Alina Ciuciu – “Now I Need to Sleep” – LinkedIn
Vintage Dragonfly Mosaics via Cathy Ruggiero
Tetiana Shevchuk – LinkedIn
TheCatHouseontheKings.com via Cathy Ruggiero
Animal Wallpapers – Desktop Nexus
Our Abby
Our Smoke
Category Archives: Amazing Animals
What – No Raccoons?
shutterstock.com
We trapped two raccoons – one each night, and relocated them about 5 or 6 miles away from us – both in the same creek so they could hopefully find each other and enjoy their lives elsewhere.
Now it has been two days with NO raccoons. The humane trap is set – with Ritz crackers and peanut butter – door open – but was empty again today.
We don’t know if we got all the raccoons that have been eating all of our birdseed and then trashing the feeders, grill covers, and the cup of the trap – or if they are playing a sly game with us, lulling us into complacency once again, only to return in force in a bit when our guard is down.
Our dogs have quit freaking out every time we take them out. Amber, our 94-pound yellow lab PUPPY, has finally quit barking at the empty trap, and no longer is afraid of going up on the deck.
Molly, our sweet, elderly cocker spaniel/schnauzer cross, followed Amber’s lead and barked like a nut when they went out for their last outing of the night.
We have to admit that we don’t miss having to put the trap full of raccoon into the bed of the truck and driving way out into the country behind our house to relocate yet another critter first thing in the morning….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges
Another Day – Another Raccoon…
National Geographic
Awwww! Such a sweet little guy – right?
WRONG! We caught another raccoon overnight in our humane trap. This one pooped purple all over the part of the deck he was on and destroyed the cup inside the trap that was holding the Ritz crackers and peanut butter we use for bait! And this was after he – and we think there is a whole family – ate every bit of seed from all the feeders, except the hummingbird feeder, AND the glass bottle squirrel feeder we have attached to the window!
We drove out about 5 or 6 miles and let him out at the creek where we let his brother/sister/father/mother/? out yesterday morning, giving him another chance at life.
When we got home, we had to replace the cup (this is a plastic cup with a hole drilled in the middle of it) that we attach to the back of the humane trap. I made more bait and we have it set up for tonight now. We had to hose off the porch where the sweet little guy tried to dye it purple.
And now we go on with our day – only to probably do this again tomorrow morning….
NOTE 1: Amber is now to the point where she makes a wide berth around the whole deck when we let her out. She barks at the EMPTY trap…
NOTE 2: The weather was perfect this morning. We saw all kinds of wildlife on the way to and from relocating the raccoon –
- turtles
- squirrels
- three deer
- cows of all different colors
- dogs
- cats
- burros/donkeys
- birds
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Challenging Morning
A couple of nights ago we put out a humane trap on the deck, since “someone” had been not only eating ALL of the birdseed we were putting out, but ALSO trashing the feeders! Yesterday morning we caught the culprit.
Pixabay
The raccoon was, of course, upset to be in the trap. He had pulled the bottom of the cover of our grill into the trap with him, I guess trying to get out. So we now have a grill cover that looks like something you would use as a decoration on Halloween, with LONG “fringe” along the bottom…
Amber, our 94-pound lab PUPPY, was in a frenzy over him, barking loudly non-stop. I have no patience with barking and wanted to bring her inside. My husband insisted that she would tire of the barking after awhile. He sat out on the deck with them, hot apple cider in hand, for almost an hour. Maybe she WOULD tire, but not in the hour he spent!
We put the humane trap in the back of the truck. Amber wanted to ride in the back seat, as usual.
We drove about 5 or 6 miles south of us, finding a creek that ran under the road out in the countryside. We stopped and my husband let the raccoon out.
I like the idea of ‘relocating’ the raccoons, giving them another chance at life – but not in our yard! This morning there is evidence, though, that he has friends or family near. :0(
Amber finished off our morning by rolling in something black and yucky, getting it all over her. We had to chain her up and hose her down. We let her dry out on the deck for awhile, and then I finished her up, toweling her off so that she could join the family again.
