If I were to live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This would be my home.

Rehab is for dying

A lot of time has passed since my last entry and since the whole blog time line deal is lost on me, I don't really give a shit that the previous post doesn't lead into this in a super nice flowing manner. I just promise you, this didn't happen in the last three minutes. The bird, which the rehab center swears is a Blackburnian Warbler didn't make it. I had a strained shred of hope and it was not all that believable since I did in fact drop the wounded soon not to make it bird off somewhere more promising. So I am not all that surprised to be honest. It sort of goes to show you it wasn't meant to be or whatever I am supposed to say to pretend I need to feel better over something that should bother me more than it does.

How bad is this: I'm not sure if I believe it was a warbler. You could have me surrounded by professionals, specialists and factual books on the subject and still not convince me that wasn't a female Baltimore Oriole. At least I can admit I have a problem. But seriously, if you look at the pictures, it resembles an oriole far more than a warbler. Maybe she died from nutritional deficiencies? I jest! I jest! I love that rehab place. They really do kick ass.

I am off to plan the future and what I have in store for it. Pretty exciting stuff. I also have company, so I am off to play the best hostess in the world. If that world were full of me and everyone understood me to the fullest extent anyway...

Rehab is for quitters

I took the bird to The New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth where I found out she is a female Baltimore Oriole. She was so unsteady on her feet and I finally realized that not only her wing was hurt but her leg couldn't hold her weight. I cleaned her wounds and bound her hurt wing loosely to her body so no further damage could be done but the leg was weighing heavily on my mind. I just don't want her healing wrong because I am stubborn and think I know everything. Even though I do. The vet who checked her in said I did a bang up job with the wing and everything else. He was also happy about her eating & bathroom habits. So I feel like I did a great job even though I caved in the end. I just want her released back into the wild. Picturing her in captivity makes me feel a new and different dirty inside. I was reassured that they would do everything they could and euthanasia is dead (no pun intended) last on the list. They are also going to call me and let me know her progress. :)

All's well that ends well?

Birds of a feather

roll around on the ground after getting all busted up and chance being squashed by the James when the reality is they will be saved by the JH. More later.

The bog was very fruitful today. I remembered my camera so I got a couple shots of the puddle jammed full of tiny polliwogs. The only time this puddle freaks me out is when Tabitha gets a drink from it and then pants in my direction with polliwogs stuck all over her tongue. There is just something very unsettling about that...

Here's the puddle. Can you see them all? I'm astounded by the numbers on a daily basis.






As I was walking along with my mother, searching for the Northern Water Snake in hopes to get a better shot of it, I noticed something moving about on the ground in a very jerky and unnatural way. Looked hurt. Jim was hunting frogs so I didn't have the need to freak out and go into full red alert protection mode. It ended up being a very pretty medium sized deep yellow & brown (grey?) bird. He was having a tough time so of course I helped him. I am going to be 100 years old, bringing home broken wild life. I'm cool with that. I have now fed him a ton of inchworms (he eats them right out of my hand! Can you stand it???) and I am trying to identify him. He's very unsteady on his feet and keeps tipping to the side. Something got him but the wound is not to bad. Not even bloody. The more I feed him, the more energy he has and the steadier he is on his feet. I hope he keeps improving or I am going to have to hand him to a wildlife rehabilitation center and I really don't want to. I love watching animals get better and go back where they belong. My mother thinks it's a way I rescue myself over and over again therefore filling a needy void in me. She's probably right. I wish Mr. F were here to give him a check up. He's good with birds and steady enough to really look it over without worrying about hurting the bird or having it drop dead for no rational reason. Sometimes I envy him for his steady eddie attitude.

Anyway, me and the bird are bonding and I have more worms to find before it's dark. I might just head to PetCo and cheat on the bug finding issue.

Snakes rule

I ended up at the bogs sans camera. Again. It was directly after a crap interview and almost dark so I just grabbed the dogs up and went.

As this picture was taken with my phone the quality ended up poor. I messed with it a bit so you can see him more and the muddy water less. He's about 1.5' in length and his body is under the shallow water with his head peeking out... It's the Northern Water Snake I was telling you about!



Apparently what I read about them is true and they are not aggressive. Jim noticed me peering into the water and jumped in to find what it was and ended up stomping all over the snake. I figured the snake would bite him or at the very least leave, but he ended up just going under water for a spell and moving only to stay out from under Jim's feet. What a relief.

I'm guessing I'll see him again and I am hoping next time he's out of the water...

Where would we be without google?

A couple of days ago, we came across this good sized (2'?) black snake at the bogs. It looked like he had very light yellow markings along his back and I believe its chin was the same light yellow color. I wish I could have checked it out better but it slithered a little and Jim gave chase. It is the one animal I can't handle him chasing. Although, I must say it's nice to no longer be worried about the venomous part (good bye dangerous rancid desert). Anyway, if I am correct in my observation (and let's face it, I am pretty good at the whole what does nature look like game) the snake is an adult Black Rat Snake. I read a little about them and as much as they will bite the hell out of you if you corner them, that is where it ends. Yay. A smattering of info says they are endangered and if that is true, this find is super exciting to me.

