what they all are.


How do those magnificent wings grow in such a small space? How long does it take? Does this happen only once a year, at the same time of year? And how long do butterflies live?


There were several types of butterflies that crawled from the cocoons above. I caught a little video of some of them trying out their wings. How gorgeous are the cobalt blue ones?


At some point, I imagine shortly thereafter, these are released into the pavilion where they literally dance in the air and flit from bowls of fruit to fragrant flowers to many a shiny green leaf. A pretty nice life, however long it is.

So if you know the answer or even a guess to any of these questions, or have some questions of your own, please let me know in the comments!

Bon Voyage les Enfants

Here's a bad picture of me from about 6 weeks ago, when I was feeding the baby beaver siblings. I was so astonished to see a Beaver for the first time just a week before, and learn that they were held in a blanket cradled in arms and given a baby bottle of milk that wasn't too hot and wasn't too cold but just right. And the little one made contented noises and grasped the bottle just like our human babies too. I am constantly amazed how we are not all that different from our animal friends... even wild ones.

I tired to contain my exuberant delight when within days I was the one feeding them and after that, taking them to the sink for swimming lessons. Two or three weeks later, the babies were able to be moved from the tank they'd called home to the outside in the fresh air in a much bigger crib, so to speak. In it there were lots of nice green things to chew on and their own little pool. But when we'd go over to check on them, they just reached up to us and did that plaintative whine that went right to my substitute, part-time Beaver Mommy's heart.

We began to wean them...  And here's that next step - giving them a pacifier for a minute or two.  But when the still can cry and just want their bottle. Sound familiar parents?


Yet, we must be strong!  It was high time to start to eat reeds, like their moms would get them doing if in the wild.  Below I caught them gnawing on something green and was pleased (I had just put one of them in their little pool to swim so one has a wet face). But when they spotted Uncle Bill and I peering at them, they come over and reach up for us.   You can hear their endearing little calls (though Bill and I are talking)... gee, no imprinting there. 



Heart melters, these two. But as of last week they've gone off to a rehabber's house with lots of nice land and a natural river where they will easily adapt and grow and have their own babies. We humans will be a distant memory, though they may not be very afraid if they see one. Hopefully if they do, it will be a respectful human being. I'm glad they have each other as they embark on this next adventure.

More of the Baby Giraffe

He's grown taller since I took this, but here is a little look at the newest baby giraffe at the zoo, back by popular demand! Here he was only about 24 days old and darling darling darling.



Today he's a few months older, and very much taller. And more news-- there's another giraffe who is expecting. She'll deliver anytime between Fall and January -- yes, their gestation is so long it's that big a window for a due date. There have been sonograms on the mother and the baby is in there, though you can barely tell to look at her. I attribute it to their long legs... or the fact that the mother's belly is so far above my head that it's an optical illusion, LOL. Could you imagine if the doctor gave human parents to be a 6 mo. Window for a due date???!

A Manor for the Meerkats

At the zoo they treat the animals like GOLD I tell you. Every day there is something different done for enrichment, which helps animals do the things they would normally do if in the wild. Some enrichment is geared to stimulate their senses, others recreate natural behaviors, some make them think and some are just for pure fun.

Here is a cardboard box that some kids in a special zoo program turned into a "Meerkat Manor". These curious little fellows go straight to work, exploring every crevice in their comical way.



Oh yes, they are busy! But look what happens when a plane goes by (which you can easily hear amid the din of excited zoo visitors).



All the action stops and they snap to attention and peer up at the skies. Are you a fan of the meerkat?

A Soggy Day with Geese

I am behind in posting things.... so this was from a few weeks ago. We had two solid days of torrential rain. I went to the park to see if I could find the lone, orphaned baby duck I had been feeding every day (with the hope it would get big enough to not be so appealing as a meal to every predator around). I didn't see it that day and feared the worst. I went it Wellies and tromped through all kinds of reeds and muck to look for it and had the fire ant and mosquito bites to prove it for about two weeks.

Discouraged, I was headed home and saw Mr and Mrs Goose searching for something in the flooded grass. I had cracked corn with me, which they will eat out of my hand, so I called to them. As they usually do, they trumpet rather loudly, and, led me Mr. Goose, the two came over. He gallantly assumed the position, threatening me with his beak in attack mode as they approached, while the Mrs. followed behind, confident that he was on the case. I have seen people run from this posturing, but I just stand there and talk to them in a bit of a sing song way. I know I am not there to harm them, and in fact, I am bringing them something natural and good to eat.



You would not believe how utterly soft they are. When they eat like this I get to feel their necks as they occasionally brush against me. They just don't make the words to describe how it feels.

I suppose it's obvious by now... These two are my absolute favorite birds and I pamper them when they let me. Something new I've noticed this year is that they both have kind of fleshy feathery knickers hanging down over their little legs, when they didn't before. I've seen Geese who have quite a bit of this waddle, but I assumed it was quite like our chins -- something that can sag as one gets on in years. Does anybody know about this?

Best of all, the next day I went back and saw that baby duck. Who knows where it was hiding when I was searching high and low. I fed it quite a bit and noticed it had doubled in size, and was getting in some real feathers, at least teen age ones, in place of fuzz.

Another Look at the Nutria

To continue on with getting to know the Nutrias, and help you see that they really are nothing like a rat, or what people think of rats (namely: ew and ick), here's a cute little guy who came over to me as I was walking in the park a few months ago. (If you're asking What's a Nutria, click that name on the tabs on the sidebar over there to see)


Now, would a RAT do that? No. He looks more like one of those miniature dogs wanting a treat. Or a very well trained gerbil. A rabbit with less cute lips and no hopping? Well, he certainly looks like a Nutria if nothing else. Because of his tail, he's in all this trouble, being called a water rat. Add a flat tail to the same body, face and teeth and he'd look just like a beaver and suddenly folks might be calling him cute.

Well, I gave him some bread, and --this was shot several months ago--it was the last time I did. I know these little guys have gotten carb addicted because people in the park throw them so much bread and they are really herbivores. I know wheat is a grain, and maybe it's not that bad for them but sliced rye doesn't grow on a riverbank with the rest of their food.


