Plans

Happy New Year!

I resolve this year to figure out a way to get Bingu kitty to chew his treats instead of swallowing them whole.

Have I mentioned how awesome Norway is?

The headline reads "Once again Norway has been voted the best country in the world for humans."
Yes, according to the UN, "Norway cinches the spot as the overall best country to live in, in the world—making this the 12th continuous year that it’s taken the title. Out of nearly 200 countries, Norway continues to score the highest in life expectancy, education, and standard of living, as well as in a number of smaller subcategories... ."

But for reindeer, it's decidedly NOT hospitable. Not only are they a source of red meat in Norway, badass Norwegian eagles have developed a taste for Rudolph and his fellow sleigh-pullers as well. "Olav Strand of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research told New Scientist that he has seen golden eagles kill adult reindeer weighing more than 130 pounds."

Heymomheymomheymomheymomheymom...watch this.

The cat does a lot of things while we're at work all day, but one thing he does NOT do is screw with the Christmas tree. This is Bingu's 3rd Christmas with us and he has not damaged our tree while we were away ever.

He waits 'til we get home.

Seriously. He has attempted to chew two branches and eaten at least three strands of tinsel in just the three days the tree's been up this year. But only if I'm watching.
Idiot cat.

Here kitty kitty

This story suggests that it is time to retire the idea of a "crazy cat lady." The article note that "Although cats are the world's most popular pets — outnumbering dogs by three to one — they're widely assigned negative personality traits while dogs are regarded as man's best friend." And suggests that one of the best ways to remove the stigma associated with cats is to post kitty selfies. So here is mine:

Get a cat at your local shelter. They are soft, sweet, companions who are extraordinarily low-maintenance, remarkably affectionate, and hardly ever tell you to shut up.

They'll take that

I was so sure I posted yesterday. The mind is the first to go in old age...
Now I know why AARP recommends all those brain-teasers.

Perhaps I'll blame the lack of a post on the thieving squirrel-Qaeda. They will steal anything.

squirrel-Qaeda operatives stealing (clockwise from top left) graham crackers, bar peanuts, apple, blueberries, potato chips, pillow stuffing.

Cute or not?

The whole Internet has glommed onto the NY subway rat who is carrying a whole slice of pizza home to the family.

But, what about the squirrel who chowed on the milk shake from Shake Shack right there in the park?

 

Don't let the squirrels have a pass just because of their fuzzy tails. You're playing right into the terrorists' hands.

Empty nest

 The woodpeckers in my neighborhood (both red-headed and red-bellied) are out of their nests and coming to the feeder all day. I know the technical term for these guys is "juvenile" but that seems so detention-center. Until their red fills in, I'm referring to them as tweens.

Butterfly

I have a giant clump of bronze fennel in the garden that appeals to the papilio polyxenes. We have no fewer than six black swallowtail caterpillars chowing on the fennel right now.

Edit to add best pic of all:

Happy post 4th of July

Due to the fact that my entire head decided to fill with mucous on Saturday, I missed the 4th of July festivities. Instead I went to bed at 5 o'clock and tried to sleep in between, nose-blowing, barking neighbors' dogs, and loud firecrackers. (For a state in which setting off fireworks is illegal, there sure were a lot of boom-boom-boom on Saturday in my neighborhood.)
I'm still not quite right in the head (right sinus and ear plugged 90% of the time), but I'm feeling on the mend.
One of the things I did do, was watch the hummingbird feeder outside my big front window. I have seen (and likely you have too) the videos where someone in a never-neverland of hummingbirds has about 80 birds hovering over feeders in her yard. This is an empirical impossibility based on my observations because these birds are ridiculously, fiercely territorial. I have witnessed hummingbird grudge matches that would put professional wrestlers to shame. There is a ton of nectar in my feeder and four feeding ports spaced a good two inches apart from each other, but these little critters will be damned if they have to eat with a partner.  Maybe they slurp?

