Just Ducky

.... and Geese-y, to be completely accurate.

I took a walk in The Park for the first time in a long time. I've been so busy with all the other ways I've gotten involved with animals that the place that started me in this direction -- The Park and all the animal regulars in it -- have fallen on the back burner. * hanging head* Isn't that just like life... I never want to take things for granted that are that special. So I got myself there, with bread and cracked corn in my pockets.

I've written often about the ones who I developed relationships with, Mr. and Mrs Goose probably getting top billing (had to say it). So the first two I looked for were them. They are the biggest and the loudest, so they are not hard to find, if they're not resting deep within the thicket on the island in the middle of The Lake. Thankfully I saw them right away, padding around in a rather soggy patch of forest, pecking at greens, which seem to be a daily part of their diet.

However, when I held out a little bread, it got their attention!


I included this second picture because it shows both of their faces in profile. It's worth clicking on the picture to open and see how beautiful they are. And she, who is the smaller of the two and in the lower right of the picture, has features that just look more feminine, even though their markings are almost identical. She looks like she has a more almond shaped eye, or up-swept eyeliner on....


And then there was Elvis.... the Muscoy duck. Once in a while I don't see him but overall he is a fixture, never straying from the edges of the reflection pool


And I also saw the third of my top three favorite buddies, the Indian Running duck. I don't have any name for him but as I've written here, he quacks me up with his adrenalized personality. He runs faster than any of the others over to me, and can't stand still be cause he is so revved up. He quacks at rapid speed and also stamps his little orange feet. So funny.


As a result, most of my pictures of him are blurred like the one below, because he's in such constant motion. And he's in the middle of talking to me. Fast talking, fast walking, very verbal... this duck could easily be a New Yorker (said fondly, as I consider myself to be one -- a New Yorker that is).

He looks like he's saying: WHERE WERE YOU??? DO YOU LIKE SQUIRRELS BETTER THAN US NOW????

The answer is, no.

I'm quite smitten with them all.

A Wee Turtle's Lucky Day -- And Mine

On a recent, wet and overcast spring day I was walking through The Park in what I call "squirrel forest." It's an area that was full of tall trees and populated by tons of Fox squirrels. While there still are a lot of those, the trees took a hit between Hurricane Ike and the massive construction that went on in the area for most of 2009. There are still things that go on in the name of improvement and restoration over there, and the day I was walking it seems they'd put in a bunch of new mulch.

To this day I have no idea how I spotted this but I had just handed out nuts to dozens of squirrels and was ready to get home. I started walking toward the path when somehow my eyes fell on a tiny little shape that looked the color of the bits of tree bark mixed in with the dark, moist topsoil. I stooped to get a closer look and I thought I saw little hands or a foot. By the time my eyes focused those were gone but sure enough, it was the underside of a tiny turtle. Thank goodness I stopped because I don't know what would have happened otherwise. It was a miracle I didn't step on him, but he was also so far away from the water, I have no idea how he got there, let alone how he'd ever get back.

I picked him up in my gloves and saw that he had indeed both sets "hands" and "feet", a tail and head. And he seemed alive though his head was tucked so far back into his shell (as mine would be if an utter GIANT had picked me up) so I couldn't see his eyes. I wish I'd have thought to take a picture of it, but I was more concerned that he was alive and well. I walked as carefully as I could with him in one palm, upright and flat, with the other had cupping over it, to give him a sense of security -- if that can be had while something has taken you waaaay up into the air and now you are inevitably jostling with each resounding step.

I went to a place I knew there were lots of turtles and babies, but there was no shoreline. If he was not well, or unable to swim, I wanted him to be able to get out. I know nothing about turtles, and maybe he'd have been fine, but I wanted to pick a place that would give him the option to stay on land or step into the water when he was ready. I also wasn't sure if other turtles were territorial, or if he'd be bullied or picked on by others if he was not a part of their group. I thought of the shallows where so many seasoned duck mothers lead their little babies, but I know that snapping turtles lurk just below and with one swift motion can grab something little on the surface for s snack. I am not sure a turtle would eat a turtle, but I continued on. Finally I found a moss covered log, the same one where I've seen a turtle sunning himself every now and again. That could act as a "shoreline", where the little guy could stay until he wanted to swim away. I put him down and stood there for about 20 minutes, watching.


