The Sky is Falling!

Well, no, it isn't. But I think my little chick is gone. Ninny was out running around flirting with the Princes. No chick. I was hoping she had left it home, but no chirping all day. Buffy had knocked her nest box enough that she had splattered another egg. She is just NOT the mother type.

Nonnie on the other hand, was a bit wary about her new nest yesterday. Today, she never left it. A good little momma today, with her nest of defunct eggs. I do hope some of them are viable.

One of the Princes, Prince Handsome I think, really is good with the ladies. He stays close to them, escorting them safely though the hazards of the yard. Usually, the boys roost here and there around the garage. Tonight, one of the roosters was actually sitting on the side of the nest box, close as he could get to her. Little flirt! She is a cute little thing.

Chicken Little

I have been very amiss in keeping this up, mainly because I'm running two blogs, and sometimes I post about the animals on there.

We officially have chooks. Recently, all the hens disappeared. However, eggs started appearing. Everywhere. No hen, but lots of tiny white eggs. So the quest was on.

Buffy the Slug Slayer was easy. She was scrunched up in a small space on a bare board. It was tilted so the eggs ran right off and smashed on the floor. I finally rigged her a nesting box and put her sad, cold eggs in it. She seems to be happy, although I noticed today she had pushed a bit of wood aside, and another egg was smashed on the floor. Maybe she just doesn't want to be a mother.

Sweetybird, being a sensible and intelligent hen, found an old manager. Gathered together straw and sits on her nest. No gadding about for her. She comes out, eats (she has six eggs as of yesterday). Pays no attention when I visit her. I even lifted her rear end to see if there were eggs under her, and she ignored it. Spending two weeks in the house getting nice warm baths every day, she isn't going to sweat the small things.

Lacey is roosting back amongst the junk pile. I don't think anything could get her there, but for all I know, she too is dropping her eggs.

The two black hens just dissappeared. No sight or sound from them. Finally, one made an appearence, chick in tow. It looked like a large yellow and black bumble bee, so cute. It's mother is Ninny, because she is, and the chick is Ninion.

I then discovered who was laying the eggs by the door. The other black hen. All her eggs rolled away from her too, so I just fixed her a nest box. Hopefully, she will use it. She's Nonnie.

All but one chicken accounted for, and I think she was gotten by a dog a long time ago. Still I have hopes she will show up.

Little red riding...dog?

Got my first outfits done for the pet wear business. No pictures yet, so you will just have to imagine a 2 lb black poodle wearing a red cloak with white fur trim. Boy, did she look cute!


We had this little visitor for the show this time. Even at his age he is all leopard. There was a big log leaning against the side of the cage, he grabbed his toy and ran to the top, looking for a place to stash his prey! For just a second I felt like I was in Wild Africa! Of course, leopards don't usually carry around plush comical ducks, but the way my life goes, you just never know. We also had two lovely zebra fillies, but I made the mistake of being in the picture with them, so that one I won't post. They were very sweet though, and I laughed every time they barked.

Sometimes a great motion

My photo session didn’t exactly go as planned. Cougar cub was in major motion. He’s old enough now that he doesn’t sleep as much, and wouldn’t sleep at all outside the cage. He is also teething, so he chews on everything that moves, mostly fingers, a huge no-no!

This is what he looks like when he is being fended off attacking my ankles. For some reason everything blurred but his whiskers!



The next shot got a great picture of the leopard skin rug and the cub’s ear. A few more shots where he was so blurred it looked like I was trying to take pictures of a ghost. I adjusted my camera and when I looked up I saw…

Evidently the purse attacked him and he was only defending himself. Yeah, uh huh. He actually got the purse open and dived inside before I could get to him. It would have made a cute picture, sigh.









So after taking his purse toy away from him he raced to the other side of the room and peered out at me. Cute! I snapped a shot…








Then adjusted to cure the blur and fired off another shot in time to catch this…







And a moment later, this…


My husband asked me why I took that picture and I replied "That’s what happens if you take your eye off a cougar for a minute!"