Also, the next time a guy with a microphone and video camera walks up to you, please be able to tell him that on the 4th of July we celebrate our declaration of independence from England, ratified on July 4, 1776. 

Zootastic

I took a couple of days off. We went to the zoo. I may have mentioned once or twice, how much I love the zoo. Even better: the Cleveland zoo has a carousel now. That's right. A merry-go-round/zoo combo is nearly a perfect summer pairing.
I had such a hard time deciding which animal to ride, I went twice. Really. The clown fish? The bald eagle? What about a classic like the tiger or lion? A fruit bat? A cuttlefish? Seriously, you can ride a cuttlefish--

both photos courtesy of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

In the end I chose the naked mole rat and the octopus. Because how many times can you say you've ridden a naked mole rat?

Hawkish on terrorism

Never let it be said that the residents of the White House are not protecting us from the dangers of squirrel-Qaeda.
The New York Times reports a red-tailed hawk "has been spotted several times stalking prey on the White House lawn, including last week when it dived and grabbed an unfortunate squirrel and tore into it at lunchtime... ."

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Tom Auer of the National Audubon Society says, “If they find a good population of squirrels, they will stay until the food supply is exhausted.” 

That's right, squirrel-Qaeda, your days are numbered.

Be nice to the earth today --and everyday!

Find out what kind of creature you are for Earth Day thanks to Google.
I am a squid.

After hours

What happens on a Tuesday after happy hour and dinner at the Wine Bar:
I fall asleep in my big orange chair, wake up at midnight and stumble to bed without posting a thing.
Update-- To apologize, here is a thing.

Idiot cat

Our cat's favorite "toy" is used q-tips.
And that is no April fool,  --as anyone who has stepped on a half-chewed wet cotton swab in the middle of the night can tell you.

His second favorite is bread bag twist-ties.

Bald Eagle for the win

'Murica! Our national symbol keeping us safe from the terrors of squirrel-Qaeda.

actual bald eagle still capture from local "eagle-cam" video. The squirrel who came to dinner.

Why not?

As is evidenced by my lack of a Friday Book Blog on even the most generously defined regularity, I am not a good correspondent. I had, years ago, promised that I would post here daily, five times a week. As if it were a job. But jobs are work, and work takes the fun out of posting.
Alternately, if I don't post regularly, the few readers I have, will disappear. And while most of what I say is drivel, some of it is actually important to me. And by extension, I feel it ought to be important to you.
However, on days like today, when we are sunk in the very dregs of winter, and I try to not let the blackened ice mountains of months-old snow in parking lots filled with more holes than the streets of Gaza get to me, on days like today, it's impossible to come up with either the witty or profound. So here is a link to hamsters. Because why not?

Totally safe for work

Since I failed to do a proper Friday Book Blog, let me take a moment to share with you a book I discovered by accident. Because 1. who would go looking for this? and 2. who would even think it existed? (As usual, I'm late for this train with a dozen news articles covering this last year.)
Allow me to introduce you to the book of Cocks. Realistically I should wait until 2017 which is the Year of the Cock, but I couldn't hold onto this that long. Don't be afraid to click on the link. It's not at all like the book I posted in February of 2006.  How can you not fall in love with this guy?

photo by Earnest Goh

Gong Xi Fa Cai

HAPPY CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR!
This is the year of the sheep.
No, no. It's the year of the goat.
No, wrong. It's the year of the ram.


Baaaaaaa.

Apparently, it's a "Western" issue: Zhao Shu, a folklore expert at the Beijing Institute of Culture and History, said in a telephone interview that the debate was silly. The creature in question arose as a general symbol of plenitude and good fortune, partly because the Chinese character yang shares roots with the one for auspiciousness, he said.

 If English speakers are caught up on whether it is a sheep or a goat, that is their problem, Mr. Zhao added.

Stay warm out there

Yesterday and today, we woke up to a temperature of -3°F. Three below zero is cold. Yet I bundle up and go outside to fill the bird feeder and the cat dishes and put fresh water down (that's not a solid block of ice), and the animals come. Squirrels, rabbits, tons of birds, the two feral cats, even a few deer came by last night.
I can't stand to be out in it for more than 15 minutes at a time, but all these creatures LIVE in this weather. How do they do that?