All this happened before 10 in the morning, so we were exhausted before the day even got a good start!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges, Family
Your Happy Photo for the Day – Friday 5-24-19
Anwar B. – LinkedIn
Filed under Amazing Animals, CUTE!, Favorite Pictures
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished – Or Amber’s Playtime
birstall.co.uk
I’ve just come in from hour # 2 weeding in my flower beds. I’m going to try to get out there for one more session, but this may be it for the day.
I’m making reasonable progress out there, but the monsoon season has made for monster weeds. I can’t tell what’s in the planters at the moment, so I’m having to go slowly, pruning everything and then figuring out what is good and what to get rid of. Slow going.
Earlier, after my first session, I discovered that Amber had black, yucky STUFF on various parts – mainly her stomach, legs, and hips. I rushed to get her back outside, too tired to do anything more than that. After I rested, I used a couple of micro-cloths to clean her up. I felt good that she was now presentable enough to join us inside.
My husband came out for the second session to keep me company while I weeded after he sprayed weeds around the yard and cut back the wisteria which had grown like a weed in all directions. As we were talking, we noticed that Amber quietly walked over to one of the collapsed brick planters and plopped down in the middle of the watery stuff. As she stood, we saw THAT was where all the yucky black stuff had come from. She was covered AGAIN and quite delighted with herself!
I was so tired by that time, we took her around to the back and hooked up the hose. She wasn’t cooperative about turning as we needed her to as we sprayed, but she didn’t freak out, either – a really good thing. My husband changed the washer between the hose and the sprayer and changed out the sprayer because we got as wet as Amber did. :0) I used a dog towel to get her as dry as possible before letting her back in. Since it continues to rain off and on most every day, I’m not sure what we can do about Amber’s love for ANY type of water….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, Gardening
Happy Mother’s Day
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Happy Mother’s Day!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Family, holidays
Incredible Owls
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
*These photos are taken from talented photographers all over the world. They are posted by RJ Bennett – LinkedIn – and others in an cooperative effort to preserve owls and their habitat.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, R.J. Bennett
Your CUTE for Friday
Geert Weggen – Just Something
Geert Weggen – Just Something
Geert Weggen – Just Something
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Geert Weggen
Your CUTE for Thursday
Geert Weggen – Just Something
Geert Weggen – Just Something
Filed under Amazing Animals, CUTE!
Your CUTE for the Day
Geert Weggen – Just Something
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Geert Weggen
1st Hummingbird of the Spring! May 2nd
Tim Fitzharris
We were sitting at the dining area table this morning -groggily trying to wake up – when we saw the first hummingbird of the season (that we’ve noticed) at the hummingbird feeder! I had mainly put the feeder out to welcome the first hummingbirds, not actually having seen one.
He was only at the feeder just a second, sipped a bit and then flew off. We went out and got the feeder, filled it with fresh food, and put it back out. We feel so rich when we see hummingbirds dive-bombing each other at the feeders. We will put out several, so there is more than enough food for all, but nature overcomes. I hope this is a good year for the hummers.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Mother Nature, quality of life, Seasons
Gorgeous Animals
R J Bennett – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
R J Bennett – LinkedIn
*These photos represent the work of several talented photographers all united in a effort to preserve these magnificent animals and their habitats.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Just a Little ‘Somebody’ To Start Your Day Off Right
Balu _ Marni Via Mara Spirig – Linkedin
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Your Sweet for the Day
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Happy Start to Your Morning
Beautiful Wildlife – Lettie De Winnaar – LinkedIn
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Poor Amber
Poor Amber was bitten/stung by ‘something’ yesterday. The whole side of her mouth was swollen, but she didn’t seem to be in any pain. I have no clue what we’re dealing with.
She is better this morning, with much less swelling. She had a good appetite this morning and drank some water. I’m monitoring her. She’s in Molly’s small bed, seemingly comfortable, sleeping off and on.
Since she’s somber (but still wagging her tail) I’m hoping she learned to stay away from whatever it was in the future that stung or bit her.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Beautiful Horses
Signed by the artist, but I can’t read the signature. Sorry. Posted by Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
Ada Dalilah via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Robert Hagan via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
*The horse photos are taken by various talented photographers and posted by Jeff Jett on LinkedIn.
Filed under Acrylic Paintings I Love, Amazing Animals
Happy Fish?
We used to have a 40-gallon aquarium. It, and the metal support table on which it sat, covered one whole side of our dining area. I loved it, but we decided it was ‘too much work’ at some point and sold it.
