Cool Story, Bro

I have a story for all you readers!  But because it involved me geting a swollen finger though, I won't be able to write about it until I can actually bend my finger and move it around (yes, it's that's swollen unfortunately).  So stay tuned for when I can tell you more!

Grumpy Gus -- A Life Too Short

Last night I caught Gus (the orange kitten with the suspected broken leg).  My neighbors took him for the night so we could take him to the vets in the morning.  They had him in a mostly empty room (aside for some boxes, a table, an old mini fridge and the such) that they kept him in for the night.  He slept, pooped and ate during the night.  In the morning we went to get him and put him into the cat carrier to take him to the vet.  Suddenly he started jumping around and climbing all the shelves to evade us.  That's when he went behind the mini fridge and got stuck in the coils and wires.  There’s a picture so you can get a better idea.  After trying and trying, and no success, we gave up trying to get Gus out and just decided it'd be easier to take the whole fridge to the vet's.  So we loaded up the fridge and took it the vet’s.  You could imagine their surprise when they heard "Umm, we have a stray kitten with a broken leg stuck in the fridge...” Anyways, the vet got him out easily enough and she said she'd do an examination and that she'd call us back with the verdict.  Long story short, we got the call that the kitten had indeed broken his right front leg.  There was sadly no option for Gus other than to euthanize him.  If we released him into the wild he would've either starved, been eaten, or had the crap beaten out of him by tomcats.  Even if we did have the money to amputate his broken arm (it was $1200) he'd make for a poor recovery because he's so shy of people and frightened by them, and if he got the surgery he'd have to be an indoor cat. I would like to thank my neighbor for paying to euthanize Gus, I really do appreciate it and think that was a very caring thing to do. R.I.P. Gus, you were one tough kitten.

Shilo

Shilo has found a home on my friend's farm!  Miley is still available though if there are any takers :)  Just comment below if you're interested!

Be Awesome, Adopt A Kitten!

~Shilo~

~Miley~

Hey!  The kittens are becoming way more accustomed to people and are looking for a home!  Shilo and Miley are both girls and live in Ontario, Canada.  They'd make great mousers for barn cats, or even an amazing house cats!  So, if you want one of these amazing kitties, please comment below with your email and I'll contact you ASAP.  Please, please, please comment because they're free and need loving caring homes! You'll also be my hero and I'll admire you for being totally awesome!  And who doesn't love having a good ol' cat to cuddle with?!  Just click the place that says how many comments there are at the bottom of this paragraph and then you can leave your own comment! :)

Miley & Shilo

The kittens are settling in well.  Shilo has become very bold (and we discovered that it's a girl).  Miley is still very skittish, but not as afraid anymore.  My sister and I even bought a bunch of toys for them to play with!  Shilo loved them and Miley even played with them too.  I'll try to get some more picture soon!

Big News!

Finally took some initiative and caught Miley (left) and Shilo (right)!  At the moment they're a little scared, but soon the taming will begin!  Wish me luck!

Procyon Lotor (Washer Dog) -- Otherwise Called the Raccoon

Driving down the highway, it’s midsummer and the heat is sweltering.  Quickly you roll down the windows to let the cooling air flow over your hand and whip your hair around.  Farmers’ fields roll by and the occasional cattle are seen.  A rancid stench abruptly hits your nose, interrupting your thoughts of swimming at the beach, and you see a furry heap on the side of the road.  As your car flashes past you turn your head to get a better look as the flies buzz madly around it to see a raccoon with it guts spilled out.  You contort your face into one of disgust, but it soon passes.  It’s just another raccoon.  No big deal.

Or as you walk to get the mail, keys jingling in time with your stride, you hear some kids in a small field squealing with either joy or fear – it’s always hard to distinguish with them.  Almost instinctively you turn your head to see a group of children crowded around something on the ground.  Sticks clutched firmly in hands, they prod a heap on the ground at they’re growing feet.  As you get closer you can hear the cries and words of the young ones.  “Look at its guts!” “Ew it smells bad.” and “What’s up with its face?”  As the crowd shifts for better poking opportunities at the rancid flesh with the sticks you can see the tell-tail, well, tail that has the distinct brown and black rings.  You could stop the kids and tell them to respect the dead, but you don’t.  It’s a raccoon – a dirty, filthy, fleabag of a creature.  You continue to the mailbox, the episode soon forgotten in your busy world of facebook and twitter updates.