This is how:
There is a wide array of morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations for winter survival.  A few examples are provided below, but investigations into the lives of active winter animals will reveal many combinations of survival strategies.

• Bergmann's Rule states that northern species of a particular genus or similar class of birds or mammals tend to be larger in size, although this is not always true.  Larger body size means a higher body mass-to-surface area ratio.  It's easier to retain heat.  Polar bears are larger than tropical bears.  White-tailed deer in Michigan dress out at higher weights than their counterparts in Texas or Florida.  
• Body appendages tend to get smaller in the north, as a heat conservation measure.  Snowshoe hares have smaller ears that cottontail rabbits.   Mammalian legs and snouts are frequently shorter and stouter.
• Specialized fat, called brown fat, is produced during the food-rich seasons and expended during cold seasons.  This is also the kind of fat that most hibernators use for arousal and many migrators use for fuel.
• Various "heat exchange" mechanisms can be found in animal circulatory systems that reduce heat loss to body extremities.
• Certain fish and herptiles produce chemicals within and between cell walls that can lower their freezing temperature a few degrees.  In sheltered environmental niches, these few degrees can mean the difference between life and death.
• Some mammals, such as flying squirrels and small rodents, will occupy collective dens to conserve body heat, even though some species are non-colonial during the warm season.  This is part of the reason that some species of snakes will do the same thing.
• Food preferences change with the season.  Some browsers, such as white-tailed deer, have changes in digestive enzymes to cope with the different food sources.  This is one of the reasons why biologists argue against winter deer feeding.  If not done correctly, a deer can starve to death with a belly full of corn.
• Ruffed grouse "snow roost" during periods of extreme cold.  Snow provides a very effective barrier against severe cold.    They will rest under the snow until the severe weather passes.  Folks who snowshoe or cross-country ski too close to these snow roosts are often caught off-guard when a grouse explodes out of the snow.  Large piles of grouse droppings are spring-time indicators of how severe the winter was. 
• Aquatic mammals, such as otter and mink, grow thick layers of insulating fat and have specialized fur.  Similarly, ducks, geese, and swans have feathers and oil glands that keep water away from the skin.  Some have efficient circulatory heat exchangers between the body and the feet.  It's usually not the cold that causes waterfowl to migrate.  It's more a matter of food shortages. 
• Birds and mammals undergo seasonal changes in feathers and pelage.  Trappers know that winter pelts are the highest quality because they are thicker and have different kinds of hair.
• Muskrats and beaver construct shelters, partly for protection from severe weather.  A number of animals dig burrows, such as groundhogs, foxes, chipmunks, and moles. 
• Many species of birds can adjust their internal body temperature downward to reduce the temperature gradient with environmental temperatures, thus reducing heat loss.  They also tend to shiver a lot to maintain body temperatures. 

Bunnies

I have written no fewer than three blog posts today and not one has been worth sharing. Instead, I bring you squirrel-Qaeda's larger and fluffier outlier: jackrabbits.

The rabbits appear to be multiplying like, well… rabbits. And since they showed up in December, they are wreaking havoc through the neighborhood. Local animal control officials say there is nothing they can do since the rabbits are considered to be wild animals. [...]
According to the University of California, the jackrabbit is about as large as a house cat and weighs up to nine pounds. “The breeding season for jackrabbits runs from late January through August, although breeding is possible during any month of the year where winters are mild. Litters average between two to three young, and jackrabbits can have as many as five to six litters per year. Young jackrabbits are born fully furred and with their eyes open. Within a day they can move about quite rapidly,” the website says.

Nine pounds of bunny eating machine times 50. And as anyone familiar with Monty Python knows, these animals are killers.
Also, in case you need to know when reporting a terror attack by these critters, the collective noun for a group of jackrabbits is a husk.