Since I've done so much training now between the Zoo and the Wildlife Center, I have stopped giving them bread... If I'm going to feed wild animals it will only be things as close as possible to their natural diets. When I see someone throw Fritos (oy!) to ducks (who will eat them) or M&M's (OY!!!) to a squirrel (who will eat them) I want to charge up and ask "What are you THINKING giving them these things? Do you think BLUE M&M's exist in nature??????" in an entirely too loud voice... or whack them upside the head (the people, not the animals).

Name that Colorado Bird

Here's a little taste of the many visitors we had at the cabin in Colorado. I was amazed as we were only there about 4 days, and are not there for months. If you put out seed, how do birds suddenly see that food source and start coming daily? I thought it would take a while, but there they were.

We do have a metal fire pit on the porch and it was filled with water and a few rocks to keep it held down and when we arrived the mountain birds were in it, using it as a birdbath and water fountain, though there is a small lake just at the end of our long drivewat -- but it is about 20 acres away. Maybe that gave us a leg up.

When I get back I will post some mini-movies I took of these guys and more. Until then, can you identify what kind of birds they are? If you click each photo, it should enlarge for you and give you more detail.

Number One: Plump and tame.


Number Two: Orange breast


Number Three: Brilliant Blue and aggressive with a chipmunk


Number Four: Red head

Number Five: Yellow Orange but look at the shape of his beak (with sunflower seed in it!)

Hummingbird

When we went up to our cabin 10,000 feet into the Rockies, I bought the cheapest hummingbird feeder Ace Hardware had and melted down about a cup of sugar in a cup of water. When it cooled I filled the feeder, hung it on a nail off the porch and hoped that something might happen in the 4 days we were there. Well in literally 4 minutes there was the distinct almost cartoon like whiz or whir of their rapidly beating wings and lo and behold, this is what I saw outside the front window.



I am leaving out of town for an important week Monday and have half the day eaten up tomorrow with a seminar. There is much more I want to tell on this, and I have so many pictures of colorful birds that stopped by our porch to eat the seed I put out. I pre-loaded a bunch of things, and I may be able to send those from my iphone while I'm gone, and can pick back up with the birds of Colorado when I return.

I look forward to a little more free time in the summer and the chance to do more research for my posts than I have been able to in the last 4 months.

'Twas Nice to Know Ye, Opossums

After taking in row after row of baby opossums and a few adults this Spring at the rehab center, most of them have grown up and gotten fat and healthy enough to be released back into the wild. I have been taking very quick little video moments because there is too much work to do. But I've come to appreciate these animals through watching them and want not only to preserve those moments for myself, but to help others come to appreciate them too. I often go home and study whatever we've gotten in, looking them up in books and on Google.

To waive au revoir to a few... First off, a mama with her baby crawling. Notice Mom has her mouth open to show her many teeth, though she lies there motionless -- "playing opossum" -- while her baby, innocent to any converns about my presence, gleefully takes a crawl on the giant mountain called Mom. It's quick but good enough.



I know , a two second snippet, but you were warned, lol. The one below is longer and clearer to see. After cleaning a row of tanks of a bit older babies I put in their esbilac (puppy milk mixture) and cheerios so they can learn to lap and eventually eat on their own. These guys did a good job and were pretty darn cute in the process.


Now see, did you ever think of opossums as cute before? I know they still may not be someone's cup of tea.... But I have to say, if you spend some time observing an animal, let alone caring for it, you come to really see it's merits. Even if it's a spider -- CLICK HERE to visit my friend Bindu for a great proof of that (I do NOT like spiders, not at all, but her Ode to a Spider post made me see I could really appreciate them).

Reminds me of this quote:

"You can't hate someone whose story you know"

....applied to the animal kingdom of course. I googled like mad to find to whom I might attribute that quote to no avail.

As Spring turns to summer, different species complete their birth cycles. Babies who once dominated the center go out and entirely different baby animals arrive in need. I heard that this week we got in two bob cats and two fawns -- I saw a little Bambi come in, absolutely newborn with limp, long legs and an adorable little face, as someone carted her off in their arms to check all her vitals. I wish I wasn't so busy this week and going out of town next week, as those would be two really amazing babies to look after!!

Hey, Wake UP!

I was walking by the newly constructed foot-paddle boat launch area in The Park and saw this sight for the first time... three adult NUTRIAS on land. I see them in water, and I see them chewing reeds, and I see them sometimes on the banks of the lank on the grass, I assume hunting for tasty new green shoots. But I've never seen them stacked up like a bunch of firewood. One woke up and was in the middle of this little grooming thing they do... he's almost finished by the time my camera caught him.




I love it that he is making the same face you might do if you were scratching your underbelly. Cracks me up. I also think it's funny to watch the two duck feathers swimming around in the back ground in the same way the ducks themselves would. A sort of optical illusion (If you can imagine them as two tiny white ducks).

These little guys are so like Beavers in appearance (except for the tail)... I don't know if Beavers also do what you saw him doing, but I did read up that Nutrias regularly rub their hair with their hands to distribute natural oils that help their hair/skin stay protected while they tool around in the water so much. That was the tail end of what you saw him doing... I love how they use their little hands much like ours.

Here, it looks like he wants his pal to wake up, but he's out cold. I really was surprised to see this kind of behavior.



I realize these are not the best videos but I've been so busy I haven't been able to do much more than this. I have some great video of hummingbirds at our CO cabin feeders and many brightly colored birds that came to visit that I hope to load before I go out of town end of this weekend. In the mean time....

I had never seen a Nutria before I moved here, but they are prevalent. Do you have them where you live?

FUNNY BUNNY LIPS!

OOOOH, are you ready for a chuckle? A little glee? Recently I did a day long animal handling class at the zoo, as a part of being a docent. We learned how to handle everything from a goat (that's THIS GENTLE ONE, who I now can take around the zoo on a leash for the children to pet) to a ferret and everything in between -- a chicken, a rock dove/pigeon, a lizard, a snake, a pretty white rat, a gerbil, a Welsh Rabbit, a Running duck.... I'll stop now.