Slowly, his head came out, then a foot, then all his limbs and his tail. He hung there for another 10 minutes, and then I noticed he ventured into the water, hanging on to the log with the toe nails of one little foot. I smiled and took a few pictures, and decided all was well enough.

If you'd like an idea of just how small he was, here is a picture that will show you. This log is about as big as my forearm.... And that's my shadow snapping the pic.

It's this kind of stuff that makes me feel I've earned my day on earth. Call me crazy, but it makes me feel good.

Life is Good

When you have a nice fuzzy place to sleep!



CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE JUST HOW COMFY THIS CORNER REALLY IS!

Wise Words

Any glimpse into the
life of an animal
quickens our own
and makes it so much
the larger and better
in every way.

--John Muir

How About a Twin Foal Cam

Here is a link to a mama horse who had a set of twins. One needed to have a kind of cast on first one front leg and then both because of soft knees. This was shortly after it was born, but with the exuberance that all newborn baby animals seem to have, it innocently accepted that this was the way it was and did a great job of hopping around after his or her sibling, nursing and taking naps in the nice hay.

This trio is lovingly cared for by a staff night and day, who you will see interact with them often, doing chores around them or attending to them. Check it out by CLICKING HERE or go to: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sunnyandangeltwinfoals


Thank you to commenter and very good pal Laurie for sending me this link!

More Dogs

Picture of the Day

I was going in to the grocery store the other day and saw this utterly sweet doggie dozing outside. It had the most peaceful, lovely face. I only had my iPhone with me (no zoom) and I didn't want to get too much closer to get the shot for fear of him or her moving, so I snapped what I could. If you click on it, maybe it will enlarge enough to see what I mean. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Dogs are just such special beings. They wait for you, they are so patient, they love love love you and no matter what, that tail will start wagging.
Anybody know what kind of dog this is?

It's GOAT TIME on the blog!

Hello -- I'm looking right at you with my horizontal pupil. Do you like my hair? Do you like my ears? I hope so because I've been told I'm just really likable in general.

And what do I like? Just about anything I can chew on.... um, because I'm a GOAT, and that's what goats do.

Here I am last summer in my pen when Rochelle took a little movie of me. Her camera looked pretty tasty -- and so did her shirt sleeve, come to think of it -- and I tried to get to it but she was just out of reach. So I stood around a little and then I got disinterested.



If you want to see a pic of me as a baby, CLICK HERE -- Don't pass it up. Go ahead, I was really cute. Not to say that I'm not really REALLY cute now.... But I prefer handsome, or striking since I am indeed all black and white.

It's Baby Bird Time!

Baby birds start out as small as this. The first time I saw one -- with such thin skin you could see all their blood moving through their veins, with eyes undeveloped, and the tiniest little half limbs -- I didn't believe it could possibly eat or live.

But even in such a vulnerable state, that little rim of bright school bus yellow opens wide as soon as food it put near and every morsel delivered is consumed with great vigor. It's flabbergasting, and only reinforces what miracles of nature go on every day, all around us, all the time.

As they grow, the little half-limbs I mention become strong and feathered wings, their eyes mature and finally open, their little legs get strong enough to shoot their growing bodies straight up when I walk by because I MEAN FOOD (and they want it every 15 minutes it seems, except at night, when birds settle in for sleep) and their little yellow beaks open to reveal the brightest pink and red mouths. Here's what I see when I walk by a tank:

Now once the bird gets to a beginning fledgeling, we move them to bigger tanks and put them in a room that's enclosed in netting, as when you open the lid, often a hungry baby now can flit up and out. Here is one who did just that but simply perched close to me on the lid of the tank next to it. Generally speaking, it's often the babies who are most aggressive get the most food in the nest -- though some experienced mothers make sure everyone gets enough. But this little guy kept hopping out to beat out his or her two siblings who stayed in the tank.

Fledgelings add flapping their wings and making much noise, squawking "SEE ME, FEED ME, ME ME ME mom!!!!" Now when I'm out in late springtime I can make out fledgling squawkings. If I take a second or two to look, and indeed I do, I manage to find a nest and a mother nearby.

