Kritter Khronicles

Hummingbirds

2011-08-10T14:42:00.003-04:00

My hummingbirds finally showed up for the season. These are just a few of the shots I have taken of them. The top 2 are of the male who has claimed the feeder as "HIS" and he chases the girls off. So far I know for a fact I have 4, the male and 3 females. Today I had 3 sitting on the power lines in front of the house and a 4th one came to the feeder. They are so fascinating to watch.
I call the male Zippy because well he zips around really fast hehee
I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Long Overdue Update

2011-07-25T10:55:00.002-04:00

I haven't updated in a very long time with anything, and I need to quit doing that. But here goes....

Finally, after a year of trying....I caught momma kitty and got her spayed. So no more kittens thankfully. She is still taking care of these babies though even though she should be dried up of milk and should have weaned them. She has become a lot more calm too and is even being sweet and loving with her older children as well. It is absolutely adorable to see her with Lil Bit. They walk side by side, literally against each other with their faces touching, its the cutest thing I have ever seen and I want a picture so bad, but its hard to catch. I still have to get Lil Bit neutered, but after that all that is left are the little ones.

On a sad note... Rotten had developed an abscess on her neck and at first I just thought she was sick, as she was very very hot and slept for 12 hours straight without eating, drinking, or even getting up to see Boomer. So I took her to the vet and they found the abscess and doctored her up and she was so good with them being a feral kitty that only would let me touch her. I had to keep her in the house for a few days until it healed, but when it did she was asking to go out, and I would let her out for a while, then bring her back in and keep her in over night. Well one morning around 7am she was meowing at the door to go out and I let her out.....and I never saw her again. My heart is completely broken as she was the sweetest thing in the world and she was Boomer's cat, he looked around the yard for her in all of her favorite spots when he went out to potty for a long while. Eventually he quit looking for her. I am trying to believe that someone took her in, but you would think that they would see her shaved neck and know that someone else has been caring for her. I dont want to believe that she is dead, but how can I not.

Also, 2 of the little kittens have vanished as well. I don't know what has happened to them at all. Baby Bear, the gray one with no white on his face disappeared first, after momma kitty had taken the kittens away for a few days after I got her spayed, she only brought back 3 and he never came back with them. Then after a few weeks, Milk Dud, the black one with white on the mouth like he dipped his face in milk, disappeared and never came back. I dont know what happened to either one of them and I try not to think about it. There were 4 kittens in her first litter and 2 of them vanished as well, so I am just thinking that 4 were too much for her.

But i do know that caring for them all is too much for me and I am just glad that she is now spayed so i don't have to worry about anymore. It is too heart wrenching when one disappears. I am still hoping to find homes for them, but when they won't let anybody else pet them, and people want them already fixed, litter trained, and social and dont want to take the time to do anything with them theirselves, it makes it hard. But I keep hoping.

Baby MJ and Sweetheart (who has the shape of a heart on her side) are coming along just fine. MJ is a snuggle bug like crazy and very sweet, and Im slowly making progress with Sweetheart. Will post pictures soon.

New Kitten Pics

2011-06-09T13:29:00.004-04:00

I was finally able to get pictures of all 4 kittens. This is just one pictures of each kitten. There are more HERE. Its amazing what tuna will get a kitten to do hehee

This is the shyest of the bunch. But I love his little face. It looks like he dipped his little mouth in some milk. He doesn't have a name yet.

This little one I am calling MJ (Momma Junior) because he is very attached to his momma and he has the identical little white stripe between his eyes just like her. And i was able to pet him today when I gave him and Momma some tuna.

This little one is another extremely shy one. Haven't come up with a name for him yet either, but hoping something comes to me. Almost had one the first time I got a good look at his little face, almost looked like a little bear cub instead of a kitten.

And this is Two Tone, reminded me of a two tone car hehee He looks like somebody turned him upside down and dipped him in dark gray paint.
They are so tiny still, but I wish I could get my hands on them and find somewhere to take them and find them homes. But no place can or will help me except for animal control and all they want to do is kill them. So its up to me to figure something out on my own still. But I am determined to get Momma spayed this time somehow.

New Kittens

2011-05-31T23:56:00.003-04:00

Well, momma kitty brought her new kittens today to eat. I saw a white one with gray splotches and a gray and white one that looked like Pip Squeak, mostly gray with white feet and chin. Then a little bit later on, I went outside and there was the gray one with a little white playing in the drive way with a bug, and a dark gray one with white playing with a bug, so I was like oh no, there are 3 kittens....

Then I saw kitten feet under the truck, so I looked with the flash light and it was either another dark gray and white, or a black and white, which means that momma had 4 kittens this time.....that's all I need is 4 kittens. I'm already feeding the last 4 she brought me from 2 litters.

Unfortunately, none of the shelters will or can help me with these kittens and it's practically impossible for me to find them homes because everybody wants them already tame, litter trained and even already spayed/neutered and everything. They don't want to put any time into animals themselves, they want everything done for them already. And animal control definitely won't help, all they will do is kill them because they are feral.

But, I HAVE to get momma caught and fixed this time because I just can't keep going like this at all, especially with a psycho neighbor with her threats. I wouldn't put it past her to start poisoning the cats to get rid of them.

Anyway, I will hopefully get some pictures of the babies soon and get them posted for everybody, I wish I had my camera with me just a few minutes ago because I was able to get within a few feet of one of them because it thought if it hid behind the pole of the porch that I couldn't see him hehee

After I posted this, I went outside and the same little kitten was under the truck with Momma kitty, so I snapped this picture of him when he jumped in the wheel well of the truck. He has the same little stripe between his eyes that his momma has.

Most Precious Video You Will See

2011-05-28T23:47:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook page and then I posted it and now everybody is posting it...even folks that don't like cats because it is just too precious for words. This baby kitten is having a bad dream while taking a nap with momma and well, just watch to see what she does :)

Trudging Amongst The Rose Leaves

2011-04-18T21:10:00.002-04:00

I had gone outside to take some pictures of the rose bushes in the back yard earlier and just barely noticed this little critter amongst the leaves of one of the rose bushes. And I was determined to get a couple of shots of it. Most of the ladybugs I see around here are the tiny little red ones, and this was the first of the orange ones I have seen so far this year. I must say this little one was not very cooperative in letting me take the picture though, it wouldnt be still so it took me a while to get these shots hehee

New Kritter

2011-04-15T14:37:00.003-04:00

I have added a new kritter to my menagerie. Only reason I have added this one is because they are very very cheap to care for and so easy to care for as well. Not to mention I have missed having one in the house. The only reason i was going to ever get one again is if I found one that was different and unusual from the regular blues, reds, and yellow/purples that you see around, but up until yesterday, I had no luck finding such a fishie.

Until I stepped into the new pet store here in town called Pet Supermarket. They have my cat litter on sale pretty cheap and I had a coupon too so I went in and decided to check out the fishies as well, and of course they had all the regular colors, but then there was just one that stood out. He was teal and white, and oh so handsome. And I just had to have him.

So here he is, but he doesnt have a name yet, Im still working on that.

I have thought about Sharkie since my favorite NHL team is the San Jose Sharks and they wear teal, then I thought about Gorton for the fish sticks you buy in stores, but somebody said that might give him a complex hehee. So Im just going to watch him for a little bit and see what his personality is about and see what comes to me.

My Neighbors Pets

2011-04-10T14:27:00.005-04:00

I have known my neighbors since I was knee high to a grasshopper, and well I consider them an extension of my family, and their pets an extension of my pets. So I wanted to share pictures of their critters with you all as well.

This is Ginger. She is my baby girl. She is a Greater Swiss Mountain and she's about 14 years old now, going blind, but ya know she still plays like a puppy. She loves her tug rope and she bounces and yaps at ya when she hears you or sees your silhouette coming. I absolutely love this girl and she is something special. She's also funny too because if you give her a rawhide bone, she will go around the house whining with it in her mouth looking for a place to hide it...but she's whining because she knows you can see her and where she's hiding it hehee

When she finally hides it, about 6 months later, you will see her eating it LOL

Look at this pitiful face, she knows how to turn it on, but don't they all?? This is Sam. He is a mess. His previous owners lived out in the country with coyotes, hawks and other wild animals and would leave him outside 24/7...and he only weighs about 6lb. Its surprising that something didn't run off with him. Well, my neighbors fell in love with him when they could come visit them when they were out in the country and well they talked to his owners and well he became theirs. He isnt your typical chihuahua...he loves everybody and will make you laugh at every turn. Oh and I forgot to mention THEY SPOIL HIM ROTTEN!!!!!!

I just love those looks he gets on his face....and it doesnt take much to get him to make them hehee

This is Rex. He is a Red Lored Amazon and he's a brat. And they will agree with me on that. He says a few things, mainly hello to himself. He can make you laugh too though. He will laugh at you when you hurt yourself. But his favorite thing to do....draw blood.

He's trying to look innocent in this pic...don't let that fool ya.

And this special looking man was Cody. He was a Golden Retriever. His daddy found him while out on his job when he was a puppy. And he found him on Cody Rd. (before they renamed it) so hence his name. He was a one of a kind boy. He is no longer with us and I miss him and still cry when I think about him. Heck, Im crying right now as I type this and look at his picture.

Cody loved everybody and he could cheer you up in a heartbeat if you weren't feeling well. He was my boy, I loved him to death. I miss you big man.

Caterpillars

2011-04-07T14:56:00.003-04:00

Every day when I go outside recently there are a few of these forest tent caterpillars climbing up the house. They are neat looking little things, but I looked up what their moths look like and they are quite ugly hehee I have noticed that the ugly caterpillars make pretty moths and the pretty ones make ugly moths. The same doesn't always ring true for butterlies, but I have seen a few.

I have tried to get them up on a leaf to move them to a shrub, but they don't want to be moved, so I just leave them alone. Hope the kitties don't decide to "play" with them. But I got this picture of one of them and wanted to share it.

Silly Pup

2011-03-19T19:43:00.003-04:00

I declare if there could be any sillier of a pup, it would be Boomer hehee

Here are a few shots of him from his just being handsome to being goofy.