All the while this giant Welsh Rabbit was sitting there in a cage at eye level, doing hysterical bunny things with his soft, gray bunny lips. I caught a few moments of him drinking and knew it would be fun to post here.

(Unlike photos you can enlarge with a simple click of the mouse, you are forced to see a reduced version of these mini-movies on blogger. If one of you knows a trick I don't to make this happen, do tell!)

Turns out I am terribly allergic to bunnies, so my lungs closed up, my eyes watered and I coughed and wheezed for three days after! I was in an enclosed room with several of these while we trained on the other animals. I guess I won't be taking one of them out to greet the public. 

Are any of you animal lovers also allergic to animals? Which one(s)? Do any of you have or ever had a bunny?

Adorable Goat update

If you are asking WHAT GOAT right about now, click those red words (or click on the Goat Category on the right of this page).

For those of you who've been hankering (commenter Kilpy and Alice) for a little more of the baby goat, here he is on a day he went outside to enjoy the sunshine and a little grass in the Wildlife Center's new outdoor pens.

'Tis just a moment, but sweet all the same.

Bits and Pieces

A quick thank you for all replies on my last post. I'm on the road, sending this pre-written post from an iphone.

I do have a net and proper pet carrier and food and water if I were to catch the chicken and would have a person who could take her set up before I did anything... And I would take the hen there immediately after catching her. I can always take her to the professional comfort and care at the wildlife rehab center I volunteer at in a pinch. A vet tech there alredy offered to take her but I'm still looking for the best fit for her new home.


OK---Close to sunset baby and adult bunnies are found everywhere along the edges of the reeds and thicker patches of tall flowers in The Park. They are the only animals there that aren't used to people, scampering away as soon as you get near. I'm glad. As much as I enjoy the fact that the animals there are so tame, it's not the best thing for them.... because plenty of people out there do bad things to animals if they can get their hands on them. I was able to snap a pic before this one hightailed it to safety.
All the ducks I've seen sleep with their heads turned back and their beak resting in the feathers, tucked under their wings. This guy looks like he passed out and his beak is holding him up... exhibiting the same fine sense of balance as when they sleep on one foot. Maybe he had a tough night out with the boys. I got closer to see if he was ok. He looked up and said AFFLACK, so I moved on.

I call the one below Three in a Tree. I had given a nice juicy walnut to three different squirrels and they all managed to run up into the nearest tree and perch on a branch stump, as they are wont to do, to eat it. Usually if two squirrels go up the same tree there is a squabble and a comical chase by one after the other. This was an amazing sight, so I tried to get a quick shot. Unfortunately it doesnt show up so well here... but it's enough.



Hope you can see them all. There's one way up on the top left whose tail is facing us.

Hen Peck

I have gone to the park several times this week and have not seen the chicken. Since it's new habit seems to be standing in the road, I keep feeling certain it will get hit... or it will disappear and I will never know what happened to it... did it get squashed on a week, like this coming one, where I will be out of town, and there will be no telltale signs left as dust returns to dust? Has someone scooped him up for dinner once night (hey, in these parts, it could happen). Did the chicken indeed cross the road successfully and take up residence in a more protected area by the golf course? I would search and search and never know.

So the other day, I had just decided to dump all the cracked corn I bring for him to feed a set of 5 mallard siblings who eagerly gobbled it up and grow stronger for it... and I finally see the chicken in the same old place, pecking at the grass. And my bag is empty, grrr. Is she subsisting on insects alone? Am I the only one feeding her anymore?

I go home, I think about her, I am back the next day at sunset, when all is quiet and I see her. This time I have plenty of corn. I shot this first part from afar so you can see what an oddity it is to have a lone black hen in the middle of a parking lot beside a major street.




Right after I stopped shooting, the chicken spots me and comes RUNNING. I wish I'd caught it on tape but feeding her was more important to me and I didn't want to scare her away. Those toothpicks for legs coming at me so fast... hysterical.



I poured a pile that was way too big, on the side of the curb so she would be far away from the busy street... Doh! I should have put it UP on the SIDEWALK! I sat there in the quiet, with the sun going down, just the hen and me, waiting for the hen to eat it all, feeling satisfied for at least another day.


So opinions please..... I'm thinking of bringing a net and a carrier and catching the chicken in hopes that one of the rehabbers in the Wildlife Center will give it a home. I can't help but think it's stressful with no real cover having to hunt and pick for food... around traffic, hiding from the crowds at the zoo (it's a madhouse most days), having no other company of it's own kind.

Or is the hen happy being wild and free? Someone clearly had in their yard -- maybe got it as a chick for Easter and found it wasn't fun once it was bigger -- and dropped off at the park. Remember, it used to have shelter in an overgrown covered shack that once housed the children's train that runs around the park. That was all bulldozed and now is completed, and the chicken has no where to go... Can it be happy in the parking lot nearby, right next to the busy street and zoo? It's hard to know what's the right thing to do.

Do you Believe It? Playing Catch with Wild Birds

Wild birds -- Blue Jays and red-headed woodpeckers to be exact -- play catch with me in the park. No, really.

Who hasn't had sparrows zoom out from nowhere for your crumbs when you're at an outdoor cafe? And in these parts, if any of the other animals are getting fed, grackles appear and want their share. They're incredibly sharp.

So I guess it's not that far a stretch to think that the other birds could. But these birds sit on a nearby branch (or in the woodpeckers case, on a tree trunk) - and make eye contact with me. I show them the piece of nut or sunflower seed and when I know they've seen it I toss it -- and they swoop down and catch it in the air! They land on a branch and eat it, then return for more.

I know it's hard to believe... but, I finally caught it on film. I've several bad tries -- shooting with one hand on a little pocket digital cam (while my nice HD movie cam I bought to take with me sits at home), while spotting birds, rustling up a nut with the other hand, aiming and tossing, and trying to follow without it blurring. I'm not talented enough to do it all... but I did get this where you can see it in his mouth when he lands.

And of course, when one comes, several follow. You'll see another Blue Jay waiting for his behind the one I shot. I threw another piece in the air but he picked it up when it was on the ground (it was a bad toss), OK, are you ready? Here we go!