You also get pics like this one…

which I thought looked like something out of Jumani.
(don’t worry, the zebra wasn’t hunted, it died of natural causes. He never looked that disapproving when he was alive.)

Being still a baby, the serval kitten was more co-operative. However, the lighting was still bad, so these didn’t turn out great.

You can’t beat a serval kitten for cute and fluffy! Too bad the sun was too bright for him to show his big baby blues.

We let Gracie (name changed from Diva) out to play with the cougar cub and that works well. She is almost as tall as he is now, huge change from last week. He still out weighs her about twice, but it doesn’t faze her one tiny bit. She has this delicate sweet feminine face and a Sherman tank personality. You can scoop her up and cuddle her and she will give you little loving licks, then squirm to be put down so she can attack the nearest beastie. Ruger better watch out, when she gets bigger she will take him on too.

I did get a halfway decent picture of one of the munchkin kittens—

She’s a little heart breaker. She’s a polydactal too.

That’s it for now. If it doesn’t rain cats and dogs I’ll try to get pics of the banties again tomorrow. They are officially ours now, and we bought them food today.

Chicken Little or Little Chickens?

Wandered outside to photograph the chickens today. Yes, the drug house junkies did not take them, we figured they wouldn't. So we have inherited 8 (maybe more) beautiful banties.

Yet Another Rant

I've barely been outside the whole time the druggies were there, just didn't feel safe, missed the whole summer. So I'm tip-toeing down the muddy morass they made out of our road, when I see two cats. Naturally I talk to the cats. It would have been rude not to, I was talking to the chickens first. One was a very shy and extremely beautiful Siamese mix. The other was an adolesent tabby with white stockings instead of mittens. Yeah, white up to the first joint, very pretty. She would have come said hello, but Keyboard got between us and grumbled at her. Evidently she feared the little cat would attack me or something. Or she was just saying "MY territory! Mine! Go AWAY!" So I was asking the little cats if we were going to have to find a good home for them, talking to Keyboard, taking shots of the chickens, and discussing what a mess the junkies made, when I hear an odd sound. I thought "how did the cats make that kind of noise?" and ducked around the tarp to see.

AAAAAACK! The Meth Queen herself!!!! In a bathrobe!!!! I thought Halloween was past! No lights on over there tonight, so who knows. I'm taking down the tarps tomorrow, if she squats there, I am keeping an eye on her. We will talk to Ben about her tomorrow too, fill him in on her nasty ass ways. Crreeeeppy! No, I am not being critical or unfair, just stating the truth. She was behind the drug house, she's a felon, a major junky, a liar and she DOESN'T FIX HER CATS!!!! She leaves a trail of cats behind her everywhere she stays. There must have been 20 of them in Ben's living room alone. She also leaves a trail of debts. What a waste of skin.

At any rate, I pretend I haven't seen her, and she doesn't say a word. The ONLY time she has ever talked to me was when she first met me and when she started to whine at me, then she yelled at me. I'd feel slighted, except I bet she never talks to women unless she figures they can do something for her. Ick, I can feel the meth cooties crawling towards me just being within 10 miles of her. Ben will have to fumigate. I wonder if they moved the meth lab or if it's still in the trailer. Well, she is NOT selling out of here any more.

I had to laugh though. There was a sign on the door, Please wipe your feet. !!! They make the whole lot a mud slop, have 30 to 40 people coming in and out of that 5th wheeler every day, some of them the worst looking junkies you could find under a bridge, and they want them to wipe their feet? I think it's a code for "The meth lab is closed." At least until she finds another way around it.

End of rant.

Hey, where's Trouncer? I haven't seen him all day. Not good.