At some point, that turns into the babies taking their first tentative steps out of the nest, so you may see them actually sitting on a branch next to it, looking all fluffy and even a little like their molting as bigger feathers begin to replace their baby fuzz. Soon they begin flying lessons I think, since I've seen them trying to hop to nearby twigs following the mother who hops ahead of them -- I assume she's showing them how it's done.

I think grackles must be like those kids who never stop going to college, or come home to live after... they look fully grown and still hop after their mothers flapping their perfectly competent wings, insisting loudly that their mother give them half of whatever she's got. The more you observe, them more you realize that animals are really not that much different than us in so many ways!

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.

Another First

One of the great things about life is that, depending on how you live it, you can always have firsts. I have never seen a duck hatch.... and I still haven't but I did see it within seconds after as we were just walking by the incubator and the person I was with said, "Look! The duckling just hatched!"So now you've seen it too.

See the two parts of the egg with brown inside at the back left, right by the thermometer? Hard to believe she was in there just seconds before. (Click to see any photo enlarged). Notice that she is still wet and has a piece of the shell still on her. I don't know if the mother normally cleans them (I doubt it) or if they just teeter around (this one tried it's new legs and was wobbly, then had to stop and rest every few seconds) until they're all fluffy.

Look at that sweet little baby. Welcome to the world! This might be one to click on so the picture will enlarge.

Here's another where you can better see that she still has a little piece of shell stuck to her feathers. They drink pretty quickly after being born. I remain in awe of Mother Nature!

We're not sure but it looks like none of the other eggs seem to be viable. There has been no tapping from the beaks inside chipping away to get out. They were candled and you could not see much of anything inside. But they'll stay in the incubator for a few more days to see if we are wrong.

Check back in a few days and I will try to get some footage of her once she's fuzzy and full of energy and peeps!

Until then I have some questions -- Is this a first for you too? Of all the animals in the world, which would you like to see being born or immediately after like I did? I know, I know, so many to choose from. Then tell me your top three!

Three Dehydrated Babes

After I returned Peter Paul and Mary to The Center, I gave myself another two week rest and started on Allegra. Spent the whole of Sunday helping there. At the end of the day there were three puny ones that needed to be fed at least twice more before bed and nursed, so I brought them home. These two, #20 and 21 were on triage. They came in with a sibling who was DOA. Both were really dehydrated and weak, the female more than the male. It has been hard to get her to even stir when I feed her. She lays in my hands as if she were asleep, but I administer milk drop by drop and watch for the little swallow in her throat. Right now I am diluting it with plain Pedialyte. The stuff in it will help revive them. Should take a day or so.


Poor skinny sweet babies. The third, #22, is a female Fox. She has one eye almost open. It's easy to forget that they are still infants because they are so much bigger and at times furrier than Grays. This little one also came in with her brother who died and has had the runs for two days. I have her on diluted milk and will feed her enough hours apart that I'm sure all the previous meal has cleared her system. Gave her a drop of medicine before taking her home that I hope will work and have her being regular within 24 hours. Once she's OK I will mix her milk with Pedialyte for a day.

Sleepy little one. She's in the small shoebox I drove her home in, laying on a dark gray rice sock that I'd heated in the microwave to keep her cozy for the ride. Squirrels like to have their noses pressing against or preferably tucked under something. With her head bent, it's not because she doesn't feel well... it's her way of pressing her nose to something as there is no fabric to push under.

As soon as both systems are normalize I will increase the milk ratio mixed with purified water to get the calorie and fat count up that they need at this critical time of growth.

My How Much You Have Grown

It's baby season again, and I brought home my first three of the year -- #17, 18, and 19.... or as they came to be known for the purposes of these posts -- Peter, Paul, and Mary.

You first saw them HERE and HERE --- and they are three weeks later, this is how far they've grown -- eyes open, tails beginning to fill out, still huddled together. Cute and curious they're well on their way. These three weren't sick when we took them in. They had just been found by someone redoing their attic. Despite a little insulation in their noses/mouths, they were easy eaters, well tempered, a breeze.



