Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Aberdeen, Queen of the Zoo

Aberdeen here, the only other female in house.

Aberdeen (blue/grey) and Holland
My brother Holland and I make up the EU Twins (because we are named after places in the European Union, I guess). We are a smidgen shy of 6 months old and were adopted from The Cat House in Lincoln, NE. I like to snuggle with Mom in the evenings and watch as she works on the laptop. Actually, I inhibit her working by walking on the keyboard. Or I make Holland do it as he is well versed in the computer. He watches TV with her and bats at the critters on nature documentaries.

The bird isn't behind the computer? 
I am an elusive kitty. I like to sneak around the house and pop up when Mom is up to something exciting like going to the bathroom or making coffee. I hide under the living room chair while she gets her gear together for the day and stare intently at her feet like I am going to batt them. But only if Jake is not around. That Jake character is intimidating. I don't know what Holland sees in him....I mean he sleeps with a stuffed octopus!

Jake

At least Holland just looks cute when he sleeps:

Holland

Monday, February 23, 2015

The Management

"Mom"

My first pet was a ladybug. I don't remember it but family lore is that I kept it in a baby food jar with a stick and some plants and one day it got misplaced. I was hysterical for days after losing it and kept asking where it was. As I grew older I had a habit of "helping" animals by bringing them home. An embarrassing treasure of a story  is that one day I brought home a headless mole in my pocket and told no one it was there. My father found it when he was doing laundry. I wish I could have seen his face when he found it!

Looking back, my  earliest memory of helping an animal was trying to save a drowning bee. We had a large kiddy pool in our yard in Crete, NE when I was 3 years old. My Dad would let it heat up during the day, and we'd get in our swimsuits in the evening and take our baths out there. One day I came across a bee in the pool and used my hand to get her out. She stung me. If it had gone as planned I don't think I would remember the event. After that day I fished bees/wasps out of water using a leaf or other such object to avoid the tail end of the insect.

Cassie (my sister) and I were exposed to a variety of animals/pets and the result was a deep desire to spend my life with as many as reasonably responsible. As a child I saw the problem with bad husbandry (we didn't know what we were doing a lot of the time) and learned a lot through trial and error. One big influence in my life was my YMCA Big Sister. She worked for Nebraska Game and Parks and she introduced me to birding, tracking, and enjoying wildlife. My love of outdoors, birding, studying field guides and keeping dogs came from her. She rounded out my animal experience, whether she knows it or not.



Saturday, February 21, 2015

It's Raining!

Hiway the neighborhood loud mouth here:

Hiway, Blue and Gold Macaw, Age 14.5
I've discovered that the best way to get Mom to give me a shower is to act squirrely for a day or two. I have to wait until she can safely shower with me, so I have to be somewhat patient. Thankfully she doesn't have her port accessed today (Freedom Day she calls it) so I got enjoy the indoor rain maker with her this afternoon.

I'm a tropical bird, I like water. Unlike Roni and Sine I will not attempt to take a bath in my water dish. Sine is the only one who can actually fit into the water dish, Roni just thinks he can. In reality he looks like a fool splashing water all around. Our fearless leader is like the Emperor in that story...the one where they make imaginary clothes for him and he goes on parade buck naked. Yeah...

Mom bought me a shower perch ages ago, but I refuse to stand on it under the water. So she take a shower (and shaves fur off her legs) then lets me use all the hot water taking my shower with me sitting on her knees. I go hog wild under that water until she says she is getting too cold and then the rain stops. I don't mind, I don't like cold showers either.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Wake Up Call

About 1:49am this morning I was awoken by my mini four legged friend doing his best to wake Mom up from a deep slumber. I prefer to lay on top of her legs then stand over her face to wake her up, or make vomiting noises. That always works. Holland on the other hand thought rubbing against her face while pretending to be a lawn mower (or at least that is what it sounds like) is the key to success. She woke up, but then hid her head under the blanket to avoid getting tormented anymore. Aberdeen, the queen of the house, just watched from on top of the baby gate. She lets her brother do the dirty work.

Holland and "Doc" 

This week has been and off week for us. We didn't go anywhere for three whole days. Then she drops me off to get groomed Tuesday, leaves me in my crate because she had a procedure in the hospital Thursday morning and then again today because she was teaching students how to handle rabbits. 

I like rabbits....

Professor Jake, Service Dog


I hope we get to go somewhere this weekend, and also spend some quality time snoozing on the bed without Holland trying to wake us up. 

Professor Jake
--Jake, Service Dog

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Dispatch from the Land of Hair

Roni here (my real name is Ricky but I love dried pasta so much the Doc (also known as Mom) started calling me Roni ages ago and it stuck) with your news flash of the day:

"Roni" African Grey Parrot, 14.5 years old)

I've been overseeing the Zoo for fourteen, going on fifteen years now. I've seen a lot of things running around in our place, including this monster:

Rook (Bearded Dragon, November 2004-August 2011)

And just when I thought I'd seen it all she came walking in with a crate of juvenile delinquents. They were kept in jail (the bathroom) for a couple days. I don't think they were on parole just yet. Maybe work release? She usually puts critters in there while she tends to them and then they leave. But this time doc put up a baby gate and let them see into the jungle (or land of bird cages as Mom calls it). Now they are running all over the house and competing for the title of midnight tag champion and trying to communicate with me in a foreign tongue. What does "meow" mean? It wasn't in my vocabulary until a few days ago. I already speak English, Lovebird, Macaw and Amazon. I don't need to speak "cat."

Holland, DSH 5 months old
The mammals now equal the birds in number. We no longer live in the land of fur and feathers. We live in the land of hair. Lots, and lots of hair.