Now I laugh, because gold fish bowls or tanks take a LOT more work than our aquarium ever did, and we had lots of fish then in comparison. Now we have only 4 gold fish in a 5-gallon aquarium. They seem to delight in making their water cloudy, doing it with alarming rapidity.
If they weren’t so SWEET I wouldn’t put up with it. They don’t do tricks, smile, be affectionate, or anything else you hope pets will do, but they DO pile up in the corner at feeding time – mornings and evenings – wriggling their little bodies and opening and closing their mouths with excitement when they see I’m there. That’s enough to make all this worth it.
I don’t know if they care about their surroundings, but each time I clean the aquarium, completely changing the water, vacuuming the gravel, etc., I also change the decorations.
Although they don’t SAY anything, they are at least 3 times the size they were when I first bought them and brought them home…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Beautiful Birds
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Katheleen Broaderick via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
Nicobar Pigeon – email from Marsha Koenig
Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
OnlineHarbour.com
Consequences
This is the man who ignored me, saying it was a good idea to put 94-pound Amber on the no-pull leash yesterday in areas of high traffic and lots of stimulation. Amber did what puppies do, leaping around to try to get to the wonderful things and people around her.
At the craft show on the square, people were upset when the shock collar worked and Amber cried out. At the yard sale, he didn’t put the collar on correctly, so the shock didn’t happen. Since it didn’t happen, she went after what she wanted – a small doggie – resulting in my husband face surfing on the ground….
We started training last night again with the no-pull collar and leash combination, figuring out what we did wrong at the yard sale. Amber walked around with us calmly, happily with no problems. I’ll keep doing this on a daily basis. Then we’ll also try again in places with very few people, making sure the walking assembly has been put on correctly. We’ll build up again to the vet’s office, and other places we need to have her out of the car.
I will, however, continue to SUGGEST that we NOT let her out of the back seat in places with lots and lots of wonderful things for a dog see, smell, and try to get to – regardless of our ‘hopes.’ Hopefully, this stubborn man will listen…
He’s doing much better this morning, even though he still looks quite impressive. He’s resting, napping, and watching TV today.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Just In Case You’re Feeling Lonely…
KTRE-TV via K9 Bytes Pet Gifts
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Pet Portraits by Niki Firmin
Alice and Jasmine by Niki Firmin
Bonnie and Clyde by Niki Firmin
Filed under Amazing Animals, drawings, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits
Lion Family
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
*The work of several wonderful photographers are displayed here and reposted on LinkedIn in an effort to make everyone aware of how special these animals are and how important it is to do what we can to preserve them and their habitats.
Hurry – Niki Firmin Pet Portraits
NikiFirman.com
Niki Firmin does truly breathtaking pet portraits, as you see here. She stays busy, word-of-mouth having made her one of the premier pet portrait people in the world now.
She just posted on LinkedIn that she only has 10 spots left for portraits this year!
If you’ve been sitting on the fence, drooling over these as I have, you can contact Niki at
Niki_firmin@hotmail.co.uk to grab one of the last spots left.
NikiFirman.com
NikiFirman.com
NikiFirman.com
Filed under Amazing Animals, drawings, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits
Moms and Babes
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Saedgraficss via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
For the Love of Sloths
Particularly for Mary Lou – :0)
Suzi Eszterhas via RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
Suzi Eszterhas via RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
RJ Bennett – LinkedIn
These photos are taken by Suzi Eszterhas and other fine photographers and presented by RJ Bennett on LinkedIn in an effort to preserve sloths and their habitat.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, R.J. Bennett
Happy Fish
Today I finally got off my duff and cleaned the aquarium. All told it takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, so it isn’t that much to ask. The only thing my fish actually get excited about, though, is eating time, twice a day, when they bunch up in the right front corner of the aquarium and wriggle their little bodies, opening and closing their mouths rapidly. So it’s easy to walk by and ignore the fact that I should be cleaning out their digs and providing some different decorations to stimulate their imaginations.
Things look much better now. They’re exploring a bit, but no wriggles, gaping mouths, or other signs of real interest yet.
This doesn’t happen at our house, although we have two cats who would probably eat our fish given the chance. They seem to prefer birds.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob
creativeartworksblog 