I returned them to The Center because it appears I've officially lived here long enough to get the horrible allergies associated with the city. They say if you don't have em before you live here it will only be a matter of time until you get them.

Last fall I thought I was suffering from variations of the seasonal colds and a flu that my husband brought home from the office. Since there are no squirrel babies from roughly November till February, I had a break from animal rehabbing and yet, it never cleared up. Now the Oak trees are spreading their filmy yellow-green haze on every surface. So when I brought home Peter, Paul and Mary, I really was struggling to breathe, sneezing, eyes watering...

I was so sad because squirrels had been the one animal (besides reptiles, I imagine) that I don't normally trigger my allergies, but now that I'm stirred up, it's a problem. Then my husband suggested I wear a heavy duty painting mask when I feed them. I look goofy but I do that and I change my shirt from what I'm wearing to a few shirts that I wear only when feeding, so the squirrel scent stays away from my nose. That got me by for a week, which was just long enough that they were able to go on The Center feeding schedule.

Thank goodness all I have to do is drive up the road 15 minutes to The Center to go see how they are progressing. I leave you with one more little look at one of the cuties in the trio of PP&M.... someone is VERY cute and curious.

Are You Watching LIFE?

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact
that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.”
—H.G. Wells

When the extraordinary Planet Earth series debuted on TV in February 2007, it grabbed attention around the world. 65 million of us had a regularly scheduled date in the living room for 11 weeks in a row, and sat riveted by breathtaking photography and the miracle of nature. Shot in the fairly new medium of HD, it took us to places and allowed us to bear witness to things we’d never seen before. Everyone everywhere was talking about it — at the dinner table, via e-mail and around the water cooler (imagine, no one was tweeting yet!).

Starting this Sunday, March 21, Discovery Channel and the producers of Planet Earth bring us a new series called LIFE. Last night I was invited to watch a screening of the first episode, Challenges of Life, at the Landmark River Oaks Theatre here in Houston. It is a particularly dramatic theme: The instinct to survive inherent in all living things and their ability to adapt to sustain the species.


LIFE, Discovery Channel's new series to begin this coming Sunday night
Narrated by Oprah Winfrey, the visuals remain spectacular, the stories engaging and the educational value excellent. With this first ep covering foxes, whales, seals, reptiles, insects, plant life, primates, octopi, big cats, hippos and more, there is something for everyone. Standouts to me were the way a small population of common bottle nose dolphins have learned to teach fish to jump right into their mouths, the lengths that a strawberry poison dart frog mother goes to ensure her babies grow and thrive, and how a primate species use tools. With the latter, it’s at once uncanny and unsettling to see their arms and legs making the exact same motions as our own, and their faces frown and show the same exasperation as we do in learning how to wield a large rock as a hammer.



This strawberry poison dart frog is an immensely dedicated mother

All show considerable intelligence and drive that can only encourage new or heightened respect for the creatures we share the planet with. While these examples take place in exotic locales, it can’t help but remind us that to those who take the time to look, there is drama and spectacle going on all around us, all the time — in any tree or on a simple blade of grass.

It makes you think twice about burying yourself in your hand held device 24/7. Hopefully.

Overall, the subject matter is nothing short of motivating. Simply by making it this easy and appealing to explore the world we live in at a deeper level, the conclusion is this: We live in a gorgeous, fantastic, miraculous, wonder filled world. As the dominant species, we should and must do everything in our power to conserve and preserve it and all that lives. There is nothing like the awe inspired by a show like LIFE to jolt us awake to this fact, and fuel a passionate desire to honor and protect our forests, oceans, plains, and mountain ranges, and all of their inhabitants.

Now there’s something to tweet about.



So clear your schedule to again be enchanted, amazed and inspired, brought to you by mother nature… and the producers at BBC and Discovery Channel!

LIFE starts this Sunday, March 21, on Discovery Channel. It runs through April 18 and treats us to double episodes each time (8-10PM ET/PT). And stay tuned after the final show on April 18 for a special called, The Making of LIFE at 10 PM.

He Be a Fly Boy

Normally I only post my own movies, pictures and personal experiences, but when someone sent this to me, I thought you all would want to see it.