But have you ever asked yourself how the raccoon feels?  The raccoon that is shot without a thought?  The raccoon that is poisoned?  The raccoon that is trapped, skinned, beaten, abused, frightened, hungry and out of options?  I wouldn’t be surprised either way if you have thought of the raccoon or haven’t.  Whatever you feel about them, please just let me enlighten you on how fascinating this wonderful creature is.  So sit back in your desk chair, get comfy and learn something new about the underestimated creature of North America.

For starters, the raccoon is one of North America’s most adaptable animals.  It can live in the mountains, cities, forests or farms.  Really anywhere.  The only other wild animal, in my opinion, that’s as adaptable and versatile as a raccoon would be the coyote.

Many people who’ve had raccoons as pets have found them to be VERY intelligent.  They learn to open doors, turn on faucets, open latches and control various other household devices at their disposal.  All in all, they’re much smarter than any dog or cat (sorry you all you dog and cat lovers, but scientists have proved it).

And then there is curious, but adorable, habit they have of washing their food and paws.  The scientific name of the raccoon literally translates into “washer dog.”  Instantly the humans relate, thinking how cute and clean they are.  Although, nobody really knows why they do this (but most scientist’s agree it’s for cleanliness).  Still, who doesn’t love an animal that’s polite enough to “wash” its hands?

  

The playfulness of these furry critters is another charming feature.  They’re forever getting into trouble by exploring places they shouldn’t, or messing with people’s garbage.  But when you have the curiosity like that of three year old, everything becomes a toy.  A stick, a hollow tree, a rock and maybe even they’re mother provide hours of play.  Who doesn’t love to see the antics of young raccoons playing about when it reminds so much of our own races offspring?

Fascinatingly, most of the raccoon’s techniques for eating and handling various foods and devices are learned usually from its mother.  They’re not born with instincts that know how to eat a watermelon or open a door, they have to learn either from their mom or on their own.

But the noises they can make are incredible.  Several times when I’ve left my window open at night I can hear the raccoons growling, hissing and screeching at each other as they argue over the food I’ve left out.  They also have a softer array of noises that include purrs, whistles and a type of whinny.

I can’t forget about their hands either!  They so resemble a human hand that its crazy.  I love to watch raccoons as they nimbly hold pieces of food and munch on them.  I remember once I had put a pizza slice outside and a raccoon was holding it like a person would while eating it!  The little hands though are so nimble that can untie shoelaces and pickpocket things like dimes from people’s pockets or click a brick wall (as I’ve learned when I woke to one on my windowsill).

So what do you think of raccoons now?  Still the same old pest or do you have a new appreciation for these critters?  I certainly do hope that you see these animals more for what they really are – incredibly adaptable, intelligent, curious and adorable animals!  I’m also thinking of having a ragtag raccoon trained to be a thief might not be such a bad idea when they can pickpocket, open doors, are much smaller and quieter than people – and they even come pre-equipped with a slick looking mask!  Hmmm, maybe that’ll end up on my bucket list – better watch your pockets in the future! 

Best Morning of the Summer!

This morning I went outside to feed Kitten and Miley some dry food.  I'm sitting there on the step watching them eat when Kitten abruptly stops eating and looks towards the forest.  I thought maybe another one of her kittens was coming so I watched the forest as well.  After a while nothing happened so I looked down at Miley who was still munching away.  Looking up again to see if Kitten was still watching the forest, I could see a deer poke its head around from behind a tree!

I know my forest has deer, but rarely does one ever come out of the forest so close to the house.  Especially when a person is outside (and I know for a fact that it saw me).  I was absolutely astounded.  As it came into clearer view I could see that it still had the faint spots of a fawn even though it was approaching adult size.  Still amazed at the fact this deer was there, another fawn the same size/age as the other came out of the forest as well.

My surprise was probably clear on my face when I saw TWO deer standing only meters away!  One of them even went up on the lawn to my right, which meant it was only around two and a half/three meters away from me.  Quietly it sniffed the grass and then walked back to the forest.  Once back in the forest it bounded away with it's sibling into the depths.

The whole time Miley was half under the deck staring cautiously at the large grazers and Kitten was in the same state.  

Deer are just so beautiful and graceful; I don’t see why anybody would want to shoot one for fun.  

I'd have to say that this was the most amazing morning of my whole summer.

A Broken Leg, A Broken Heart

In one of my previous posts I briefly mentioned that the orange kitten, Gus, had broken his leg.  I haven't seen him yet myself, but my neighbour told me.  At first he just said to me that the orange kitten had hurt it's leg.  I was sitting there thinking to myself, "Oh it's probably just a sprain."  So I questioned a little further.