This is his favorite sleeping position, I catch him like this just about every night. All I can do is shake my head at him and laugh LOL

Look at this handsome boy....he was on patrol for any squirrels or birds that entered HIS yard. He had to make sure he could chase them all away and he was watching very very closely.
What a face....could anything be any cuter??? How could anybody resist that face????

Then....there's this shot I got today. I can't even look at it without laughing so hard. I had some chips out there with me and he wanted one, and when he wants something, even if its to go out to potty, he will beg. So I took out the camera, and a chip and this was the result LOL

Ya gotta love him.

I am still hoping to find Boomer a new home. He needs so much more exercise and playing than I can give him. I know he gets bored here. The outside cats won't play with him because he just chases them, and the inside cats are getting fed up with him. Not to mention I HATE having to keep him on a chain when he's outside by himself because of his fence jumping. I wish Columbus would build a dog park, if we had one of those here, I could take him there to play with other dogs and then maybe he would be happier and I could keep him, but that would be asking way too much of this city.

Kitty Update

2011-02-27T10:50:00.004-05:00

Well, lets see....Momma kitty hadn't been coming around much at all. I had only seen her like twice since she "dumped" Pip Squeak and Lil Bit with me. But I did see her 2 days in a row the other day. I need to catch her and get her spayed, but hard to do when she won't come around.

Then there is this girl in the picture below. She showed up one night and I coulda sworn it was Hissy Britches, but when I approached her, she ran and I couldnt understand why. Then I felt something rub against my leg and I look down and there's Hissy. She had a twin. The only difference is this cat is definitely older, an adult, and she is longer. She used to only come at night, but finally the other day, she was here in the daytime and I was able to find out that its a female, and she is extremely sweet, just very hungry. This was the best picture I could get of her.

Rotten and Hissy are doing well. They both LOVE Boomer to death, why I dont know though LOL Every time I take him out to go potty, they are both walking right along with him on the leash, jumping up to his face to get love. Its the funniest site, and it makes it hard to take him out to the yard when you got 2 cats all under foot.

And today, I could have strangled both of those cats, they were out in the yard playing with something and when I went to check it was a baby snake. They were literally tossing it in the air to each other, playing catch. When I went to try and rescue it from them, Rotten grabbed it and jumped the fence into the yard next door, so that was one critter I was unable to save from them. Now I know they are going to kill things, its in their nature....just so long as I don't have to see it and if I can rescue what they have caught, I will.

Then there's Pip Squeak and Lil Bit. Here are a couple of face shots I got today. They are so darn cute and fuzzy. They are so soft. They let me pet them and love on them and Pip even lets me pick him up and snuggle him. They both have extremely LOUD motors on them. I just wish they would let somebody else pet them so I could find them homes. They are both boys, so I am going to see about getting them neutered, but probably one at a time. Paws told me they would do it for $40 if I could tame them down, but they let me pet them, just nobody else, so guess I have to go with the other vet that said $50.

These two are something else and keep me giggling whenever I see them.

I just love Pip's little nose, at first I thought it was really dirty and I kept trying to scrape off the dirt hehee He kept getting frustrated with me, then I realized it wasnt dirt, his nose is just colored funny hehee

Well, thats about it for the kitty report.

Fatty P. Has Returned

2011-02-16T23:26:00.003-05:00

Fatty P. the possum had gotten trapped up in the chicken wire at the top of my fence one night last year around in like October, and I had to call animal control to come help me untangle him. He was looking so pitiful then. Even though he never tried to hurt the cats or anything and just came to eat catfood, I asked the animal control guy if he could just take him somewhere there were woods and drop him off so he wouldnt have to worry about that again....the guy was really rude and said no if I take him in, he will be put down. Why put him down?? He hadnt hurt anybody. That just ticked me off, so I told him to just let him go.

I hadnt seen Fatty P. for a few months then suddenly he returned. I knew it was him because of how he acted with the cats, but he was skin and bones. The time he had been gone he apparently wasnt able to come across a lot of food. He has plumped back up since he's been back thankfully, and tonight he went behind some stuff in my carport and I took the camera out and got this picture of him. He looks so sad and pitiful, and looks like he's been beaten up on really bad by something too. Hopefully the kitties will let him eat like usual and he can have his supper.

Warning: Too Sweet Of A Picture!!

2011-01-25T23:27:00.003-05:00

This picture could give you cavities its so sweet so be careful when viewing hehee

These babies are just precious for their own good. I was watching them play the other day and I was laughing so hard. I so wish I had a video camera where I could have recorded them. They were so funny.

And just tonight, I came home from being gone for a long while so the hood of my car was quite warm, and when I went to take Boomer out potty, both babies were up on the hood of the car huddled up together.

My plan to try and catch them to take them to the woman that is willing to work on socializing them and finding homes for them had failed. I was only able to catch one kitten, but the other one eluded me, and I was not going to separate them as their mother hadnt even weaned them yet and they are always together cept when Momma would go off with one and leave the other behind. So I couldnt do that to Lil Bit by taking Pip Squeak away.

So I had to come up with another plan, and that was to put a kennel carrier out there with some old towels and stuff in it and hope they start sleeping in it so one day I can sneak up behind it when they are in it, close the door and have them trapped. Then take them off to her. Well it worked, they are sleeping in it, and when I walk by they don't run, so when I can get with the lady on everything, I will be able to just close the door and take them away.

I will be extremely sad to see them go, but very happy to know they will have a good chance at happy lives. I should have done something like this with Rotten and Hissy, but I am pretty much stuck with those girls as they only let me pet them.

Ohhhh and I found out too by kitten exposure that both Lil Bit and Pip Squeak are boys. They let that be known hehee

Bunches Of Pictures

2010-12-30T14:32:00.004-05:00

Yep, there are a BUNCH of pictures here today. I went outside and Momma was out there with both Pip Squeak (the gray one) and Lil Bit (the black one) as they have so been named now. So I took the camera out there and went crazy hehee

Here is Momma as I call her. She was just sitting back watching her babies act goofy and silly :)

Here is Pip Squeak. Still don't know the sex of either kitten, but Ive been calling them he's since Hissy and Rotten are both girls. Here are a few pics I shot earlier while they were outside. I was shooting pics then suddenly they were gone hehee
This is my favorite picture that I took of Pip Squeak. Such a beautiful kitten.

Here is Lil Bit. He is completely black that I can tell, not even a speck of white like Hissy has. And as you can see in a couple of the pics, extremely shiny in the sun.

This picture cracks me up. As you can see in the back of my car, I have a stuffed possum (yes I do have a stuffed possum in my car) and this crazy kitten is trying to get to it through the glass.

And here they are attacking each other. I think its just the cutest thing hehee I was going to shoot a picture of Pip Squeak rolling around then suddenly WHAP!!!! he got jumped on hehee

If things go right, I will be contacting a local shelter next week to see if I can catch these 2 little ones if they will take them since they are still really small because Momma will be going in to get spayed the week after if I can trap her, before she has anymore kittens. So keep your fingers crossed. The only downfall to this whole thing is no more update pictures on the babies. I will miss them but hopefully they will find new homes.

Kitten Update

2010-12-22T13:22:00.004-05:00

Well, it seems that Momma kitty is trying to ween these little guys. Last night I went outside and the gray blob was here by himself, chowing down on food. About 10 minutes later Momma showed up without the other kitten. I had no idea where he was.

This morning, both kittens were here without Momma, but she showed up to eat, and now the black one is gone again and the gray one is snuggled into the dog house with the comforter in it looking so darn cute. I want to snuggle him so bad.

This fat little fuzz ball had me laughing so hard last night though. Rotten and Hissy were basically stalking him and well he had enough hehee He ran up on Hissy full force, then stopped dead in front of his face and bowed his little back up with all his hair straight up as if he was a huge big lion. It was the funniest thing I think I've seen them do.

On a bad note though, they seem to like the wheel wells of my car. So from now on when I go somewhere I have to pound all over my car to make sure they aren't in it anywhere. It would utterly kill me if something happened to one of them because of that. I never had to worry about it with Rotten and Hissy, it was like they knew, but these little ones are oblivious.

As for Momma, since she seems to be weening these little ones, I am going to get in touch with the organization that deals with feral cats and see if they will help me get her spayed before she pops out any other babies. There have been 2 males down here chasing after her (one of them was HUMONGOUS) and Im afraid she is already pregnant, so even if she is, I will ask them to abort the kittens and just not tell me. I don't think it would be humane of me to let her have yet another litter, because she is so tiny herself and I just can't afford to care for yet another litter. I know some won't agree with that, but its the best I can do with my resources and what I can do.

Merry Christmas From Some Critters

2010-12-19T23:05:00.001-05:00

New Babies Update

2010-12-16T14:48:00.004-05:00

After my first night of seeing the kittens here eating and feeding them tuna. I was able to pet the little gray one while he/she ate the tuna, but then Momma took them away and I didnt see them for about 4 days. I was really worried about them because of the frigid cold, but the past couple of days I have seen them around. This morning, I saw her with them across the street, they were following her and she did something to make them stay inside of a cedar tree there across the street (would love to know how they do that hehee) and she came to eat.

But just a little bit ago, I took Boomer out to go potty and looked up in the back of the truck and this is what I saw. It was the most precious site I have seen in ages. Momma and her 2 new babies curled up together. So I ran in and got the camera, praying they would still be there and sure enough they were. So I took out some more tuna and fed it to them. Nothing like having 5 cats trying to get tuna from you at once hehee

And this time I was able to pet both kittens. So as long as they keep coming around, I am hoping I will be able to pet them more and get them socialized quicker than I did with Rotten and somewhat with Hissy.

This here little one I am going to call GG for now. And GG is short for Gray Ghost. Cuz with these kittens, one second they are there, and the next they are gone. And since I don't know their sex yet, these names can go for either boys or girls.

And this little lump of fluff I am calling BG, short for Black Ghost. Of course, I know these names will change a couple of times until the perfect ones come along like they did with the other kittens.

Oh and I must say, in the 4 days that I didnt see them, they have grown a LOT.

Gray Kitten

2010-12-12T11:08:00.002-05:00

I was finally able to get a picture of the little gray fat lump kitten closer up. This one is an explorer and not scared of much. I have a feeling this one is going to get itself into some trouble.