It's your guess whether or not this bird is groovin' on it's own or there is a trainer who's egging him on. Either way, it's a damn good song.

Lotsa Action on the Hummingbird Cam!!

On my last post I gave a link to a hummingbird cam.... please scroll down to check it out!

Here though, is some true drama that happened yesterday. These are clips of about 2 hours long, so once you press play you can drag the counter to :57. (It's very sensitive so move it a nanometer as it jumps greatly in time otherwise). At that marker, you will see a lizard approach the nest in the rose bush in which it sits. The mother bird, Pheobe, attacks a lizard who comes looking for lunch. By about 1:06 you will see her remove one egg, which apparently is the size of a tic tac. The people watching can chat about this and apparently are thinking it was not viable so the mother removed it or she put it somewhere for safe keeping. I would assume the former.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5495849 or CLICK HERE

Or here where you can watch her building the nest!

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3540265 or CLICK HERE

Every Day a Miracle

OK, if it's daylight where you are (and we now have an extra hour of it, thank you DST), you MUST drop what you're doing right now and go to this link!!! IMMEDIATELY!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Hummingbird-Nest-Cam or CLICK HERE

Ms. Kelly sent this to me and I have been utterly enchanted ever since. You will find a tiny and perfect deep cup of a nest holding at least one tiny egg.... and the mother whizzes off and back with that lawnmower-like buzz that only a hummingbird's wings can make. She quite is beautiful -- ... takes my breath away with her big, dark almond shaped eyes, her delicate, slender blue beak, her iridescent green body, and her red throat.

She pokes at the egg, sits on it, flys off and flies back. Lots of action. The sun is bright wherever this is, at least today it's been. And knowing how small they are, I have no idea how this camera blows them up to fill the entire screen.

Why are you still reading this!! Hurry toward delight!!

This is from the website of the people who film this nest, in their back yard in CA.

Phoebe is a non-migratory Channel Islands Allen's Hummingbird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen's_Hummingbird). She builds her nests in a rose bush, and the nest is about the size of a golf ball, with eggs being about the size of a tic-tac candy. The season for nesting is October through May/early June, and Phoebe will lay four to five clutches per season. One or two eggs are laid per clutch, they hatch after 17 days, and the chicks typically fly three to four weeks later. Phoebe will sometimes build a new nest, but frequently repairs old nests. For more information, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions (below).

Photo credit: Thank you to

www.flickr.com/photos/richarddumoulin/3558263504/

And while I'm ordering you around, lol, please come back if you can to tell me what you think.

Progress

In a matter of one week, Peter Paul and Mary's ears have come unpinned and have sprouted what will become little white tufts of oh-so-soft hair behind them. Hair on their chinny chin chins is getting longer and their bellies have gotten fuzzier. Their eyes continue to develop as two of them reacted by squeezing their still closed eyelids together when I blew on them or if I have them in bright light. They sleep and eat and really don't do much else at this stage. Soon they will be awake for parts of the day and crawling around, testing their legs.

But I did notice that in just 5 days, their bottom two teeth are now visible. Get ready for the picture (albeit blurry)...


I know. Little darlings. I have such love for these babies! Just like taking a walk under the blue sky and brilliant sunshine makes me aware that there really is something more going on in the universe than I remember when running around in daily life, when I tenderly care for these sweet little beings, well, this will tell you what I mean:

A woman approached the great Indian saint, Ramakrishna, and said:

‘I find that I do not love God. The concept does not move me.’

He asked her “Is there nothing in the world that you do love?”

And she said ‘Yes, I love my little nephew.’

Ramakrishna replied

“There He is.”

~~ Unknown ~~

If You Just Want Endless Distraction

So if a Black Bear Cam and a Bald Eagle Cam aren't your cup o' feathers/fur, how about a Peregrine Falcon Cam???

There's a nest box with a camera in it in, of all places, Boise Idaho, atop One Capital Center. Last year two chicks successfully fledged from this very site! Wonder what can happen this year.

I am not going to get much writing done at this rate!!

CLICK HERE to see or go to http://www.peregrinefund.org/falconcam/

We will get back to those three squirrel babies shortly!