I have to baby sit tonight. I'll be glad when this is over. It wipes me out for two days. On the bright side, baby cougar is still there. I don't like being gone overnight, but M has to be up so early in the morning, she really needs to get some sleep first. Better me up all night than her, since I can go to bed when I come home. The serval kitten should have his ears open this time. I'll have to get a picture of his little pixie face. I'd love to get one of Jag too. He's in the nasty teenager stage though. From sweety serval to manic serval in one week. Sigh. Little sucker actually bit me! I wasn't hurt, but I was terribly insulted, he knows he isn't supposed to do that. I wouldn't let him out of the kennel after that, I knew he'd really chomp me when I tried to put him back. I hope he's over that this week, but I doubt it.

Hee! Just got a job in. Small, but very easy. At least it's work.

Here's the chickens. I'll have to get better pics, it was rainy and they don't know me yet. M has some grain for me I can give them, they'll love me after that. They seemed fatter when they came, so they have probably been living off the land and what we have put out for them. They certainly aren't starved, but a little chicken food won't hurt them either. Three roosters, I was only going to keep 2, but they are all so pretty. Maybe I won't like one of them or something. The little pullets have developed bronze heads, so we'll keep those too. One of those might be a rooster. If so, it's got to go to the auction before I get attached.

Ok, that is a little red rooster to the left, the two pullets in the middle, and the little golden/buff rooster making sure his good side was to the camera! The rooster looks buff, but his mane (technically, its a shawl or hackles) is actually very golden. Isn't that black and white hen cute?


Keyboard the herd cat. The chickens kept walking away from me, so she got on the other side so they stayed put. She's probably just hinting she wants a treat, but hey, it worked! There's a little buff hen behind the mossy rock. Click on the pics to see better.



The pullets are getting quite bronze around the heads. The one in the back that is darker is a cockeral I think.


Hard to see, but I got both golden roosters and the red rooster in this shot, all 3 half-grown chicks and the buff hen. I didn't see the black hen that is the mother to the chicks, I hope she is all right. On a dark day with all this underbrush, they manage to disappear. The other shots were blurry or they ducked behind trees and all I got was tails. The colors in this shot are more true, they really are that bright! Technocolor chickens! I think I will make them a treehouse.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

This little Halloween cutie went home with my daughter's boyfriend, just in time for Halloween. His name is Dax, and if you look at those front feet, you'll see he has extra toes. His daddy is a Munchkin, and his mommy is a polydactyl siamese mix. He takes after his daddy in being verrrry mellow, and after his mommy in curiousity. My daughter and I were lucky enough to be present at his birth. He was the only one bawling and trying to tear off the sac before he was even all the way out, he was ready to face the world! Most of his siblings are white, and one is a tabby, so an all black kitten was a surprise. My daughter immediately got on her cell phone and informed her boyfriend that his kitten had been born! Luckily, he agreed. I'll probably have more pictures of this little guy as he grows.


Jasper went home last weekend with his new family, Judy and Hank. We weren't sure how his older sister, Amber, was going to like him, but she is behaving quite well. When she gets done with her bones, she lets him have them. He's so little still that he just pushes them around the floor. Chi, their domestic cat, is thrilled she has someone small enough to play with again. Little does she know that he will grow into a bigger kitty than Amber. He's a very gentle kitten. Of course, he hasn't reached his teens yet! Judy and Hank can't believe they are starting over again with a new kitten in just over a year. What can I say, caracals seem to be like potato chips, you can't have just one!

Another day, another cougar

I'm a big cougar fan. Not of any sports teams, but the cat, although the first time I saw an actual cougar, it was a college mascot.

I'm sure I'd feel different about a wild cougar living in my back yard, but ones raised with humans are a completely different beasty. Lately, I have been lucky enough to get to babysit one. When I first met him, he was only 57 days old. I've been fortunate enough to foster cougar cubs before, but not one this young. Also, this baby was born into a conservation educational program, and is going to an educational program. Their last cougar was in his twenties when he died, so I expect this little guy to have a long and happy life. He loves people, I spent the night with him cuddled on my chest, while the caracal kitten charged around, wearing the rest of the cats out. Finally, she cuddled on my chest too. Bliss.