Last night I went outside and this little fella was sitting under the front tire of my dad's old ugly truck just watching me, didnt even try to run. So I came in and got some tuna and boy those two kittens went crazy hehee

I threw the tuna a little closer to me to where they were standing right under me eating it. The little black one was too scared and kept running off, but the gray one didnt care, he stayed and ate so I reached down and pet him. He wasnt happy of course, growling at me the whole time hehee but he didnt run and didnt try to make my hand a pin cushion either. But he is definitely a fat little thing hehee Momma is taking very good care of them.

New Babies

2010-12-09T19:00:00.003-05:00

Well, Momma Kitty has officially brought her 2 new babies to the Stray Diner hehee. I hadnt seen them since my stupid neighbor scared her into moving them from under her shed over a week or so ago. Earlier today, I heard some hissing and growling going on outside so i went out to see what was going on, and there was the gray and white one...a fat little lump of a kitten. But it took off so fast I couldnt get a good look.

But tonight, there they were, plain as day. I tried getting pictures, but this was the only one that turned out. This is of the black one, he/she is just as much a fat lump as the gray one hehee and just as cute. I was shocked however that they both came within a few feet of me without running off. I stood very still throwing some food at them and talking very softly to them. Then an idiot from the neighborhood with a big loud car came by and they took off.

But here is the black kitten and as soon as I can get more pictures, I will get them posted. :) Now to just come up with more names and work on homes double time and to get momma spayed soon.

The Babies Are Growing Up

2010-11-23T22:11:00.003-05:00

A few months ago these 2 tiny, skinny kittens showed up with their momma nearby. Momma kitty would come eat some food and once in a while you would see 2 black specks running behind following her. Then one day, she brought them here for me to feed as she was moving onto another litter she would soon have.

Here are 2 pictures I took of Rotten (formerly Flotsam) and Hissy Britches (formerly Jetsam) when they were still little and skinny and I was still trying to get them to let me pet them...even before Rotten was spoiled rotten. They were so tiny and cute.

And this picture, I took today on Nov. 23, 2010, the day after they were both spayed and had their shots. They were acting like nothing ever happened. Rotten is still rotten, loving all over me when I sat with her for a while, she even climbed up on my shoulder and was rubbing her cheek on my cheek, and Hissy is still hissing at everything, so all is well with the world. But my goodness, look how they have grown, they arent the little bitty babies anymore.

And here is Momma kitty. She has 2 new babies, I saw them this morning for the first time closer up. One is a tiny gray and white kitten, the other is a fat lump of a black and white kitten just like Rotten. But thanks to neighbors not leaving them alone, Momma keeps moving them around and Im so afraid something is going to happen to them. I just wish she would go ahead and bring them here to my house and be done with it. Once she weens these guys, I will be seeing about trapping her and getting her spayed so she can't pop out anymore since the neighbors don't deem it necessary to neuter their cats. Hopefully one day soon I will have pictures of the new kittens, but until then, this is the update for now.

Kittens Everywhere

2010-11-18T13:42:00.002-05:00

Just an update on everybody. Hissy Britches (the black one who was previously known as Jetsam) is doing fine. I still can't pet her (yep I believe he is a she, but will find out for sure Monday). But she follows me around everywhere I go outside like she wants attention but is still afraid to get it. I did lay my hands on her yesterday for a second, and she found a way to get away from me, but I did touch her.
Rotten (the bl/wh one who was previously known as Flotsam) is living up to her new name...she is completely rotten. She keeps trying to sneak into the house when I go outside, but she doesnt stay long becuase the other cats end up hissing at her and scaring her back. Even Hissy has tried to come in a time or two. And she is still very much in love with Boomer (why I'll never know LOL).

And well, momma kitty has 2 new babies for sure. I havent seen them yet, but my next door neighbor says they are living at the house on the other side of him thats empty. I knew she had moved them over there not long after the day I saw her carrying one. And she comes every day to eat, so Im thinking that before long she will bring them here "for dinner" too. My neighbor says that one of them is very fat and is a total pig (momma killed a squirrel for them the other day) and the other one is tiny and thin. I may take some food over there for them in the next day or so.

Once momma has weened these babies I am going to see about getting her spayed so she can't throw out anymore babies. We don't need a whole colony of cats on the street here. There is a wonderful organization here in town that works with people with feral cats and I will give them a call and see if they will work with me on her.

Anyway, hoping to get some new pics of Hissy and Rotten soon, and if Im lucky some pics of the new babies to show you all, but thats whats going on for now.

Hide & Seek

2010-11-09T17:41:00.004-05:00

I never thought I'd see the day when a once feral kitten was "in love" with a nutty dog LOL But here it is. I went out earlier this afternoon with Boomer and took some shots of the "love birds" and their hide and seek game. Here is Boomer and now named Goofy Britches (aka Flotsam).

I Loves My Boomer (I so wish this one had come out clearer)

Hi, Can I Chase Doggy Now?

Haha Doggy Catch Me If You Can Or Dare!!

Where Did That Pesky Lil Cat Go??

HA!!!!! I Found You!!!!!!!

These two crack me up every day, and watching them just makes me laugh. And poor little Hissy Britches wants to play with Boomer so bad, but when he tries Boomer chases him, and it scares him, so his view of it all today was pooeeyy let them make fools of themselves, I'll just lay here and be cute.

Boomer Has A Buddy

2010-10-26T16:23:00.002-04:00

Ok so since the kittens have made my yard their "home" I have had to take Boomer out on the leash to go potty. And since he thinks kitty cats are chew toys, I have to make sure both the kittens and momma kitty are not in the back yard before I let him loose to go potty. Well, anymore, a certain little Flotsam goes head butts Boomer's chin with every step he takes. She absolutely LOVES him. She even ignores me to get attention from him. And now that she likes him, he wants nothing to do with her. He looks around for Hissy Britches (the black kitten), because he still hates everybody lol

But I was determined to get a picture of Flotsam loving on Boomer and I got the perfect shot just a few minutes ago and here it is. She is something else I tell ya. And poor Boomer keeps ignoring her and she just keeps trying to get all the lovings she can from him.

Silly Biscuit

2010-10-18T23:10:00.003-04:00

Ok so, I put a sheet over the recliner cuz well its the animal's "bed" and somehow Biscuit found his way under that sheet. I peeked under the sheet and this is what I found. He never even moved when the flash went off.

What a crazy cat.

Slithery Rescue & Kitten Pics

2010-10-11T18:32:00.006-04:00

Well yesterday, I looked out the window and the kittens were acting funny. So I stepped outside to see what they were up to. And they were both standing over a snake only about 12 inches long. I thought it was a baby and so I shooed them away from it and got a container that I had out there and put next to him. Not sure why, maybe he somehow knew I was trying to help him but he slithered right into the container. I knew he wasnt poisonous by looking at his head (and watching Billy the Exterminator hehee) but I was curious as to what he was and his markings were neat, so I brought him in and took a few pictures of him.

After doing some searching on Google, I found that he is just a commeon brown snake. Such a bland name for a neatly marked little guy. And come to find out as well, this little 1 foot snake is not a baby after all, but a full grown adult. So after the photo shoot and finding out a little more about him, I took him to the back of my back yard away from the kittens and released him.

Here is a picture of the snake.

And here are a few new pics that I took of the kittens just a few minutes ago :)
And Flotsam (bl/wh one) still needs a good home. I am still the only one that can pet her, but it took less than a week and some tuna before she warmed up to me, so I know it wont take any time for her to warm up to someone else.
Her morning routine is...when I go out there to give them food, she won't eat until I sit down in the rocking chair and snuggle and pet her for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. When she has had enough, she jumps down and goes to eat. Crazy little kitty.

And little Hissy Britches that he is now called hehee. He still won't let me touch him. But he does come to the porch when I come outside if he is around. And he doesnt hiss at me as much. I think if I found Flotsam a new home to where I could spend more time with just him, he would warm up eventually too.

I have set up Boomer's old dog house with a big plushy comforter in it and every night they are snuggled up together in it. Its so cute to see 2 small kittens in a giant dog house hehee

Some Funny Kitten Pics

2010-10-04T17:27:00.003-04:00

Ok so I go outside with my camera wanting to get some really cute updated pics of the kittens and well this is what I get hehee

This is what happens when a kitten jumps up at the camera just as you click it to take her picture LOL

This is what you get when kitten is under the chair you are sitting in and wont come out so you can get the picture right side up hehee (yes this was taken upside down)

And this is the look of satisfaction after downing some turkey. Of course he wouldnt come any closer to me so I couldnt get many more pics of him. But thought this one turned out great.

Kittens, Kittens And More Kittens

2010-09-20T19:25:00.005-04:00

I went outside this evening to feed the kittens some tuna and took the camera with me. As soon as I called them, the kittens came a running. They were hungry for some tuna. I sat down on my usual spot and Flotsam came running up like she always does. Jetsam stayed back being shy. But as you can see by one of the pictures, he/she finally took tuna from my hand, which is a first and he's never done before.

I also have been able to pet Flotsam even after she has eaten, and caught her trying to keep from purring while I was petting her, but it wasnt working. Im wearing them down slowly hehee and can't wait until I am able to handle them. I know they both have worms as you can see how thin they are, but no veterinarian will give me anything for worms until I can bring them in. So getting weight on them won't happen until they are caught.

But progress is being made slowly with them both and I am happy that they are beginning to trust me.

Enjoy the pictures and there will be more updates and pictures to come.

More Kitten Progress

2010-09-16T14:03:00.003-04:00

This is what happens when a kitten gets a full tummy of tuna hehee

This is Flotsam and I have made a lot more progress with him than I have with Jetsam or momma kitty.

For the past 3-4 days I have sat out on the steps with some tuna and she has come up on the steps right next to me, taken tuna from my hands and I went from being able to touch her to being able to actually pet her. I cant just reach out and pet her yet, but today, not only was I able to pet her some, she stayed on the porch and played with me some and licked my fingers.

We played for quite a while, and she rolled over on her back a few times being silly and I was able to find out that she is a she.

I am hoping that soon I will be able to hold her, but Im being impatient and wanting to hold her now hehee but I know I must let her make up her mind when she is ready.

Jetsam, unfortunately, has regressed back to completely feral. I was making huge progress with him, but now he acts completely scared again. I do not know what happened with him to make him like that. And momma kitty only comes in the middle of the night to eat, so my progress with her is gone as well. I think she might have another litter of kittens somewhere, so I will just leave her be for now. I would love to get her caught and spayed before she gets pregnant again.