Watch the Eagle Cam -- 3 eggs!!!

Thanks once again to commenter Suzanne who has sent me the link to the Sutton Center Eagle Cam. Last time we watched a lone eaglet grow and wait for his mother to fly up to the nest with fish. We watched him eat, and doze and pace the edges of the nest day after day, until he started to flap his wings and test them out. Then one day, he actually flew! So cool to watch!!

Now the patient, majestic bald eagle mother is sitting on THREE eggs and noses them under her with her beak, waiting for them to hatch. Hopefully all three will survive. There is a separate camera that shows how high the nest is, up in a tree. It's right by water so she can go fishing.


CLICK HERE to go to http://www.suttoncenter.org/pages/live_eagle_camera

You can keep the link open on your desktop and work on another server and watch them from the corner of your eye all day!

PP&M

So I've been posting about three infant squirrels that I brought home Sunday. They are #17, 18 and 19 of my at home rehabs -- not supposed to name them. The feeling is, they aren't pets... They're wild, and since they will return to the wild you don't want to hamper them by imprinting your human-beingness on them too much.

(You want them to be afraid of humans, because too many of them do things like shooting them for sport or stew, running them over with their cars or feeding them things that aren't good for them. Stepping off soap box now)

However, for the sake of my stories, I shall hereby refer to these two little boys and a girl as Peter, Paul and Mary.

Here is a little movie of typical behavior. No matter that they can barely crawl, these babies have the strongest snouts! They like to push their noses under something -- a piece of fabric, a sibling's body, my neck or hair... Other behavior this shows is how they jerk while deeply asleep. We do this sometimes but these guys do it all the time. Amazing they don't wake themselves up.
(We shall not cackle that Mary is smashing her little nose past her brother's privates for a sec).

(I put my finger in there so you can judge their size)
My theory is that their little nervous systems are wired so tightly this is what happens. Just today I saw a little gray sitting in someone's driveway and he leapt straight up in the air. It wasn't because he was starting to run off somewhere. He was just sitting there, minding his own business when his body leapt straight up.

Here's an example of the little ones doing more of that. Like a little bowl of popcorn.. They look like peaceful and still - at first. One pops, then another (and that other, on the right, if you look really closely, seems to be dreaming of drinking milk... Watch her little mouth.)


Endless source of amusement!

Sleeping, Growing, Eating

In that order. Even though these three are probably about 3 1/2 weeks old, they do nothing but sleep and grow. I have to wake them up to eat and strangely, the bigger male has the least appetite. I'm experimenting with how far apart I feed this trio so they are truly hungry and yet getting enough nutrients to support the important work their little cells are doing.

Some baby animals are born fully furred, with eyes open, able to eat even solid foods. Squirrels are born as neonates --without hair, ears pinned back, eyes not yet developed... completely helpless. You'd think at this age they'd be walking around or have their eyes open, but they are clearly still developing, maybe like those other species do while still in the womb. When I watch them, they seem an awful lot like they're doing just that. They seem happiest when intertwined in a very snug, warm, soft space.

These photos are what made me think of how they must look -- and manage to all fit-- in the womb. It's hard to snap good photos of them, because they constantly jump in their sleep. I can barely get the lid of their tank up without losing the shot I saw that I wanted just seconds before. When I saw the below, all three spooning with each's arm draped around the other, it was so cute I tried to get the pic. Alas, the blanket is in the way at this angle but you get the drift.
(Notice remnant milk on the corner of the mouth!)

Within seconds the little one on the end had shifted position but look at his little legs in the second picture... crunched up and gripping the other one's haunches. Even more womb-like.

More to come.

You should be able to enlarge any of these pics by clicking on them.

Sleeping Cuties

Well, it's started again. Baby season. The Center got in several squirrels and baby ducklings, just a few possums so far (both fingers crossed there won't be as many as last year. Cute but stinky!!) and we're waiting for the boom of baby birds to hit. Three little gray squirrels came in late Sunday afternoon who were too young to stay at the center -- meaning they needed an additional feeding or two after hours. I guess someone was re-doing their attic and found a nest with them in it. *sigh* Renovations!