Woo Hooo! Isn't that fabulous? If you play it again you can see it starts with the bird on the tree trunk, where he flew to get my attention. I have never seen that happen before. I figure they cackle among themselves about how they've trained ME.

I'm in constant wonder and amazement at this and it has happened many times, so it's not just a fluke... and it's not just in one part of the woods, with the same birds. I'm telling you, someone spread pixie dust across this little park, and it's my personal slice of heaven on earth.

Wild and Tame

Here's a little look at the Peregrine falcon who is a fixture at the Wildlife Rehab Center. He's long ago healed up and has a permanent home there. Every day he gets to come out of his house and sit on top of his perch, where he likes watching everyone. He doesn't need to be tethered or anything. He rules the roost, so to speak.

When we get busy with things elsewhere, he amuses himself by going to the edges of what he must feel is his permissible territory because when one of us passes by and actually notices he's not on the top of his house, he looks a little like a kid who emptied the cookie jar and he hops back into what he must feel is the place we expect him to be. It's a crack up.

Here I found him standing on a perch next to his cage -- He doesn't hop so fast, so he must not have been feeling very guilty that day, lol. But he does do the hop.

Forgive my voice-- I had laryngitis that day.

Eagle Eye

For now, something timely:

Thanks to Sizzie for sending me this link to a live camera in the nest of a Bald Eagle. There is a baby and two views of it. A must see.

An OGE (the electric company) pole was used for the nest. The pole broke, so OGE repaired it and inserted a camera in the nest as they did. Apparently there were 4 eggs but only one hatched. But you can watch a great, golden headed bald eagle and her baby in the nest live by clicking HERE  (or cutting and pasting) this link:
http://www.suttoncenter.org/eaglecam.html

Check it out and let me know what you think!!!

(I found out the cameras there have broken in a rainstorm... but they've been recently repaired... of course, you have to watch during the daylight hours) 

*Also, please take a moment to click the purple paw to the right of this post, to help animals in need get a meal*

UP!

Another thing I did for the first time Wednesday was to put on a really thick, long glove and got to put this outrageously handsome bird back in his cage. He was staring me down with those HUGE golden eyes and his beak, which wasn't far, looked sharper than his talons, so I put on protective glasses too.

You hold your wrist straight at his legs and press into them a little and say "UP". That should make those strong claws grab onto the glove. Then you hold your hand up and higher than your shoulder. The bird feels comfortable being high up and he won't feel the need to try to fly away. If your arm starts to sag with the weight, birds will start to crawl up to reach the height they see on your shoulder, or hey, maybe your head. OK with a parrot, but not these killer feet!


Look at him!!! Magnificent! His life was saved by the Wildlife Rehab and Education Center but he was not able to be released into the wild, which is their main goal. If an animal can't get away from predators or eat properly, or are not 100% in the noggin due to some kind of fall or accident, they are kept by the center, or a zoo or the like to be an ambassador for their species. Hence the educational part of the Center's title.

This bird as well as the Peregrine Falcon, the Red Tailed Hawk, the Screech Owl and the Hedgehog go out for public talks and do a great service. But to take them out, they have to be trained a little, so they behave well in public and so their own stress level is minimized.

He was sitting out because Kinky Freeman came to visit, with a small group of folks he had with him. I guess he was speaking for the SPCA the next day, and has some kind of animal preserve of his own. This owl was part of the welcoming committee.

Then I got to put away the gorgeous and fluffy Red Tailed Hawk. Neither bird cooperated so well on my first try but that's what you have the leg straps for. They have custom made little leather leg straps and gromets in the center where they can attach to a rope, so if they do fly, they don't go very far. It's as much for their own safety as ours. It was easier with the Hawk than the Owl. And after the initial moment of taking in what I'd learned wore off, it hit me what I'd just done.

I may have lost the thrill of New York City but Mother Nature is a formidible match. I just can't believe I get to do this stuff!

Catching The Last Spring Rays

I might have seen Mr.Goose on his own on my last walk (click HERE to read), but a few days later I saw he and the Mrs. standing in the setting sun on the far side of the center island, doing their evening preening. All the ducks follow a rather comforting routine of getting close to where they'll settle for the night and beginning a grooming sequence. They usually are no longer interested in my bread or cracked corn, as nature's instincts rule.

(I wish my own instincts would be that way when I'm watching TV in the evening on the couch. I wish my nature would be to say, "oh no, I'm close to going to bed, I have NO INTEREST in Ice Cream at this hour!")



I got closer and tried to shoot them again, since in the above video I had maxed out my zoom and knew it'd be even smaller on blogger. And to my amusement, I saw they'd been joined by a turtle, warming himself in the sun. There's a healthy population of turtles in the Lake. They're cold blooded and regulate their temperature by absorbing sun. I like to think of their shells like solar panels that they can draw upon long after it's dark. Click HERE to learn more.




Amazing how the geese use their long necks to curl in such a dramatic way, and can smooth their downy feathers with not just their beaks but the back of their heads. At times when I see waterbirds poking at themselves with their beaks, it looks like they're perhaps pinching out mites or some other little bug that's gotten on them.

But in fact their big, outer feathers have zipper-like little connections called barnucles. The preening straightens out any of these that might have come undone and restores them to their fully waterproof nature. Underneath those are small whispy feathers called down, which of course is what's used in pillows and comforters. Together they provides insulation and bouyancy. I learned about that when I took an all day training for cleaning birds caught in oil spills at the Wildlife Rehab Center. Hoping to never have to use those skills....

Mr. Grizzled from RiverDaze, you may have something else to add on this grooming activity....

Talk to the Animals

Talk To The Animals

by Chief Dan George

If you talk to the animals,

They will talk to you.

And you will know each other.

If you do not talk to the animals,

you will not know them.

And what you do not know, you will fear.

What one fears

One destroys.

Take a Deep Breath

As promised in my HEN story of a few days ago found by CLICKING HERE-- the strange call of the long tailed Grackle.