Well, thats an update for now, only time will tell what will happen next.

Stray Kitty Progress & First Kitten Contact

2010-09-01T21:07:00.004-04:00

Tonight was a break through I believe. For the first time since I have been caring for the kittens and momma, the kittens came when I called them. Flotsam came from one direction, got half way through my yard and Boomer went crazy in the window and scared him off. I was so mad, I came in and locked him up so he couldnt get in the window.

While I was trying to call Flotsam back, I heard a "mewww" and looked over to see Jetsam sitting there as if he was saying "hello Im right here". It was so cute, solid black kitty with little pink mouth mewwing at me. He came over and ate a few bites and then momma came, she has weened the babies and wants nothing to do with them at all, so she hisses if they are around. I was sitting on the porch in my chair and she walked right over to the bottom step and sat there just looking up at me. You could see it in her face that she wanted some lovin but was afraid to get it still. So I snapped this picture below.

My "first contact" was with Jetsam. Momma had left and Flotsam showed up to eat. I had opened a spare can of tuna I had and was sitting on the step with my foot out towards the edge some (and I was wearing flip flops). I started throwing pieces of tuna to them and working them towards the steps. They were right in front of me eating the tuna pieces and I held the bowl down low so they could see and smell the tuna.

Flotsam didnt want to come closer, but Jetsam came around to the side of the steps and stepped up and Im thinking that he is going to come to the bowl... well I was wrong...hehee He saw the tip of my toe on my flip flop and thought it was a piece of tuna and so suddenly I feel little teeth chomp down on my toe...not hard mind you, but it made me laugh out loud and I scared the poor dear. But they came back and ate the rest of the tuna, then got out in the grass and started play fighting and chasing bugs. It was the cutest site.

Little Flotsam is still more skiddish than the other 2, but Im working on him. I want to be able to catch them and socialize them and find them homes before they get hit by a car or the hawk gets them. He has been hanging around a lot more lately. Its just a matter of time, I will miss them but I would rather see them in a good home where I will never see them again than to find them dead on the road.

Happy Birthday Boomer!!!!

2010-09-01T17:31:00.003-04:00

Two years ago today, my dad brought this scraggly pup to my house to find him a home because he had been dumped up at their house and with the fear of him being hit by a car, he came here. Well 2 years later and he is still here and ROTTEN to the core.

He is a really good dog and has some strange tendencies, like chewing on Biscuit and thinking he is a cat himself.

I got him a tug-a-war rope as a gift, but he doesnt know how to properly play it yet, so gonna have to work with him, but he likes his toy.

Happy Birthday baby boy!!!!!!!!!!

Abandoned & Neglected

2010-08-04T12:24:00.004-04:00

Some people had moved into a house sort of across the street, well I can see the back of the house from my front porch. Well they moved in with a few cats and were evicted and left behind this precious girl and her 2 remaining babies. She had 4 kittens but 2 have disappeared. Im afraid the hawk might have gotten them. But I can't believe that these people moved out and left her behind. And these poor things are so skinny so guess who is feeding them?? Yep me...like I need the added burden of more kitties but I cant stand to see them starve because people are so cruel. But here is a shot of Momma with the babies on the deck of the house next door.

And here are the babies in a closer up shot. Arent they just the cutest? Im trying not to name them because I know what happens when you do that. I am hoping to be able to get them and tame them down and find homes for them.

Here is the bigger kitten, I love the markings on his face. I thought he matched his momma perfectly until I got a good look at them today.

Here is the little one, he is real tiny and skinny. They both act like they are starving, so of course I put water and food out for them. Even momma is really tiny. She is about the size of a 6-7 month old kitten herself.

Here is momma peering at me when I brought them some water. She is so cute and little and very curious about what I am doing. She used to run at the first site of me, but she has gotten to where she doesnt do that anymore and will even head towards me if she knows I have something for her and want to help her.

Here is momma peering at me over the babies eating. Almost like she is keeping a watchful eye over her babies. She is a really good mother.

Two Birthdays

2010-07-30T09:47:00.002-04:00

Two of my kitties have had birthdays this past week, firstly was Rio. Eight years ago July 20th, I brought home a fat white fuzzball. I was going through some pictures I found the other day and actually found this picture of him when he was only 3 months old. Hard to believe he turned into a 15lb cotton ball with teeth. He was always a touch me not kitty, only coming to you when he wanted attention then only staying for a moment. Then in 2005, I almost lost him. He got very sick, quit eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, had lost 8lbs. He was in the "hospital" for over a week and the vet still wasnt sure he would pull through. He said a lot of times when cats quit eating, they sometimes never start again. But the day I brought Rio home, he came out of the carrier and went straight to the food bowl, surprising everyone.
And well he is back up to 15lbs and has become a different cat now, he is lovey dovey and whenever I am sitting on the couch to watch TV, he runs up and lays right next to me for the longest time, which none of the other cats do, cept Diamond once in a while (but he usually wants something lol)

Here is Rio at 3 months and also as an adult, what a change.

And then there is Pooter. She turned 4 on July 28th. Its hard to believe its been 4 years since I walked into that shelter and a lady walked in all upset because she had found 12 kittens and 3 adult cats abandoned in a house with no food or water. They were only about 4 weeks old and were too young to adopt out, and they said that they will need foster homes for at least 5 weeks. I opened my big mouth and said I would foster one. I thought I would get to choose the kitten that I brought home, but they chose one. Just a scraggly little calico. I brought her home and Diamond took her to immediately, bathing her all the time, playing with her and following her around. And she eventually got to where if I went outside she would holler up a storm (kinda what Biscuit does now).

Well about a week after I had her here, I was looking at her markings along her back, she is mostly black on her back with orange splotches from her tail on up, and I got to looking closer and about fell out of my chair. The markings on her back, spelled my name. Now of course it wasn't perfect like someone had written it with a pen, but I could see it. So I called up my dad in a hurry and told him he HAD to bring his camera because I needed pictures of this, nobody was going to believe me LOL

Almost everyone who ever saw her back, was able to see what I saw. I took her back to the shelter for her shots and a check up and showed them her back and they were just as much in shock as I was. Out of 12 kittens, the one that they chose for me, was marked for me. Everyone said it was fate, and that she was destined to be mine, so with the help of my dad and stepmom, I adopted her on Sept. 11, 2006, but I consider her birthday the day she came home with me.

Here is a picture of her the day I brought her home, one of her as a grown up and the 2 pictures showing her back and her back again but I outlined where I see my name. Hopefully you see it as well.

Something Different & Nightly Visitor

2010-07-09T13:21:00.004-04:00

I went out the door to take Boomer to go potty and saw something I thought I would never see on my bird feeder.... a red headed woodpecker. I didnt think they ever visited bird feeders but sure enough there he was, big bright red head, everything.

But of course I didnt have my camera, and he took off too quick to get a picture of him. But Im hoping he will come back and I can get one of him to show you.

And every night underneath my window AC, this little guy builds a nice pretty big web for the night. Im waiting for the night when he spans his web across there and attaches it to my car, but so far he has kept it out of the way. Almost like he knows we go through there when taking the dog out to potty, so he keeps his web out of the way. I am believing that he is an orb weaving spider, but have put in a question on a good website I use for identifying critters called Whats That Bug? and hopefully they will give me an answer if Im right.

Here is a shot of his back and his belly...kinda neat looking isnt he? I have named him Harold since he's here every night.

Phoebe Cam

2010-06-22T12:47:00.003-04:00

You are probably sitting there thinking to yourself, what in the world is Phoebe cam? Well, I will tell you. One day earlier this summer, I happened to visit a website called UStream.tv. It is where people set up web cams where you can watch anything from puppies, wildlife to people doing stupid stuff. And I happened upon a barn owl cam with some eggs, and people were talking about a hummingbird cam with a hummingbird named Phoebe. Well since I love hummingbirds, I had to check it out....and I have been hooked ever since.

Right now, the camera is down as the babies have flown the coop so to speak, but will be back up again in October when the next hummingbird baby season begins.

When I came into this cam to watch, there is also a chat room with some of the best people you would ever want to meet. I wouldnt trade any of them for the world. We have all laughed, cried, and had every other emotion there is together with these little birds. We are like a family spread out all over the globe. You should come visit us. Here is the link... http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam

One of our moderators that help keep the room going smoothly has written an absolutely wonderful poem that sums up this past entire season with Phoebe and her babies and she has given me permission to post it here for you all to read.

PHOEBE

I was looking for something
Not knowing quite why
Didn’t know where to look,
Or even where I should try

Then I stumbled across
A sweet little bird
Phoebe is her name
And a bond had occurred

I don’t know what it was
About this little one
But she opened my heart
And many friendships had begun

She’d had a bad season
With problems and trials
She’d brought many together
From thousands of miles.

Such a tiny bird
With a heart so big
And the home she had built
On a tiny little twig

But she worked so hard
While building her nest
To be able to witness
we felt so blessed

Then finally it came
The day we all waited for
Eggs the size of tic tacs
And we’d sleep no more

We watched and we worried
As time seemed to crawl
We waited and chatted
Telling stories and all

And the more we talked
The closer we grew
And the numbers increased
And we needed more blue!

And we watched and we waited
For something to crack
All the time hoping there’d not be
Another lizard attack

And then it happened
One beautiful morn
In the blink of an eye
Little Hope was born

She was in a big hurry
There is no doubt
With one crack of the egg
Little Hope was out

The next evening as we watched
Much to our surprise
Little Hoku came knocking
Right before our eyes

And the viewers were captivated
No one could leave
These two little babies
Were too much to believe

We had waited so long
For a successful clutch
To see them in their nest
Was almost too much

The love in our hearts
Just seemed to grow,
For these three little birds
And the new friends we know

As the babies got bigger
Our hearts grew as well
Then a crow flew in
And little Hoku fell

And hope disappeared
It looked like she flew
But where she could be
Nobody knew

Pungh rushed home from work
To appease our dismay
He found little Hoku
To a big collective "Yay!"

Then Pungh looked for hours
But to no avail
Little Hope was still missing
And still somewhat frail

Now all we could do
Was play the waiting game
And try to be positive
After all "Hope" is her name

So we focused on Hoku
Watching her grow
And holding our breath
While we yelled "stupid crow!"