He is a very sweet baby. Those big soft paws pat your face when he want to let you know how much he loves you. He gives kisses too, both nibbles and licking. Who can look into big blue eyes like those and not lose their heart? And below, look at those spots! You could look right at this baby in the wild and never even see a whisker.Thanks to my friend Yvonne, who barely blinked as I shoved various toothy and clawed critters into her arms so I could get photographs.

You can click on the pics to see them larger. Remember, all photos are copyrighted. That means if you want to use them, you have to get my permission. Don't worry, I'm pretty nice, so long as you ask!

Betrayed

Warning, this is an unhappy blog. It might even turn into a rant. I'm upset.

One of my animal babies has been donated to a zoo. What's more, a zoo with a overstock kill policy. That means they kill the overstock instead of releasing them into qualified private hands. They don't stop raising baby animals, because babies bring in the public and therefore the dollars. But if no other zoo wants them, they kill off the "surplus". Which means my baby's children will probably be killed, or worse, he may be. We don't sell to this zoo, or any other zoo with a kill policy.

I only work with breeders who truely care about the animals, that aren't in it for a buck. I guess this is pretty obvious since most the breeders I know not only aren't rich, but are barely making it. Animals, well maybe they are an addiction too, who knows. None of us have any vices, we can't afford them. But if we won the lotttery, it would all go on animals or animal related projects. We think we are rich already.

But I bottle fed this baby from 14 days old. Went through teething and worrying about his diet. This little guy really never had any problems, and exhibited a sense of humor by the time he was with me for a week. He loved us and people in general. I didn't want to give him up, so I was very relieved when he was bought by some nice people who lived not too far from me. I try to stay in contact with the buyers if at all possible. The breeder I work with mostly, takes a lot of time and effort to make sure her animals are placed in good homes. She has taken in enough rescues to know how tramatized an animal gets when jerked from it's home environment into a whole new world, even if that world is a comfortable one. Some never recover. She has a policy that she will always take back one of her babies.

But we were never given a chance. She found out by accident that the couple had moved and donated their pet to a zoo. Did they know about the kill policy? Probably not. But I thought I was friends with these people, I still get emails. Never did they mention they were moving or that they couldn't keep their pet anymore. I've visited their place, the husband was very attached and my baby had a lovely clean cage, tons of toys, and every sign of being loved. Two years, and never a word that he was anything but adored. I don't understand. I feel betrayed, worse, I feel the animal is betrayed. It was always understood if something happened, I would take him back. Now he's in a zoo. He's a breeder, which probably means he won't be handled much. He's used to being in a home, with dogs and a cat and humans that love him. He always remembered us when we went to visit, no matter how long in between. What is he thinking now? He got depressed before just when his people had to be out of town too long. We had to go check on him because he wasn't eating, he was fine once he knew he hadn't been abandoned. Does he think he is abandoned now?

I want to storm the zoo, which is another state completely, and demand my baby back. I want to know what was so awful that his owners gave him up without a word to any of us who raised him. I know it is niave to think this will never happen, but we do our best to keep it from happening. Especially when you think you can trust the people and that they are friends. I want to somehow let him know that this was never anything we wanted. Yes, people's lives change, often without their control, we understand that. That's why the breeder has the return policy. She doesn't want any of her animals to be surplus or need to be rescued. She doesn't do "trendy". I give my heart to every baby I raise. Some you remember for certain traits, and you miss them more when they are gone. There's a cougar somewhere down south named Camille we remember with all our hearts. My friend still gets updates on her, her picture is on the wall, it's been 7 years. I have a web friend that I love dearly, we met when she bought one of my bottle babies. One of my best friends I met because she and her husband bought a caracal kitten. This baby we remember for his sense of humor and sweet nature, sweet above and beyond the usual sweetness of his kind.

I know it isn't always going to be a happy ending. Some things can't be avoided. But this, this could have been.