I learn mostly about animals by observing their behavior. I ask questions wherever I can, in fact, I run the risk of being that annoying question person. But I do have enormous curiosity about everything... Of course it can led me to Google a little and read up in books. But I don't have much spare time.

In this case, I've observed a strange call in the long tailed Grackle. Only see it in the males (females are brown, males are the irridescent indigo blue-black you see below). I assumed it was a kind of mating call, since many males puff up what they've got to impress a female. But while sometimes another grackle is nearby, it's usually another male. So one might assume that it's a fighting posture -- again, another reason to make ones self bigger. But I've never witnessed a fight ensue. The call is also different. If you look here as the grackle comes up behind the chicken, it makes a mechanical sound, like someone's turing on a loudspeaker to test it before an announcement.

Or you have this other sound... more of a wind up noise. Sorry in advance for the wind in the microphone.... but I got a better shot of one doing it by complete chance.




Both time the bird inflates fully and opens it's beak, the noise comes out and he deflates to less than half the size, then... nothing. I've also tried to figure out if this only happens at certain times of the day or the year, without much luck... Anyone out there with answers? Clues even?

With Many Thanks

A big bowl of gratitude goes to Grace at Graceful Yoga for this blog award. What a wonderful surprise. Grace is a recent follower of Adventures in Nature so I am doubly honored by her.

I also received this award the same week from Linda at World of Spirit. I am a fan of their blogs. Please check them out and say hello as you know, we all live for comments.

Of my three blogs, this blog is indeed my favorite. I could post on it all day and never run out of ideas. I have had so many experiences that I still haven't posted about!

Some of those are:

* More of what it was like to feed the lions, tigers, leopards and bears as a carnivore keeper Aid at the zoo. And why I had to stop for now.

* CIG training which I did in early March, which gives me a few initials after my name and makes me official in what I do here naturally --interpreting nature.

* Taking Animal Handling training as an extension of my docent training at the zoo. Now I can take out the animals ambassadors and interact with the public. My faves -- a running duck, a gorgeous chicken, a mischievous, wiggly ferret, a little baby gator and a giant Welsh rabbit (I'm too allergic to take him out DARN! It set me back a weekend just being near him for the training). I'd love to take out the owl but that is for staff only...

* Training for how to clean wildlife affected by oil spills, which I just took on Friday at the Wildlife Rehab and Education Center. I hope I never have a reason to use those skills.

* Trying to catch that orphaned baby bird in The Park to bring into the Wildlife Center so it won't be on it's own (not a good thing for a duck) and will have a chance at a good long life.

*Spotting ANOTHER chicken trying to cross the busy road.... in the middle of the city!

* New pics of the baby giraffe at the zoo and stats on how much he's grown.

I'd like to pass this blog award on to:

RIVERDAZE

TRANSIENT LIVES

CIRCLING MY HEAD

WINEDALE PORCHSCAPE

WANDERING LIKE A NOMAD

LOTUS MARTINIS

GARDENER TO FARMER

TERRY AND THE CATS OF FURRYDANCE

(Scroll down to check out kitten videos on this one!)

STUFF FROM ELLEN'S HEAD

Please stop by those blogs by clicking on their names... I hope you enjoy them!

Thank you Grace and Linda!

Swimming Lessons

Just yesterday I was at the Wildlife Rehab Center and had a first with The Beavers. I've never even seen one until 2 weeks ago, and in that time I filmed THIS little movie of them drinking from a bottle (You MUST click that link to watch, if you haven't seen it!). To my great delight, a few days later I myself was feeding them. And yesterday I got to "swim" them.... meaning we fill up the large utility sink off the kitchen and put them in so they can get used to swimming. Had I been thinking, I would have gotten THAT on video.

Of the two, there is one who's sensitive (fussy) and very vocal (whiney). Pinktail we call her, because to tell them apart we put a tiny dot of pink nail polish on her tail. Though it's fallen off , by now I can tell who she is by her temperament (I say her, but we don't know who is what sex at this point).

We put a branch or two and a few great smelling leafy boughs and a pine cone in their little tank. I saw one of them instinctually trying to eat a leaf and the other gnawing with those beaver teeth on the wood. Yay, they are learning to be beavers! This movie isn't much because I can't sit around waiting for them to do something great when there are other mouths to feed, but it's a little something...

For their swimming lesson, I got the water temp juuuuuuust right and watched as the woman who runs the center put Pinktail in. I did the same with the other one, who I'll call Biggie, since he's bigger. (I don't try to come up with fabulous names for the sake of the stories!) She then walked away and Pinktail started to reach up to me and cry. It was adorable. I knew it was good for her to keep her in, so I just turned her around and she paddled a little. Biggie wasn't any more skilled, but uttered not a peep. He did grab on to P. They were hanging on each other, even thought they could touch the bottom. So I spent a delightful 10 minutes pulling them apart and resetting Pinktail (she kept trying to crawl out).

Then it was a matter of lifting them out and putting towels around them, with the attendant whimpering from Miss Pink. Made some Esbilac (Powdered "puppy" milk), put 4 oz in each bottle with 1 oz Pedialyte and warmed it up in the microwave. Then, still wrapped in towels, let them nurse.

Biggie is a great eater, though I had to pull the nipple out of his mouth several times so he wouldn't aspirate. THEN I heard him complain. He did not want to let go of it. Pinky was being fussy as usual, but eventually they both were satiated with 3 oz. We dried them off a little more and put them back in the tank, with the heater on. I watched as they promptly went right to sleep!

Who knew Beavers were this cute and... human?

It's a Long Story.....

Been meaning to mention for OVER A YEAR that in addition to all the animals I listed on the Snow White post, there is a hen in the Park too. That's right, a lone hen. Someone must have dropped her off there and she'd been managing to live there for gawd-knows how long.

I was astonished when I first discovered her, thanks to a homeless man who pointed her out to me, happy to be talking to someone, someone who clearly loves animals as much as he does. The guy, looked like he could not feed himself, but I've seen him often wandering the perimeter of The Park with a bag of peanuts in the shell (the most economical thing to feed the squirrels). He pointed toward the vine covered, ramshackle shed where the children's train was kept at night. There in the side was a hole, and hovering at it's entrance was a black hen!