Today, while chasing frogs, I heard another slither. Thinking it might be the black snake offering me a better view, I got a good hold of Jim's collar and headed toward the sound. Not the Black Rat Snake. Since this time didn't include becoming hysterical, running and screaming after Jim, I got a really good look at this dude. After a little searching I am positive it is a Northern Water Snake and not the dreaded Copperhead. As you can see, I am not as paranoid as I think you think I am. These snakes are super similar and are often mistaken for one another meaning the harmless Northern Water Snakes has a sad little plight...

Copperhead


Northern Water Snake


I forgot my camera again. There is this big mud puddle and it is FULL of little tiny polliwogs. I'm taking my camera next time. Hopefully I can get a picture of the snakes and I will also take some shots of this puddle. It is to cool not to share.

Of Bears & Finches

For those unaware, the JH headed down to the KY for a little stay. It was beautiful and totally 100% worth it. So many pretty blooms to match the perfect weather. I often see spring as a nature fashion show of sorts. Everyone brings out their new attire and shamelessly flaunts it. Anyway, coming back we went by way of Sky Line Drive. It might have been slower going but it was worth every single slow minute of our lives. I got to finally see the animal I have been waiting to see. A bear. Albeit a baby bear, so not half as imposing as it could have been but twice as scary as mom was nowhere to be seen. He was looking kind of lost and worried. At first my heart reached out to the little guy and I wondered if we should do anything. Then I remembered if we did do anything and he started making unsatisfied noises, the MIA mom would probably surface and show us exactly why you don't mess with baby bears no matter how scared or worried they may appear. I was also held back by the other person in the car seeming rather confused about the idea of me giving this bear cub a close up photo shoot even if I did have super tasty dog treats. *sigh* Some things are best done alone I suppose.



Never mind all that though, we have more important things at hand don't we? The finches are back in the sweet arms of, well, me. They sat in the super tiny quarantine cage for two whole days. They didn't like it, but they also didn't try to kill each other. I am under the assumption they knew great things were afoot and they were right...




The plans were drawn up and discussed until every detail was just right. In case you don't know what the dwelling looked like before the remodel:



Don't get me wrong, the original construction of that cage awes me to this day. It not only cuts down on mess big time, but it gives them the room to fly about while not being a complete eye sore. But that aside, there were a couple of things that had to be bettered. The first is the single door on the side. If you had to do anything on the side with no door, you had to crawl into the cage and chance the likelihood of finches getting out or it was a two man job with one of those people practicing their contortionist skills by reaching through the opening supplied by the drawer and then twisting their arm up high enough to fix whatever the issue was. Both of these options are frustrating to say the least. The screen. Great in theory but once on it proved to have less visibility than hoped for.

New perches and bird toys were also needed as the others were filthy and not worth cleaning. I found the perches at the bog and in my back yard and constructed them just like you see them at the pet store and then baked them in the oven on high to be rid of any unwanted creepy crawlies. The bird preening toys were made out of natural twine, raffia, wooden beads & shiny metal beads. Not only were the toys super easy (and fun) to make but the little destroyers have begun pulling at them instead of each other which pleases me and shows me I am fantastic at this bird thing.



Anyway... the front screen was removed and in it's place are now three plexiglas pieces. The top piece is and will remain stationary. I find the birds rarely fly down when frightened. This top strip will let them fly about but keep them in the cage if you so decide to reach in to do something. The two pieces below it are doors that open separately and rest easily against the top piece while being held there by our good old reliable friend Velcro. If the doors need to stay held open, there are small chains which come down and hold the doors by the shut up! matching handles! can you stand it? alleviating the fear of the plexiglas bending and snapping off. As you can see this means a crystal clear view of the birds and super easy access.







I don't know about you, but this kind of thing makes me thrilled to the very core. Even if you are a bird hater, you can't deny the awesomeness of the dwelling...

What next? Who knows. Maybe employment.

You could cut the tension with a knife...

There is a surplus of inchworms this year. They're everywhere, swinging around in the air, covering cars... everywhere. My mom has this Lilac bush that she covets. I admit, it's a fabulous plant to have about. Who doesn't like the smell of Lilac right? Well, the inchworms are ravaging this Lilac Bush and I committed myself to saving it's life. I head into the local nursery and as I don't want to buy the wrong thing, head for the front counter. Before I get to the counter, the old dude behind it asks what he can help me with. I answer him nice and loud so he catches it the first time:

Hi! I'm here to get advice on how to get rid of the bugs on my mom's bush. They're making her crazy!

It's to late and we both know it. The entire place has gone DEAD SILENT. I slow down a little and make an apologetic/pained face. Eye contact is immediately ended by him. I can't help but think this is all silly and unnecessary so I say: Lilac people! LILAC BUSH!

Was it helpful? I'm not sure. But at least it got the ball moving in the right direction.

I am now going to go and slaughter an insane number of what is possibly the cutest insect on the planet. I feel like a heartless mass murderer. A heartless mass murderer that has a hard time articulating my needs. Hence the murder. No one has ever fully understood me. You'd kill too. Die die die.

Red Team HOLD! Blue Team GO!

Operation Save The Finches was a total 100% success. Not only did I trim the Spice Finch's super long literally pull off the ends of toes nails, but they were then all stuffed into a smaller easier to transport cage. There was a reason for this. Some upgrades were done to the dwelling. The remodeling took two days but the project is complete and they are all back in flight cage which has some super improvements. New home made preening toys were created and I'm rather impressed by my work. You'll see. I'll get into all of this later and I am assuming you are all as excited as I am about the changes.