"Is it visibly hurt, or just limping?" I questioned.  He didn’t reply immediately and before he could my father spoke saying that it was broken.  I was bewildered, how could this happen?  Again, I questioned my neighbour.

"How do you know it's broken?" His reply was one I was not hoping for.

"Well, it's visibly bent... in a wrong place." That made my heart drop to my feet.  The only thing I kept thinking was that a) at least the bone isn’t sticking out from the skin and b) at least it's not Will (he's the only one that's likely to adopted out because he's the friendliest).

My neighbour continued on saying that he found this out when his daughter (who is much older than me) came to him freaked out about Gus.  He went outside to try and scoop up Gus to do something, but Gus scampered away before he could, unfortunately.

I have not seen Gus since before I left on my vacation and he had two good legs.  If I do recall correctly this discovery of my neighbour's happened either Wednesday (15^th) or Thursday (16^th).  I'm hoping that Gus is still alive at this point.

The plan is to go canvassing on Monday (the 20^th) and try to raise money for spaying/neutering the feral cats.  Except, if I do catch Gus, without a doubt I'd take him to the vet and use the spay/neuter fund for him and also put my own money towards it as well if needed.  

Of course though, there is nothing I can do for poor little Gus until I see him.  Until then it's all a bunch of thinking, wondering and hoping.  Wish Gus luck and I'll keep everybody posted if I see him.

Names!

My sister and I have devised names for all the kittens! They are as follows:

• Black and white with half pink nose: Will (because he's like a clone of a cat we used to own named Bill)
• Totally tabby: T.T.  (stands for totally tabby)
• Tabby with white markings: Miley
• Black and white with full black nose: Shilo
• Orange tabby: Gus (because he's a grumpy Gus)

Bad News

I have some bad news everybody:

1. Ghost Cat hasn't been seen in awhile

2.  One of Ghost Cat's kittens (an orange tabby) has a broken leg.  I haven't seen it myself, but my neighbour told me.

I'm going canvasing this week (hopefully) and if I raise enough money I will do my best to try and help the orange kitten.

The Video

Sorry everybody, but I cannot seem to get that video working!  I'll try again to reload it when I'm back from vacation, maybe the problem will be fixed by then (I'm 99% sure that it's not my computer and that it's Blogger).

Sorry!

Hey everybody!  I would like to thank you all for reading my blog!  I've heard that the video isn't loading properly that I posted under "Peanut Butter", so I'll try reloading it again soon.  Sorry that I haven't been posting a lot lately, I've been petsitting and getting ready for some vacation time.  I'll be gone for around week, but I'll have some stories to post immediately after I get back (there's no wifi where I'm going!).  One of the stories involves Kitten's kittens, stay tuned until next week to find out more about it!  Have yourselves a fine day my blog readers!

Peanut Butter

The peanut butter thing was successful!  Except I don't think it's as funny as a dog.  Anyways, it's still pretty cute.  Hope you enjoy the video!

This Will Be Funny

Most of us have all owned a dog at one point, and have tried this with it (or maybe even a friend’s dog); letting them eat peanut butter.  Something about the dog's tongue flicking in and out like a snake smelling the air while it tries to dislodge the peanut stuck to the roof of its mouth amuses humans tremendously.   I've heard that the same thing happens when you feed a dog raw potatoes.  If you don't have a dog, you could try it with a cat (I know I have), although it's not nearly as funny as the dog's messy attempt because cats always do things with a certain finesse.  Now, why in the world am I blabbering about peanut butter, potatoes, dogs and cats when they have absolutely nothing to do with the forest?  Well, that's the catch; tonight I'm putting out some peanut butter and raw potatoes. And my trail camera will be set on video to capture all the action.  Hopefully we're in for laughs with the raccoons!  I'll post about if I was successful or not tomorrow as soon as I awaken from my slumber!

Double Trouble

Turns out the skunk has a baby!  Let's hope nobody make them both spray at once.

Gobble Gobble

Hey guys!  Sorry I haven't posted in a while; I was on vacation.  But I'm back now!  One of the first things I did when I came home was go through all my trail camera pictures.  There were around 1100 pictures that I had to go look at and delete all the bad ones and save all the good ones.  After about 20min, to my surprise, I came across some pictures of turkeys!  Where I live turkeys are fairly common, except I hadn't seen any all year, so it was quiet nice to catch some pictures of the fine fowl.