She tentatively peeked from the safety of her shelter when I tossed some bread her way. But she would not come out to eat until I stepped way back. When I did, she pecked what I had brought. So I started to go by to feed the chicken on my rounds.

Last Fall, The Park started a remodeling project of the very area where the hen lived. Construction trailers, tractors, shovels, cement, metal poles, spools of heavy wire, bright blue Port-a-pottys and lots and lots of men in work boots and hard hats invaded the grounds and dug everything up. I approached the foreman and asked if he was aware of the chicken, which he said was. I asked if I could bring some chicken scratch by he said they'd be happy to give it to her, but that they also fed her (I assumed, pizza scraps). I liked the thought of all these big bruisers caring for the girl. I continued to check every time I visited the park or the zoo, and most times I'd see the chicken in the area near the trailers. As the site morphed, I noticed at times she was penned, so they were making an effort to protect her.

Flash foward to last weekend, opening day of the new park area. I was driving on the heavily trafficked road between the Zoo and the golf course and I spotted a large black bird at the edge of the curb. I made a stop in the lane so I could get out (no one was immediately behind) and throw her some bread. OK, I have to say it. The chicken was about to CROSS THE ROAD, and I was tossing the bread in the other direction, to lure her away from the edge. Why WAS this chicken trying to cross the road? To get to the golf course? Not on a busy Easter week Saturday on the main drag near the Zoo! After all she'd been through, as described above, she could not end her life as road kill.

Had I been able, I'd have taken time to scoot her back further, to the safety of some kind of bushes at least... and I had to summon the strength to let it go as I drove away. But you bet your arse I was back there the next day, and with food.

She must have gotten used to people and loud noise and chaos, because when I saw her, she actually came running up to me. I had cracked corn in my pocket. Plenty of it! I was SO HAPPY to see she was still alive... We'd also just had two days straight of monsoon-like rain and thunderstorms. Half the area was flooded. This one's a survivor for sure.



I felt bad, that she must be very hungry. I wish I had a yard, because I'd love to catch her and give her a good home. I know she's survived all this time, now without a shelter. Maybe she likes it, and is an independent single....um,... chick... but maybe she's scared and lonely. I can't claim to know. Do chickens think? (that's another post)

Here she is running up to me. This time I hope it's that she's been totally socialized, not that she's starving under the fluff of all those feathers.

Oh, and did you hear that crazy mechanical kind of wind up to the long tailed grackle behind her? I am so glad to finally get that on film. I'll write about it in the next post.... back to the chicken. OUTRAGEOUS is it not?!?!?!

I went back today on my bike with more grain, looking for her, but didn't see her. I'll try again in a few days. She's obviously getting along just fine, but of course, I worry.

Breakfast with Sparrows

Oh how lucky am I? It was just two year ago that I saw my first bird nest ever (a long tailed grackle's), and even though it was quite obscured by leaves from my vantage point, many mornings I watched in the mist before the sun rose, in my pj's, with bad binoculars, the mother feeding what I could see of a grey baby in the nest.I was in a high rise and my porch was about a floor above the tree top that the nest was in.

Flash forward to last week, I was having a now-rare outing to a coffee shop which is flanked on each side by ivy covered brick, with plentiful live Oak trees all around it's small parking lot. Optimal setting for a nursery, I guess, as there are bird nests everywhere.

Picnic tables are out in case you want to enjoy the setting, which I do, as in the next month or so, the heat will be prohibitive. While sitting outside with my berry scone and decaf au lait, I completely ignored their flimsy "do not feed the birds" sign and made sure some crumbs happened to be on the table top. I got to witness a mother feeding breakfast to her fledgeling, and actually got it on film, so you can too!



Actually, the thrill is that she took a crumb right from my fingers, which I caught (akwardly) on a different clip.

I've come to recognize fledgelings. They chirp A LOT (even in the bird world, kids are demanding and endlessly so) and flutter their little wings with such animation as they do... not sure if it's just getting them strong, or if they just don't have control of them yet, or if it serves another purpose (if you do know, will you comment?). You can see that though this little one's still chirping and wing-beating for mom to feed him or her, it manages to peck at a crumb here and there.



Flash Forward again -- Two days after I shot this, I was in the Wildlife Rehab Center, and the inn is full, so to speak. Baby bird season is in full swing and the incubators are packed with eggs that people brought it, and all kinds of birds in every stage of development. Starlings, Killdeer, sparrows, rock doves, pigeons, grackles, herons.... I was opening the tank lids and, as if I was on the edge of their nests this time, the many little mouths with developing beaks opened WIDE to me, exposing tender pink throats, their heavy heads still wobbly on their necks.

I went down the line feeding tiny berries, crickets and soaked catfood pellets to each, depending on their size and diet, with a tweezer (essentially my beak), playing mother to them all.

I simply can't believe I get to do these things.

Snow White continued....

I saw this fella high up on a limb and made the noises I use to get his attention. Once I did, I waved a nut at him and called him down. I'm still in shock that wild animals come when I call. I mean, I never get used to it. It's outrageous when you think about it. I also can't get over how these skittish creatures, known for their speed and rather insane antics, soooo gently take a nut from my fingertips.



I fed him several nuts, and each time he ran up to his little post to eat, as squirrels are wont to do, and kept his eyes on me. It cracks me up how fast they chew. What's the hurry, besides that they are generally wired and do everything like they've just downed a few Red Bulls.

While I never see squirrels with their cheeks full, as is the customary joke, I believe this one is actually getting there...



I love this magical Park, where squirrels actually listen to me and crawl down a tree trunk to eat from my hand... After three years I still can't quite believe it myself.

Wild and Tame

Here's a little look at the Perigrine Falcon who is a fixture at the Wildlife Rehab Center. He's long ago healed up and has a permanent home there. Every day he gets to come out of his house and sit on top of his perch, where he likes watching everyone. He doesn't need to be tethered or anything.
He rules the roost, so to speak.