And Hoku was strong
And before our eyes
Our Hoku was practicing
Wingercize!

And the stronger she got
The excitement grew higher
We all knew that soon
She would be a great flyer

And just as we thought
The day came too soon
And our sweet Hoku fledged
On the 2nd of June

We watched as she learned
From the best of all teachers
For our precious Phoebe
Is one of God’s greatest creatures

And as our journey was ending
And our sightings grew few
We were blessed with a miracle
And our dreams had come true

For up in the yucca
Pungh noticed a third
Perched high on the plant
It was another young bird

And we all were ecstatic
Because each of us knew
That our Hope had made it
And our season was through.

Some great friendships were made
And the good times together
And the love that we shared
We’ll remember forever.

Kathy S Blackley (kjobob)
June 2010

My Little Ethel

2010-06-02T11:18:00.003-04:00

I was sitting here this morning watching a baby hummingbird online that is getting ready to leave the nest when I heard a God awful scream come from the cage, I looked up and Ethel was in the bottom of the cage. I ran to her and by the time I put my hand in there to her, she was gone. I dont know what I could have done or not done for her to die so young. February had only been a year since I had her so she was only about 1 1/2 years old.

She never really grew to full size. Fred was smaller than her when I got him, but he was almost twice her size by this time. So I dont know if that had something to do with it. I just know Im heartbroken and dont think I could handle losing anymore pets. I have lost too many over the past year and feel like maybe Im just not meant to have them.

Poor Fred is all alone now. I was even thinking of getting rid of him so I wouldnt have to go through this again, but I cant do that to him, he has been through enough. Maybe I will work on trying to tame him down.

R.I.P. Ethel

February 27, 2009 - June 2, 2010

Small Visitor

2010-05-28T16:01:00.003-04:00

I went outside to walk Boomer and there were a bunch of dragonflies all over the place. They kept landing on the antenae of the car and truck, so I ran in and got my camera. It took a while to get this shot, because they didnt want to cooperate with me, but I finally got it. They are such neat little critters.

Tufted Titmouse

2010-05-03T18:47:00.002-04:00

I have tried for 2 years to get a picture of the tufted titmouse that comes around. Last year I only saw him twice and he was so fast I couldnt get a picture, then this year he came around to get twigs and left out animal hair for its nest and I was afraid to move. But today, after the rain left, I was sitting outside with my camera so I could get a picture of the soaked chickadee (he looked funny all soaking wet), and suddenly there was the titmouse sitting on the feeder. And next thing I knew, I had a picture. I was so excited and Im so glad it came out so well. I did get a picture of the chickadee, but only as he was taking off from the feeder, but it still looks kind of neat.

Happy Birthday Biscuit!!!!!!

2010-05-03T18:36:00.003-04:00

One year ago today, little Biscuit came into my life. You can read his story by going back to the beginning of the blog here at this Post. Its hard to believe that it has been a year already. He is something else thats for sure.

He does not like for me to leave him to go outside, he will run to different windows looking out until he finds me, and he sleeps at my feet when im watching TV and has to follow me into the bathroom and kitchen whenever I go in the rooms (but so do all the other animals as well LOL)

Here is Biscuit the day I found him...he looks so scared and sad.

And this is Biscuit today...isnt he handsome? And boy has he changed too.

Bad Day Turned Good

2010-04-19T20:25:00.002-04:00

The day started out pretty bad as far as the yard birds went. I was in the kitchen washing some dishes and I looked out the window in time to see a HUGE shadow go overhead. Usually I go outside when I see or hear any sign of the hawk that lives near here, but I had my hands in the sink full of soapy water, so I didnt go out. And because of that, one of my birds became his prey.
At first I thought it was the mate to the brown headed cowbird thats out here, as he was out there acting like he was calling for her, but there was no answer. The feathers that were left behind seemed too light to be hers. I did see her later in the afternoon at the feeder so was relieved it wasn't her, but I do believe that it was either a dove or mockingbird that he took. It saddens me as I enjoy all of my birds and hate to even think of a hawk taking any of them.

But later on the day turned into awesome. Last summer, only twice did I see a tufted titmouse and the moment it sensed any movement around, it was gone. I never was able to even get a picture of it. Well earlier this evening, I was sitting on my front porch, reading a book and watching the birds. My chickadees were out there fussing and grabbing seed and the cardinals were hopping around, as were the sparrows, when suddenly onto the feeder, came a titmouse. I froze immediately and held my breath, I was so afraid it would run off. After a second it jumped down onto the ground, ate a couple of seeds, then flew up to the railing to my steps and sat there looking at me for a minute. Then it jumped down to the bottom part of the rail and looked around then up at me, then jumped to the door mat in front of my front door, and started gathering dog and cat hair that had gotten tracked from in here and got stuck to the mat, and twigs and everything else he could find to take back to his nest.

It was just the neatest thing in the world and of course I had no camera on hand because I wasnt expecting that kind of visitor for sure. I am hoping he will come back again and since he knows I wont hurt him will let me get a picture this time...here's to hoping.

Some New Stuff

2010-04-14T18:17:00.005-04:00

Well firstly, I have finally named my parakeets properly after all this time. Since they both bicker quite often and then the next second lovey dovey, I have decided to name them Fred and Ethel, after the pair on I Love Lucy. They act exactly like them and it fits them perfectly. Fred is the one in the back, Ethel is the one in the front.

Secondly, I have a chipmunk living in a hole in the lilies by front porch. He's so darn cute. I bought a bag of peanuts, so Im going to see if he likes them. If not I'll try some sunflower seeds. But hopefully one day I can get a picture of him as well.

And thirdly, I have seen 2 types of birds that I have never seen before out here in the yard. One of them I wish would go away because he keeps trying to scare off my other birds. If he would share, I wouldnt mind. It is a brown headed cowbird and his mate. The other is one Im extremely excited about, he is an indigo bunting. I am so hoping to get a better picture of him if he comes to the feeder when Im outside. Im going to keep trying, but here is a picture of each of the birds. There have been a few species that I have never seen before until I started feeding birds and its so neat and exciting. Now if just my hummingbirds will come back.

Indigo Bunting

Brown Headed Cowbird

Two New Birds

2010-03-14T13:24:00.002-04:00

I have been feeding the birds outside for almost a year now and this past week I have seen 2 types of birds I have never seen here before. Last week I saw a little black bird out there that really looked like it had a hurt wing, but come to find out it was a yellow stripe, and upon closer inspection of the bird, realized that it was a red winged black bird. Just the one, and he is still hanging around. He is very flighty so I havent been able to get a picture of him yet, but still hoping to.

Then in the past couple of days, more little black birds showed up and they were catbirds, and if Im not mistaken folks have said they are a nuisance. They were only here for one day, cleaned out my feeder and left and I havent seen them since. But I had never seen a catbird before so it was a neat experience, nuisances or otherwise. And again, they took off if I even got close to trying to take pictures of them.

And of course I still have all of my other birds hanging around, especially the sparrows, and the purple finches showed up for the cold weather too. The sparrows are eating me out of house and home, but after they saved 2 of my azalia bushes from the azalia worms (it was a buffet for them lol) I dont mind them hanging out and eating.

R.I.P. Dixie

2010-03-03T22:09:00.004-05:00

In 2005, the neighbors in the house next door moved out of their house. I didnt realize until about a week later that they had left someone behind. I heard a strange banging noise coming from outside. So I went out to see what was going on. Just as I stepped out the door, I looked up at the window of the house next door in time to see their dog Dixie running full speed and slamming her head into the window trying to break it to get out. Luckily it was plexi-glass and it only cracked and didnt hurt her at all.

They had moved out and left her behind, only to come by once a day to feed her and let her out. When they came by that day, I told them what I saw and offered to care for her as long as they provided her food and medical care until he moved to a place where he could take her back again. She was 11 years old and he had had her since she was a puppy (got her free from a yard sale she was the only cream colored puppy, the others were black). So you would think he would do anything to get her back. His bringing food and/or money for food for her lasted about 2 months, he wouldnt even go to the local Humane Society and explain the situation, they were really good about helping people out with dog food when they needed it. So I ended up having to do it myself.

Well about a month goes by and he hadnt even come to see her, then he shows up one day, no food, no money for food still, then another month goes by and he doesnt come around. Then he shows up one day with his son, they spend some time with her in the back yard, then when he leaves....I never see him again.

By this time I was in love with her and she had stolen my heart. He had told me that she hated cats and would kill them, so I was afraid to bring her in the house with my Diamond and Rio. But she was 11 years old and I couldnt stand seeing her out there when it was cold. At night I would bring her in and then take her back out in the daytime. Eventually, she became a complete inside dog because she was housebroken. And she was NO cat killer. Her and Diamond became fast, very close friends.

Dixie came to be part of my family Nov. 2, 2005 and went to Rainbow Bridge today March 3, 2010 at the age of 15 1/2. She was a wonderful dog and I will miss her more than words can say.

I remember the times we would play fetch in the back yard, she loved to chase a ball, and sometimes she would even want me to play fetch with her here in the house. About 3 years ago or so, a black and white cat showed up and never left, Dixie and Jinx (as I came to call him) would chase each other around an azalia bush in the back yard, it was so funny to watch. And of course the baths she would give to Diamond. I always knew when she had given him one, because he would come to me and his head would be soaked with Dixie drool.

She so loved to go for car rides. I would look at her and say wanna go for a ride? And she would get so excited. I would let her out the door and she would run straight to the car and sit by the back door until I opened it and in she would jump. Going to the park was something she always enjoyed.

She did have her little quirks that drove me up the wall though, like every time I would go into the kitchen to cook a meal, and needed to get to the fridge...guess who was in the way laying right in front of the door? Yep, Dixie was. And I would have to move her. She loved to lay right in your path, so you had to move her or step over or around her. Guess it was her way of saying here I am you will always know Im around.

There are so many other things I could say about her and remember about her. She will be so missed by not only me but everyone who knew her. Boomer has already looked for her. It is so quiet here in the house. All of the animals are just not acting like they usually do, not even the parakeets. Maybe one day we will all feel normal again.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my Dixie girl. I love you and miss you girl.

