Category: Animals

Squirrel Hanging From A Cage

October 18, 2012

Here’s a photo I just took:

Note two things:

1) The line of demarcation between our yard and that of our neighbour, made all-too-obvious by the maniacal lack of fallen leaves on her grass! I guess I should take this as a hint that it’s time to get outside and start raking.

2) This guy, hanging from a suet-feeder:

This is actually a brand new suet feeder, since the last one was stolen by squirrels. Yes, stolen. As in they fished it up to the branch by pulling on the chain, and then somehow detached the entire cage and took it to parts unknown.

I wonder if this one will disappear as well?

Twenty Things We Saw At The Fair

August 20, 2012

We went to Altamont Fair the other day. Here’s twenty things we saw:

1) A new ride, called Speed. It’s apparently the tallest portable ride in America. I didn’t ride it 🙂

2) Another new ride, which I found technically more impressive. The ride has several axis of rotation, and riders spin around while upright or upside down. I didn’t ride it 🙂

3) We also saw some old favourites! (No, I didn’t ride it this year either!)

4) We saw a National Grid electrical safety demonstration, which appealed to the part of me that likes sparks, plasma trails and fire!

5) I saw delicious – but admittedly terrible for me – fair food disappear into my own mouth.

6) I saw a giraffe…

7) And a red kangaroo…

8) And some very friendly Cavy’s…

9) And even a baby coatimundi that would have fit into the palm of my hand 🙂

10) A new addition to the fair was a bigtop circus! We went to it and saw many acts, including acrobats, a hoop dancer, globe-of-death riders and a clown.

11) We also saw this…

12) And a bit later, a tiny dog dressed as superman walking on his backfeet like a man. Shortly after we even saw a dog in a hoop dress dancing with a human, and another dog doing a spider climb up parallel laders. As I wiped tears of laughter from my eyes, I heard KLS comment “I can’t believe what I am seeing!”

13) In the art show, we saw the first prize winner for ‘found art’. You can appreciate it as well…

14) Oh, I forgot to mention the creepy pay-extra freakshows, of which there were more this year (none of which I visited). For instance, the 100 pound rat…

15) The ‘chicken freak’…

16) And the headless-but-still-alive woman…

17) We also saw vendors selling all manner of un-needed items. We bought a $2 laundry bag!

18) Oh, and there were many, many many farm animals. This is, of course, a county fair! Here’s a handsome chicken…

19) In the same area we saw some tiny, tiny quails. KLS commented they looked like living eggs 🙂

20) And last but not least, we saw racing pigs. They were perhaps not as exciting as you may imagine!

Speaking of pigs, with the exception of the above they are one animal that was noticeable absent. My guess is this is due to a recent spate of cases of swine flu contracted at US county fairs. Probably in the interest of public (and porcine) safety, they kept the little oinkers away 🙂

Very Dearly Departed

August 14, 2012

I’ve always lived in homes with cats, ever since (and long before) I can remember, including in New Guinea.

Growing up in Australia we had a long line of cats, all of whom were outdoor. Their names will never be forgotten: Louis, Chookhead, Boris, Sarah 1, Sarah 2, Nelson, Momus. These cats were an important part of my life, and I loved them dearly. However most of them they existed only as dim memories for me, until now.

That’s Louis. He was the first cat I remember, and lived until I was in my mid-late teens. He was a massive and friendly fellow, equally happy outside or in. As the friend of two boys through their growing years, Louis put up with an awful lot, but he was always good natured about it and always came back for a hug even after we’d teased or tormented him too much! If I recall correctly, as with many of the cats pictured here, Louis ultimately lost a fight with skin cancer. I can remember vividly his final trip to the vet, even though it was probably over 25 years ago.

We think this is our only photo of Chookhead, ‘my’ first cat (for some reason, I think of him as mine), who we had for a short time around when I was about 10. I remember Chookhead used to get under the covers with me at night and fall asleep, even when he was full grown. Sadly, I don’t remember much more about him, or his eventual fate 🙁

That’s Boris, happy as she always was in the sun. Boris was aloof and mysterious, and as I recall spent the vast majority of her time outdoors. A fond memory was the time she almost passed out on our hot tile roof and I had to climb up to ‘save’ her (she was probably amused by the fact I thought she was even in trouble). Like her brother Louis, Boris also succumbed to skin cancer, the evidence of which is visible in some of these photos (look at her ear tips).

And this is Nelson. He’s a charmer isn’t he? I loved this cat so much, since he was a replacement for one that had died. He used to sleep on my bed when I played C64 games in my bedroom. Sadly Nelson’s life was cut short far too early. I’ll remember him warmly forever 🙂

Robot Claw