When we get busy with things elsewhere, he amuses himself by going to the edges of what he must feel is his permissable territory because when one of us passes by and actually notices he's not on the top of his house, he looks a little like a kid who emptied the cookie jar and he hops back into what he must feel is the place we expect him to be. It's a crack up.

Here I found him standing on a perch next to his cage -- He doesn't hop so fast, so he must not have been feeling very guilty that day, lol. But he does do the hop.

Forgive my voice-- I had laryngitis that day.

The Snow White Effect

... captured badly on film:

I took a sunset walk with lots of food in my bag. I stopped by a little bridge that crosses a hidden finger of the lake, where very few people walk by. This is where some smart mothers have their babies, as they will be somewhat protected. But what can protect you from a mother who decided that she'd had enough?

I went hoping to see that an abandoned baby duck I'd noticed the day before had made it through the night. Happily, she had. Seems she's been left by her mother, which happens more than you'd think. Last spring it happened in this same spot with a set of five babies. They were a little bigger than this guy when orphaned and at least they all had each other. I watched them grow into teenagers and at that stage, you know they are OK.

I'd first noticed the errant mother and her sole remaining baby last week together, in the same shallow reeds by this bridge, but I haven't seen them together since. Once I saw the little one alone I knew it was for good. Of course I woke up several times in the night with worries that she'd be pulled under by a snapping turtle (probably the fate of her many siblings) or something else. So I made a beeline back as soon as I got the chance

And there she was, eating insects of the surface of the water. She eagerly scooped up my breadcrumbs which I'd broken into the tiniest of pieces for her tiny beak. It was nice and quiet, a moment for just us two...

All at once there were rabbits coming out of the underbrush, a squirrel or two running up for nuts, bluejays screaming from the branches above me, 6 ducks swimming over for bread, a few long tailed grackles cawing for a morsel and a common sparrow spiriting away with the crumbs. A trio of frogs I couldn't see started singing in the distance and a Nutria surfaced and began to clean himself with his front paws before noshing on the reeds.

I did a bad job of getting movies, but I did it to try to capture why I feel like Snow White when I come to this place. Animals of all kinds come out of nowhere, but as soon as a dog or other people come along, they scamper, hop, fly and swim away.

Continued...



I'd already fed her plenty but I wanted to give her some more as the bigger she gets the less she will seem like easy prey. As you can see, the other 6 ducks dominated. The trick is to feed the big ones to distract them and then get something to the baby at the same time.

I went to the feed store and bought some actual chick feed for her for next time. Let's all say a little prayer she's there. All she needs is another week or two and she'll be well on her way to a nice long life.

One day I'll have a videographer with me so I can feed all these animals coming at me without trying to also get pictures... Or, since I do have a film degree myself, I might take the expensive HD movie camera I bought for this purpose but never bring with me... Shoot the amazing things that go on around me with a camera that doesn't rack in and out of focus because I zoom in too fast... and I will be able to edit out the bad parts and splice things together. Until then, thanks for bearing with me!

J' Adore, Furry One

Oh, oh OH! In seeing this little movie again as I uploaded it, it's far cuter than when I took it, and when I took it I knew I'd captured something truly special.



Go ahead, press play again. I'll be waiting right here.

The Wildlife Rehab and Education Center was packed with animals since I was there last. I've had to take a week off and boy, do things change fast. Many of the patients I was caring for have grown and are gone or have been given to local rehabbers to care for and release. Baby ducks and birds, once in tanks, have gotten big enough to move to the fabulous wooden pens outside in the fresh air.

The baby opossums have multiplied (you'd think they were bunnies) and grown to be happy and mischevious. And we're fully into bird season. There are incubators with several small kleenex boxes (to mimic nests) filled with eggs and rows and rows of tanks with of sparrows, robins, rock doves, etc... We have a baby heron (all legs), and terns of all sizes. I saw a new screech owl and the baby great horns continue to grow straight and strong.

But everyone is wild for the two newest additions: 2 baby beavers. The one in the movie above is getting fed on his back wrapped in a towel, by bottle just like our own kids. Below is the sibling of the one getting fed, hanging out in a tank with a stuffed Beaver Mommy. See his little flat tail? The two sleep together in the corner on those white flannel sheets. I'm glad they have each other.
I spent all yesterday at the Center getting basic training in cleaning oil spilled birds and animals (so I can be ready to volunteer when the need arises). I'm itching to get back in there, maybe tomorrow, to learn more about how birds hatch and develop-- and what they need to eat. I saw people in there with everything from raw eggs for some, to little dishes with crickets, meal worms, cat food pellets soaked in something to be soft and berries, feeding all those open mouths with the appropriate tidbit, delivered by an official looking tweezer/scissor like device. Hopefully I can get a few pictures, because as you can see from the nursing Beaver, they are worth a thousand words.

What's THAT?

Now here's an animal I'd never seen before volunteering as a Carnivore Keeper Aid at the zoo. It's called a fossa. It is the size of a really large cat and while feline in appearance in many ways, he has more of a doggie nose, and is incredibly strong. He also is quite agile. Related to the mongoose, not like that's very common either, but at least I'd heard of those.

If you've seen the animated film Madagascar, you've seen a fossa, who co-starred. I just recently saw it, because when you are educating children about animals (which I do at both the zoo and am training to do as a volunteer for the Wildlife Rehab and Education Center), it helps to see every modern animal movie out there so you can help them relate.

We do have clown fish at the aquarium, and when I say "Who here knows what Dora was" all the kids shout, "A CLOWN FISH". But that 's another post....

Take a look.




I love this little guy. On the mornings I worked in the Tiger House making breakfast for the lions, leopards, tigers, cougars and the fossa, he would rapidly pace around in the shape of a figure 8. You see, his little indoor house was right across from the kitchen door and he could see me cutting up and weighing meat for everyone, including him. We used to give him a big white rat on certain days (they are pristine, bread for food and not at all as funky as it sounds) and he'd playfully flip it up in the air over and over. I thought he was starving but apparently he just wanted to party.