Lucky Squirrel

2010-01-26T20:27:00.002-05:00

I went to the park today for a little bit to feed the ducks and hopefully take some pictures. We were standing under a dead hollowed out tree feeding the geese and there was this little squirrel that kept coming up for some bread. He was up in the top of that dead tree when he suddenly let out a blood curdling scream and we look up to see a red tail hawk land on the top of it.
I just knew that he had gotten that little squirrel, but when he took off he didnt have anything in his clutches. I had walked back from the tree to try and take a picture of the hawk but he took off before I could. Then I noticed a hole in the tree and peering out from that hole was the little squirrel, scared to death. He had survived to bug people for bread another day.
I was so happy that he made it, since I had just fed the little guy, it would have broke my heart to know he had gotten killed.

Last Saturday though, one of my mockingbirds that has always been here, didnt fare too well. My outside birds were on the feeder fighting with each other over who gets what perch, then suddenly they all let out this awful scream and took off. When I looked out, there was a huge red shouldered hawk in the middle of my yard with a mockingbird in his clutches. It was so saddening. I have stopped putting out food for the birds because I dont want to offer up a buffet for the hawk. Once he is gone (which I dont know if that will happen) I will put food out again.

Its Been A While

2009-12-05T09:52:00.002-05:00

It has been a long while since I last posted, and for anyone that does actually look here for updates, stories, pictures and more, I apologize for that.

It was a long, rough summer and I am hoping to be able to put up new stuff soon. I have new pictures and even some stories to tell, so keep an eye out :)

New Birds

2009-10-09T15:41:00.002-04:00

I was in my kitchen getting something to drink and I heard the strangest noise coming from outside. And just on the corner of my laundry room was this bird I had never seen before in my life. Then suddenly there were 2 of them. They were making this strange noise that sounded like they were saying "repeat" or something I couldnt figure it out. But with the help of a wonderful site online that I use and my bird books, I finally figured out what they were.
I couldnt get good pictures of them because they wouldnt be still long enough, hoping they will come back and I can get better pictures (man I need a better camera). Anyway....

My new 2 little visitors were Eastern Kingbirds. I have never seen any before, ever and so this was a first for me and they were so neat and cute. Just hope they come back, they were fun to watch.

Oh Heavens

2009-10-08T15:21:00.003-04:00

I have seen it all now. I know that cats sit in strange positions, but this one just really cracked me up and I had to share it with everybody.
This is Diamond, my brat cat. He is usually always into something. And the one time he was actually behaving, this is what I caught on camera LOL

Beautiful Visitor

2009-10-08T15:10:00.002-04:00

I was sitting outside on the porch, enjoying some cool breezes before it got too warm out there, and I heard this strange noise of some bird. With the winter birds starting to come in, Im hearing different birds than usual, but this was really loud and very strange. I looked over just in time to see a beautiful hawk landing on top of the telephone pole. He was just sitting there, pretty as you please, looking for a meal.
I grabbed my binoculars to get a closer look but I knew if I had grabbed my camera he would have been gone. Thats what I get going outside without my camera. It would have been a gorgeous shot too.
I have seen this hawk flying around a lot, he lives in the area, but havent seen him land on anything close by like that for ages. I was wondering why there were no other birds, squirrels or chipmunks nearby hehee...now I know.

New Visitor

2009-09-18T15:36:00.002-04:00

I havent been able to get a picture of this new visitor because he takes off too quickly before I have a chance. It took me a few days to figure out what he was though. At first I was thinking oh no, Im going to get overrun with crows, but this guy was way too small to be a crow and besides he had white in the eyes a touch, like a white ring around each eye. And he was smaller.
Then I thought maybe a raven, but nope he wasnt "fuzzy" enough with feathers in the neck and on the beak to be a raven. So I looked all through my bird book and couldnt find anything. Well there is this website I use sometimes that you use a step by step to identify birds and its pretty neat, because it sure helped me figure this guy out.... its a grackle.
And its weird because they usually travel in "packs" or whatever LOL anyway, this guy is by himself, and comes around every day to eat, and he eats with the other little birds. So as long as its just him (as the females are a brownish color), I dont mind it.

And my carolina wrens have been getting quite comfy with my carpot...a little too comfy almost. I pulled into the carport earlier from going to the store and one of them landed on the wall by the car and just sat there with the running car next to it and didnt try to fly off. They sleep on the corners of my carport every night, had 2 last night up there in different corners...a friend of mine calls them the Blair Witch birds hehee They come up on my front porch, and into the carport. Heck I will be in here watching TV and hear the cardinals singing on the front porch.

Not to mention the hummingbirds, I will be sitting on the front porch watching everybody and they will come hover in front of me and just sit there or come sit on the railing for a few minutes. Some of the birds do that, its neat that they are learning to trust me, but if anybody else is around, they wont come up there. Soon my neighbors will be calling me Bird Lady hehee

I am saddened though as I have neighbors WAYYYYY down the street who have a cat they wont get neutered and they dont care where he goes or what he does, and he came down here last night and killed one of my doves. One of these days Im just going to catch that cat and take him off somewhere because it makes me mad. I mean I know its natural for a cat to do these things but not to my birds...

Been A While

2009-08-29T22:37:00.002-04:00

I know its been a while since I have done any new posts. It has been a rough couple of months for me personally and just havent been able to do much here on the site.

But today I saw something I just had to share, and as always you never have a camera around to catch the event happening. I was sitting outside watching the birds and I looked up to see a red tailed hawk try to land in a cedar tree across the street, just at that moment, he took off and was flying hard.... because there was a very mad hummingbird on his tail LOL

This hummingbird had his tail all spread out and you could hear him chirping his madness at this hawk and he literally chased him off and came back to his tree. I have seen mockingbirds and crows and other birds chasing off hawks, but never in my life have I ever seen a hummingbird chase one off. It was as if he was saying "Come back and fight like a bird". It was very humorous, cuz you could hear him chipping his little mad hummingbird chips at him, they were flying by quite low. But as always no camera or video camera to catch the moment.

I have had many many bird visitors since my last post, and the baby cardinals are growing up big and at times there can be up to 50 birds out there wanting to feed, so it seems I will be needing to get some more feeders and seed for them. I am wanting to get some thistle seed and another tube feeder, and another hummingbird feeder. I think that should keep them occupied for a while.

I do hope to have some more posts up soon and hopefully maybe some pictures as well.

My Heart Is Broken

2009-08-12T10:34:00.003-04:00

My heart is broken as I type this. It has taken me a couple of days to do this. My Neo has gone to Rainbow Bridge. He had just gone to the vet for a checkup and to get his nails clipped and see if his teeth needed trimmed. He had even gained 4oz and we joked that he needed to go on a diet. The vet said he looked really good and that I was doing a good job caring for him being as small as he was.
Anyone that ever met Neo just loved him. He was such a sweet little man. And I will miss him more than words can say. I dont know what happened, he was fine over the weekend, then Monday I walked by his cage and he was gone.
Everyone says not to blame myself, but I cant help but blame myself. Feeling that I could have done something different for him, or did I miss something. I have dealt with a lot over the past few months and feel that maybe I neglected him or something.
I know this much, I will never get another guinea pig again. I just cant do it because there will never be another piggy like Neo.

RIP Neo - Nov. 13, 2008 - Aug. 10, 2009

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Another Day & A Few Things

2009-08-06T11:31:00.005-04:00

For the past 4 years, during the spring and summertime, around sundown and just under the corner of either my carport or front porch, a small dark brown spot shows up in one of the corners. And it stays all night long until the sun starts to come up. How he stays comfy on that tiny ledge I will never know. For the first year or 2 there were always 2 of them, figured it was a pair, and they stayed in the same corner snuggled up together, but one of them vanished one year and this little fella just kept coming back.
I remember one night going outside to take Dixie out to potty and there were 4 of them out there, taking up corners. I was starting to think that he was telling the whole population about my carport hehee, but I wanted to share about my little bird. I feel special that he feels safe enough to come stay in my carport every night.

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And yesterday was one of the neatest experiences I have had with my hummingbirds. A friend and I were sitting outside watching the birds come and go to the feeder as it had rained for like one minute out there but cooled it off to 78 and it was really nice out for a change. The hummingbirds were all chasing each other because they didnt want to share the feeder (which I dont understand since there are 8 holes on it so plenty of room for the 4 that come around LOL). Well Im sitting up on the porch in my rocking chair and suddenly one of the females scoots up to the railing right in front of me and hovers there peeking over the railing at me....then all of a sudden, she pops up over the top and sits down on the railing right there by me just sitting there looking at me. I dont know how long she would have stayed there if one of the others hadnt of come up there and chased her off. Then not even about 5 minutes later, she comes up again and sits on the railing, but the male came along and chased her off. I didnt have my camera ready but I know if I had, just moving it to try and get a picture of her that close she would have taken off.
But knowing that she will get that close to me know, I am considering putting the feeder up on the edge of the railing there one day and keeping the camera fixed on the feeder and see if they will come up there and eat and try to get some really close up pictures of them. If I am able to get some I will definitely post them.

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And lastly, my Dixie gave me the scare of my life yesterday. As you can see by her bio on the right here, she is 15 years old. She has bad arthritis and is on a steroid shot for it that helps some but she still has it, and then she's losing her hearing and all. Well anyway, when I took her outside to potty yesterday around lunch time, she didnt want to come back in, so I figured ok I'll leave her out here for about 20-30 minutes so she can roll in the grass and lay in the sun, since she's getting a bath today anyway. she likes to stay out there for a few minutes like that sometimes, and never had a problem before.
Well, about 25 minutes later or so I go back out there to get her...and she's gone. My heart just sinks. Times when she has wondered off, she has gone straight for the busy street down at the end. So I just knew I was going to find her dead with it being lunch hour rush. I walked down there first calling her name hoping she would come out from behind a shrub or something, but didnt see her and luckily she wasnt hadnt been hit that I could see. So i came back to the house and called my neighbor all upset about it all, and scared her cuz I said "Dixie's gone" and had her thinking Dixie had died instead of disappearing, but she was kind enough to be going out to help me look.
I grabbed my keys and headed out in the car, got to the end of my street at the busy road, and had dialed animal control to see if they had gotten her. And I look up and across the busy 4 lane street just in time to see her in someone's yard. I was so relieved to see her alive, I hung up with animal control and flew across that street to get her. I think she thought i was mad at her because she didnt want to come to me, so I had to talk baby talk to her. But i wasnt mad, I was terrified and relieved all in one. I got her in the car and back home safe. I was so scared I tell ya....I think some of my life span vanished just in those short 10 minutes I couldnt find her.