These three aren't sick at all like the ones I usually take. They just had some insulation I cleared out from their mouths and noses... so they are easy to feed and I don't get up 10 x a night because I'm worried about them. One's female, 54 grams, and the two males are 54 and 60 grams. I did have to separate them the first night because the bigger male started sucking on the others, which sometimes happens when they are this young. Everything is OK today though.

So while they're safe and sound --and as such, will definitely grow up and be released into the wild -- I did feel for the mother who probably came back to the nest and wondered where her babies were.

But then, I guess a mother can leave a nest and come back and find it empty thanks to a raptor raid too. Mother Nature can sometimes be as harsh as humankind.

Don't worry mama squirrel, I have your little ones.

I'm keeping them warm, well fed, and loved!

Click The Link

Happy Sunday to all. Last day of the Olympics. With the ever-changing weather conditions I'd say they ALL have had their own Adventures in Nature.

If you take a break from your TV and are looking at your computer screen instead, please click this link and come on over to my newest post on the HOUSTON ZOO BLOG. Any and all comments would be very welcome and much appreciated.

Bachelor Dads

Almost two years ago now a new pair of geese showed up at Hermann Park. While previously there'd only been the grand and elegant Mr. and Mrs. Goose ruling the lake, I arrived one day to see two more gliding along it's blue surface. One was a Chinese goose with all the same brown and white feathers, the same black beak with a bump, the same plaintitive wail as Mr. Goose. It was also the same size, and so I assumed it was a he. The other had an orange beak and as big a body, but with fluffier feathers that were ashy-brown all over. I've come to know this as a greylag goose (but it could be a landes-- chime in in the comments area if you know). I assumed he was also a male due to his size and aggressiveness when eating from my hand. Where the other three were more gentle, he'd rip the bread from my fingers, often nipping them in the process (he didn't mean it though, he just needs better table manners).

While Geese are known to be good egg producers, I've never ever seem Mr. and Mrs Goose with chicks of their own, though there's six weeks a year, sometimes twice a year, when I only see Mr. Goose on his own. As the Mrs. was never far from his side normally, I wondered if they had a nest during those times...though if she was gone due to sitting on it, apparently nothing ever hatched.

I've read much about the goose's tendancy to mate for life, but I wondered about these two guys. Somewhere I came across a line or two that they might stick with a buddy if not a mate, filling that need to pair.

Interestingly, last spring, when all the Muscovy's begin to appear with lines of fuzzy babies waddling after them, I noticed that the bachelor buds were very interested in the 11 little ones of one mother Muscovy. Here were a few pictures I snapped.

The first few times I thought they were bullying them, but when I tried to shoo them away from the mother and chicks, they would not go. They were obsessed. With further observation, I realized that they were quite attached to the little ones. Over the next few weeks, I found them together in all corners of the park. They would stand guard as the babies slept under the shade of a tree, assist them as they got in and out of the water, or shepard them safely across the walkway, as I caught them doing here.

I wondered if I'd been mistaken, that they were indeed male and female, practicing for the future. But if they were both males, could they not also have some kind of paternal instinct? And it being nesting time, but finding themselves unable to fulfill nature's call, could they not have decided to adopt?

They often bent their long necks down this way to gently nudge the babes along --or to dicipline! After about 6 weeks they'd grown into juveniles and the mother was no where to be found. But I'd see the pair of bachelor geese right beside them, until one day, their little flock had grown too big to tell them apart from the other muscovy teenagers. And like all parents, these two guys were forced to watch as they swam away to have their own lives, leaving them with... an empty nest.

Considering how few babies make it to adulthood, these geese proved to be excellent parents and they should be proud. Oddly, I've never seen them do it again. But spring is coming and with the budding trees and sprouting flowers come babies of all kinds in the animal kingdom. I will be keeping a close on these two.

Today's Giggle

Anything for a Bite of Green

At The Zoo, the resident herd of giraffes are very well fed, and quite loved and pampered. So it is not from hunger that on occasion I have seen one doing this when there are no visitors on grounds...It's just because they're orally fixated!

Isn't this what long necks are for? But long legs certainly don't make this so easy. To be this close and see them do it is surreal. They are such gentle beings.