As you've guessed, he's a carnivore. And in doing research I've read that they live up to 20 years in captivity... and oddly, can live 60 years in the wild. I'm not sure about that figure, as usually it's quite the opposite. Life is extended in captivity, for obvious reasons -- quality health care, protection from predators, loving care of devoted humans. I have no idea if that's right, but if I get a chance to ask his keeper at the zoo (the guy you hear talking), I'll report back.

My question is, have you ever seen one, and regardless, do you like this one?

The Regal Mr. Goose

Though I have a bear of a sore throat and have been laying low, I had the worst case of cabin fever, and so took a short walk in the park. I brought bread along and saw Mr. Goose, who had eaten some bread and strode to a puddle, left by torrential rains all weekend, for a drink. I decided to try to balance my digital camera and take a quick movie, hoping to capture a little of what I see when I have the privilege of feeding this truly magnificent creature by hand. It just doesn't capture it, but it's still something to see none the less. I also got his unique high pitched honk, which often sounds more like a plainitive wail, on tape. I've tried to describe it before to no avail.

Sometimes I bring cracked corn, but when I bring wheat bread, I make sure to only feed him the soft insides. He doesn't like usually like crusts unless he's in the water and can soften them first, but this time he ate some. He often bites it off with the little Barbie hair comb-like ridges that act as teeth on the back sides of his beak. I think when I start the video you can see a bit of that bread stuck in one side.



I like to think Mr. Goose trusts me. You can see he is very sensitive and notices when other people walk near. That's good, it will keep him out of danger.

This was one of those rare times that I see him out on a bachelor stroll, without Mrs. Goose. I read that Chinese Geese like Mr. G make great watchdogs because they trumpet as any one comes near your property... the four at The Park certainly do. And they also make great lawnmowers, though I'd still bet that horses and cows might beat our the goose for that (but and argument could be made that the goose leaves a LOT less fertilizer than the other two!).

I wish you could get a real sense of just how BIG he is. And he let me touch him once for a millisecond. It was truly the softest thing I'd ever felt.

Below he decided to walk away and eat some greens, which is what he often does in-between bread sessions (it cracks me up that he still has a bit of bread stuck in the corner of his beak). I think he picks up some gravel too, and it all contributes to digestion. These geese are so interesting. They know what's right for their bodies and strictly adhere to that. If only we could all follow those same instincts.

(I could not help but try to close in on his majestic fluffy backside)

Elvis and His Quackless Buds

I'm always delighted to see my boy Elvis when I go to The Park. His world is pretty small. He swims in the long reflection pool, which is the first thing I walk past when I enter the park. Occasionally he's on the grass just across from it, as he has to eat greens, or on the shallow fountain steps that the water rushes over to pour into the pool. He is there often on hot summer nights, so his legs can be in the cooler water, while he sleeps standing up. The rest of the time he perches on the cement ledges on the sides of the pool, to groom and preen and settle his fat fluffy self down for a rest.

I think I've known Elvis for about 2 1/2 - 3 years now. It's very comforting to see him there each visit, like when you go home for the holidays and see that things haven't changed. Over that time I've seen him hanging with different pals - or should I say they hang with him, because he remains the constant, and the other players shift. For a few months last fall I saw him alone. But recently he's been hanging with two red faced Muscovy's and a teenager whose feathers were mostly irridescent green and black. That teen is now almost fully grown and red faced himself (Elvis is rare in that his facial skin is coal black, just like his pompadour)... and I noticed, as you might below, that it seems like the teen (in the middle, the bird I start the clip with) is the most anxious for food of the four.



Aaah youth. The young green former teen was amusing me to no end as he opened his mouth and did his hoarse whisper in his excitement over food. Muscovy's are actually called quacklesss ducks, as indeed, the only sound they make is the hissing noise you could hear if I weren't babbling incessantly over it while filming. Maybe if you play it back once more you can pick it up.

OK, listening back to this I hope I don't sound like the crazy duck lady or something. I'm a former big city celebrity stylist. I do not wear a bubushka and push around an abandoned grocery cart, with only birds for friends. Just sayin'

What saddened me a little was to see that Elvis seems to have been reduced to the bottom of the pecking order. While the young guy in the middle was most aggressive, the other two red faced ducks were on each side of him, getting their share... while Elvis drifted in the background. He knows I will throw some to him, in fact, I try not to obviously favor him (even though I do). I've seen this hovering behavior from ducks before... one who is interested in food but is not part of the gang I'm feeding. But there you often see the order play out as one or two in the gang will chase the hoverer away once I throw a morsel in his direction, even if there is plenty for all. And it seemed that when I threw to Elvis the young buck wasn't happy about it, and Elvis discreetly swam away a little. It made me wonder if Elvis was getting old, and losing his mojo.

I don't know how long ducks actually live. Wikipedia (which we treat as accurate but technically may not be) says 10-20 years but THIS ARTICLE says 7-8. I have also read 3-4. Certainly in this park, there is more protection than out in the wild, so he should make the higher end of estimates. The great circle of life is evident here, just like it is for us... Muscovy's are a hearty bird and have few health issues so I think he'll be around for a long time. Especially if I have anything to do with it.

More Spring Babies

I introduced an animal that I'd never seen (or heard of) before moving to Houston --though that could actually be said for a few animals. That was the Nutria. If you want to learn more about Nutrias, you can CLICK HERE for an introduction or go to the Tags at the right and click on Nutrias.

Well, for a few weeks we got a baby nutria in and he was the delight of so many volunteers. He was so responsive to humans -- definitely imprinted, which is not so great if you want to release him back into the wild. But he was just so cute, everyone wanted to pick him up. Most were reminded that it would be in his best interests and did their best to not engage too much with him, but that dear man Bill who I mentioned HERE could not resist. And we ALL love Bill so much that when it came time to feed the little nutria, we left it to him. Here's a pic of the baby on Uncle Bill's knee, having some milk via syringe.

Last time I was in, the baby was gone. There's a woman who has land with a creek running through it where there are other nutrias, and she has no problem with them nibbling on the reeds and cattails. So he could live a wild life with others of his kind, yet not risk anything because he might be unafraid of her or other human visitors. He's safe with her and is just beginning what sounds like a very happy life.