Well thats about it for today, Im hoping that something exciting will happen with my birds at least outside and hoping to get to the park one day to see whats going on with the critters there. And keep your fingers crossed that I can get some better close up pictures of the hummingbirds :)

Diamond & Pooter

2009-08-03T18:10:00.003-04:00

Pooter's birthday was July 28 and I shot these pictures of her and Diamond. Rio wouldnt let me get his picture, he took off. But I had to show off my purty girl and my handsome boy showing his attitude LOL

August 2, 2009

2009-08-02T19:46:00.002-04:00

Well, there havent been any new visitors to the bird feeder and no exciting experiences with critters. It has been cloudy and rainy here for the past few days which has kept being able to visit with critters down some.

However today, I was sitting in here watching TV on the couch and suddenly I heard this huge THUD on the picture window behind me. I just knew a bird had splatted into it...so I ran outside to make sure it wasnt hurt bad. There were a bunch of finches in the shrub under the window and everybody flew away, so whoever it was that hit the window wasnt hurt bad enough to be still out there. There were a few tiny brown feathers stuck up on the window, so it had to be one of the finches or sparrows I believe. Im just glad the birdie is ok.

Biscuit, my ginger kitten, is going in the morning to get his shots and neutered. Finally turning that stud muffin into a cupcake. Im hoping it calms him down some as he's a hyper little fella. He has been super cuddly the past couple of days, almost like he knows whats coming hehee I always worry when I take an animal in for a surgery, afraid something will happen.

And I am taking Neo to the vet to get his teeth trimmed. He never chews on hard things to keep his teeth down, so he has to go visit the vet on a regular basis now so they can trim his teeth. He's so tiny, I hate having anything done to him, but gotta do what I gotta do for him.

Hopefully the rain will go away soon and I can get back outside and get some more pictures or meet something new.

Bailey Plays Dead

2009-08-01T12:57:00.002-04:00

I want Boomer to learn how to do this hehee, but I dont think I could hold him, he's a lot bigger than Bailey.
This video cracks me up every time I see it, so I had to most definitely share it.

July 30, 2009

2009-07-30T19:44:00.003-04:00

Well, I do believe the mystery bird has been resolved, well to the best of what I can figure. I am thinking he is just an immature male house finch that just hasnt gotten his stripes yet. Kind of like a dalmation not getting its spots yet hehee. He actually came to visit today.

I figured I would try something different, I am trying to keep a written journal each day of the birds that visit the yard and the animals that I watch daily and post about them every day on here and any good or new pics I get, I will post them as well.

So for today....
I had posted a while back about having 2 baby mockingbirds, one of which only had one eye, well unfortunately he has disappeared, but there is still one left and he is extremely noisy. He is always screaming at mama to feed him. You hear him all day long and she never takes him more than one house away from my house. He had hatched in my back yard. And you can always tell when she's about to feed him because he gets louder and faster with his squawking hehee I havent been able to get any pictures of them yet really, need a lot better camera for that.

Here is a list of my visiting birds for today that I have seen myself.

There was a new male and female hummingbird today, they are different from my regular hummingbirds, got a picture of the female as you can see below.
Of course the female house finches and female house sparrows.
My chickadee of course, my favorite little guy. He cracks me up every day.
My male cardinal came to visit a few times.
The young female hummingbird that chases everybody away and I have posted pics of her before came by a few times to visit.
And the no longer mystery bird came to visit as well.
And I have an another mystery bird, that I am not sure what he is, I am thinking a male house sparrow, but according to my books, they have a gray cap, but this guy has a black cap, so not sure what to think, and I cant seem to get a picture of him. Going to keep trying though.

Oh and I had another bird that I did not know what he was, posted a picture of him in a bird forum im in, and someone was able to help me identify him as a brown-headed nuthatch. It was driving me nuts trying to identify him, he's still immature and thats why I couldnt figure him out. I have also posted a picture of him as well.

This is my new little hummingbird, but she was a lot lighter green outside than she is in this picture.

This was the second mystery bird, that was identified as a brown-headed nuthatch. He is still young I think as he doesnt have the distinct markings yet, but he does most definitely match the description of a juvenile. So thankful to the one who identified him for me at Birdboard forum.

Mystery Bird

2009-07-27T18:28:00.004-04:00

I have identified every bird that has visited the bird feeders, even down to the males and females with most of them, but this one particular bird has baffled me. I have 2 bird books and he is nowhere near in them, and I looked at every page one by one, even the ducks and puffins and birds of prey LOL. I have looked online, even did a step by step type identifying thing for figuring him out.
Now my first thought was a house finch, but he's too dark for that. The male house finch is lighter and has stripes, he is a dark chocolate brown with no stripes and has the white spot on either side on his wing, and then deep red on his head and right under the edge of his beak. Im sure he's some simple type bird Im just missing, but if anybody has any thoughts, please please let me know because he still comes around and I would really like to know what he is.

Click on it to get the larger version.

Curious Hummingbird & A Return

2009-07-23T21:23:00.002-04:00

My adult female hummingbird did something new today and it was actually funny at first. I had gone up to the mailbox to see if the mail had been, and on my way back I saw Diamond in the window watching something and being all excited about it, and I looked closer and it was my adult female hummingbird, buzzing and hovering around in front of the window, like she was teasing him saying "Neener Neener you cant get me". LOL
She did it all afternoon and evening though, every time she came to the feeder, she came to the window to look in, whether there was a cat or not. Maybe I should open the curtain tomorrow so she can see whats in here hehee
The male hummingbird comes up to me while I sit on the porch and just hovers there in front of me for a while then zooms off. Almost like he's saying thank you for the juice hehee.

And I got so excited today, I was watching the hummingbirds when all of a sudden my little tufted titmouse shows up. I was just about to reach for my camera to get a picture when the hummingbird chased him off. I could have screamed, I wanted a picture of him so bad, and the hummingbird was being mean today chasing off all the birds that came around, like she wanted the whole area to herself. Im hoping he will come back again so I can get a picture.
I do have a couple of birds that i dont know what they are though. Im just assuming they are a baby somethings because they are not in my bird books at all. When I get their pics fixed up I'll post them and hopefully somebody might have an idea for me.

Wonders Of The Sea

2009-07-22T20:16:00.003-04:00

The ocean is one of my favorite things and when I saw this video of the Kuroshio Sea...the second largest aquarium tank in the world, I got lost in the video and everything else just seemed to vanish. A shame they dont have a cam running on it all day, I dont think I'd ever leave the computer. But wanted to share this beautiful video with you all.

Baby Mockingbird

2009-07-21T21:23:00.002-04:00

I have a momma mockingbird and her 2 babies living in my back yard. I have poasted about the one baby, I just didnt know she had 2 until today. I am saddened though as I watched the babies today out my kitchen window that one of the babies has lost one of his eyes. He was sitting on the fence outside the window and was rubbing his face on the fence, I couldnt see all that well, so I got my binoculars.
And sure enough, one of his eyes seems to have been ripped out and it just looks horrible. It doesnt seem to have messed up his appetite cuz momma was feeding him and he was tearing up whatever she was feeding him, and he can fly and was fat as could be...but that eye looked horrible and like it could be infected.
There was just nothing I can do to help the little thing, I just hope he will be ok. I think I will call him Willie, ya know from the move The Goonies, the pirate, One Eye Willie....
I just hope he will be ok, Im going to keep watch on him as he grows more.

Happy Birthday Rio!!!

2009-07-20T15:34:00.003-04:00

Seven years ago today, I walked into a friend's house to pick up Rio. Two weeks before I had gone to see him for the first time. Diamond had come to be with me in May just 2 months before and he was driving me absolutely bonkers. He was into everything and breaking things, but I figured it was because I was gone all day and he was bored. So I figured, why not get him a playmate. I had always wanted either a solid orange cat or a solid white cat and a friend of mine said ohhhh I have the perfect one for you. So I go over to her house the day the kittens turned 4 weeks old. At first all I saw was a tabby kitten, one normal short haired kitten and then one that had deformed hips (sadly she had to have him put to sleep). But then, from around the corner, came the fattest, stubbiest white ball of fluff I had ever seen in my life. I picked him up and looked him in the face and said Hi There....and all I got in response was a hiss and a spit in the face LOL
I looked at my friend and said I gotta have him. And she was like but he spit at you, and I said yep but he has to have attitude to live with Diamond hehee And well, the rest is history. He has gone through hell to live with me, but he loves me unconditionally and I wouldnt have it any other way. I call him my cotton ball with teeth hehee
Happy Birthday Rio...I love you big boy!!!!

Found This In My Yard

2009-07-19T14:03:00.003-04:00

Growing up, I always loved watching these spiders and just thought they were the neatest things. Its kind of early for them if Im not mistaken but here he sits. I just think they are so cool, but I am weird and like spiders anyway LOL

So Cute

2009-07-19T13:32:00.002-04:00

I got to thinking I wonder how the shots would show up if I zoomed in a little bit more. I thought it would come out all pixelated, but they actuallly came out quite nice, I was impressed anyway LOL So figured I would show off my female ruby throated hummingbird. She comes around a lot. I have another one that is more emerald green that comes around and then a male that I have only seen once. I just love hummingbirds, they are so cute and little and fast boy hehee They remind me of bugs sometimes, if you arent looking close enough you might think they were bugs.

Three New Birds

2009-07-16T21:13:00.001-04:00

I had 3 new birds come to my bird feeders today. Of course I couldnt get pictures of them because I didnt have the camera handy when I saw them, and when I did get the camera out there, it was too dark to shoot a good shot. But Im going to try again tomorrow and hopefully they will show up again.

the first was a male ruby throated hummingbird, up until now only females have been showing up. The males are the only ones with the ruby color on their throats, the females are either the emerald green or the grayish color, depending on their age. And I had just gotten through 2 hours before telling a friend on the phone who also has a hummingbird feeder out that I hadnt seen a male ruby yet, then just 2 hours later, she was down here and one shows up.

Then the other day my mom was telling me how she once saw a chickadee on a fence across from her house a couple years ago or so...and I dont remember really ever seeing one at all. Then today, this little one shows up on the feeder and hangs around chasing off the purple finches every chance he got. But he was so cute, even smaller than the finches, but he was a mighty lil thing.

Then the cutest one of all was the tufted titmouse. I had only seen them in pictures and drawings, and I went outside in time to see this grayish/bluish bird on the feeder with a tuft of feather on his head. I couldnt figure out what he was, and I was on the phone with my aunt, and so I described him to her and she suggested a titmouse so I looked it up online and sure enough...thats what it was. He was absolutely adorable.

So Im hoping they come back again so I can shoot pictures. The titmouse and the chickadee both didnt care that I was outside watching them, so hopefully I can get pictures of them with this pathetic camera of mine. And if the hummingbirds come back and will be still long enough I can get some kind of picture of them LOL

Just wanted to share and hopefully sometime tomorrow I will have pictures to share.

Sneaky Snake

2009-07-14T13:54:00.001-04:00

Ive been back in this house since June 2004 and I have not seen one single snake anywhere at all, well in the wild that is....
Anyway, I was just in my kitchen doing up a few dishes and I looked out my window and saw the momma mockingbird land on the fence just outside the window and spread her wings out. I looked in the grass below because I saw something move and thought...oohh baby bird...but nope I was wrong...
It was a king snake. And he had his head up in the air like he was going after the bird. Not sure who was going after who there, but it was neat, so I run in here and snatch up my camera and run out the door as fast as I can so I can try and get a shot of the snake....and what do you know?? The darn snake is gone already. I think he has a hole in the azalea bush right there by the fence, and thats probably where he went, but he coulda waited until I got out there and took a picture or two LOL
Animals never stay still long enough for you to get a good picture of them hehee

Parting Ways

2009-07-14T10:23:00.002-04:00

I had to separate my 2 guinea pigs the other day. Neo is a very special case when it comes to Guinea pigs, one day I will tell how I came about him as well. He is actually, I guess what you would call a miniature guinea pig. He is no bigger than my hand and he wont get any bigger. Well, I felt he was getting lonely, so back in May, I brought him home a playmate whom I named Tank. Mainly because I knew once he was full size, he would look like a tank next to Neo hehee.
Well they got along great, no fights, they ate together, slept together, Tank was always purring at Neo...I was happy that they were getting along so well. But as Tank grew and he got bigger than Neo (even though he's only 14 weeks old he's twice Neo's size) he has decided he didnt want Neo to eat any of the good stuff I gave them, he would chase him off from the food until he ate what he wanted, then let Neo go eat. I even tried putting the food in different places in the cage thinking he couldnt cover all of his bases, but he just chased Neo into their igloo house and made him stay there until he was done.
Well Neo being so small, he had lost some weight from this, and he cant afford to do that, and being as he's so special to me, I had to separate them. Neo is very special and important to me and his health and well being come first. So I will be giving up Tank. I dont have another big enough cage or the room for another big cage to keep him.
I will miss him because since I separated him he has become snuggly and sweet again, but it is in his best interest and I have to do what is best for him and for Neo.
Here is a picture of Tank after his first bath.

A Cute Memory

2009-07-13T01:39:00.002-04:00

Well nothing exciting happened today with any kritters, so figured I would put up a memory I remembered about my calico, Pooter. She is something else I tell ya, but she's my special girl, and one day I will post how I came about her and why she's so special, even though a lot of folks already know this story.

Anyway, when she was still pretty young, about 6 months or so...I had gone in and taken a shower. Now I usually just towel dry my hair and go on about my business, but this one day for some reason, I wrapped my hair in a towel, and I came out here in the living room and she was napping on the back of the recliner.

She looked up and saw me with that towel on my head and apparently she didnt recognize me, because her eyes got big around as golf balls and her entire body started shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She was terrified to see me with that thing on my head. I had to speak to her for her to realize it was me, she as still shaking but her eyes popped back into her head hehee

I couldnt help but laugh at her, but I felt so sorry for her at the same time.

Just a quick short memory from Pooter's past.

Mother Nature

2009-07-11T13:15:00.000-04:00

I saw the sweetest thing yesterday, and almost feel privileged that the mother bird did this in front of me...

I was outside spending some time with Boomer and a friend was here with me too and suddenly she jumped about 4 feet to the right and yelped out "Oh My God". Something just dropped right out of the tree right there by us. It was a baby mockingbird that the momma had pushed out of the nest to start teaching it the ways of life.

Im really glad I was out there too though because if that little thing had gotten in reach of Boomer, he probably would have killed it (not on purpose, he thinks everything is a toy). But it was the neatest thing to watch the momma bird teaching the baby how to search for food and all, and she would call him to her and he would hop along, very wobbly of course.

Every day it seems, I kick myself for not taking my camera outside with me so I could have gotten some pictures of this lovely event.

Too Precious For Words

2009-07-10T19:28:00.000-04:00

I saw this video and I just had to share it. I thought it was the most precious and cute thing. She even has 2 little stuffed baby pug puppies in the stroller, and if you watch her closely, she stops now and then as if she is taking in the view. Something I just HAD to share.

Demanding Birds

2009-07-10T18:05:00.000-04:00

I tell ya, as you see in my previous post, I have bird feeders up for the birds. Really the only birds that hit the seed feeder are cardinals and purple finches, and doves eat the seed that hits the ground. Well mostly its the purple finches that are out there, practically all day long gobbling up the food, like little bottomless pits.

There is one little female that doesnt care if Im out there or not, she will come to the feeder and bird bath regardless, but the rest sit nearby on the telephone wires or roof of my house and squawk at me to make me go away so they can come pig out LOL And I thought my cats were demanding critters hehee

So what do I do?? Like a a good human, I come back in the house, and then they dont even come to the feeder now....crazy birds, but they will, they always do. They are so cute. Will have to work on some pictures of them.

Hummingbirds Are Back!!

2009-07-09T20:47:00.000-04:00

So I put up my feeders a while back, and thought I was wasting my time with the hummingbird feeder until yesterday. One finally showed up. So I sat out there earlier with my camera determined to shoot a shot.
In this first shot, can you spot the hummingbird? Its in flight. He just kind of popped in quickly when I was trying to get a shot of the female purple finch thats on the feeder.

In these next two he had landed on the feeder. I dont remember ever seeing a hummingbird ever land on anything before in my life. Even earlier before he came to the feeder, he went over and landed on some telephone wires and just sat there for like 5 minutes. It was so neat to watch. Man I wish I had a better camera so I could zoom in closer. The hummingbirds only come out when the sun is going down so its hard to get a really good shot of them.

LOL Cat

2009-07-09T17:22:00.000-04:00

This one gave me the giggles so I just had to share it. Partly because when Pooter was a baby she loved to watch the water go down every time I flushed the thing. I dont care where she was in the house, if she heard the toilet flush, she came running...so I would have to flush it all over again just so she could watch it.
And now Biscuit loves to watch the water go down...I dont get it, I guess it doesnt take much to amuse a kitty.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Let's Begin

2009-07-09T15:02:00.001-04:00

Well, I figured I would start out my first story on how I came upon having Biscuit...

On May 3, 2009, I came home from church and lunch with my dad and stepmom and my dog Boomer was going crazy in the back yard over something. Usually when he does that its over a squirrel or a plastic bag, but I went to investigate anyway. And there was this tiny little tan and white thing back there, scared to death and hissing up a storm. I had to catch him of course as he was kind of feral. I thought maybe he was trying to get some water as it was hot out there, but come to find out, he didnt even know how to drink out of a bowl. I had to teach him how to do that, and how to use a litter box.
I had now idea where he came from as all of the cats around here are bl/wh or gr/wh. But there he was. I looked for maybe some others in case a mother kitty had brought her litter or someone had dumped them, but it was only him. He was dirty in the nose and ears, but otherwise was quite clean.
Well with some work and time, he learned how to drink out of a bowl, learned the litter box and tamed down. He was only about 5 weeks old or so when I found him, too young to be away from his mom, so I decided to keep him until he was old enough for someone to care for him properly. Well the time came, and I had looked for him a home with no luck. Then one day I saw an ad on CraigsList for a family looking for an orange and white kitten or cat. I thought this is perfect timing. So I contacted them, talked to her for over an hour and really got a good vibe from them. I took Biscuit to them and at first he was scared but he soon relaxed and was playing, purring and giving kisses. So I was thinking this is going to work perfectly and he will have a great home.
Well, the next morning my phone rings and all I hear in the background is Biscuit howling. She tells me that he did it all night long, had peed on their daughter, pooped all over the house (which I didnt understand since he was litter box trained). And since they lived on a military base, they couldnt have complaints, which I completely understood.
So, I drove back out there and picked him up. When I got to their door, I could hear him through the door, just hollering up a storm. She opened the door and her husband was holding him, and he was hollering. He handed him to me, and he calmed down for a minute, then I noticed he was looking around for something and started hollering again. Then it hit me...he was looking for my cats. So I brought him home and all the way home, he hollered, but the minute I opened my front door and he heard Diamond meow, he never let out another peep and has been perfectly happy since.
So needless to say, he just wanted to come home. I never in my life heard of a cat not adjusting to a new home, especially a kitten, but he was determined to come home and he did. So here he is and here he will stay. He is getting neutered and all his shots on Aug. 3 to make it completely official. Here is a picture of him :)

New Blog

2009-07-09T01:09:00.000-04:00

Well, folks have told me on and off that I should put down the stories I have told about my critters and the foster kittens I have had and just all the kritters in general. So I came up with the idea for this blog.
This way I can share information about my animals, any foster animals I get, temporary animals, or any animals I meet out in nature. Share new pictures with you and well if it has to do with animals, I will put it here.

Also on a more serious note, so many people feel that if you are only on disability, you shouldnt have animals, well thats not the case, and I plan on having some information and links to help out those that have pets and are on disability or dont have a lot of money but love their pets. So if you are in a particular state or such and are looking for something in particular, let me know and I will do my best to find something out for you.

Since I just made this up today, its going to take a bit to get things all together, but I hope you all come back now and again to see whats going on :)

Vicki