Archive for the ‘Pets’ Category

When faced with a neighbor's barking dog how do you feel?

While I prefer to be just as tolerant and law-abiding as the next person, there comes a time when being law abiding and tolerant just plain doesn’t cut it. I love dogs and neighbors, just about equally and I hate barking dogs and neighbors who own barking dogs, just about the same. Since there seems to be parity in these equations, a simple answer should be available.

I’ve spoke to both neighbors twice and my wife has done the same, we’ve even notched it back a generation and I’ve spoken to her dad, hoping he might be able to talk his time-earned wisdom into the situation, each time to no avail. I have noticed a temp dog-muzzle, but it soon disappeared and we were back to the inevitable barking.

The toughest part of this to my way of thinking, at least once I’ve cooled down and put down the weapon that was in my hand, is that the animal is absolutely innocent and the owner is guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. So do I pick up the weapon and rid humanity of the violator or try and think of some other way to solve what has become the never-ending problem?

In life we have many crossroads and this appears to be one for me. Why is this barking such a issue for me? I can see reason, I’m home too much, if I did a better job of occupying myself with things to do outside off the home, I might not notice the large dog next door barking his damn fool head off. I must be running down on my medications, excuse me for a minute.

Ok, back, I do notice that my neighbors both are gone from early in the morning until after late afternoon, they are able to miss the whole thing. I do notice that sometimes it takes very little to set me off and I become awfully close to getting down right nasty to not just my wife, my daughter, the lady at the grocery store last week, that crazy guy turning in front of me yesterday, the kids playing loudly outside when I was trying to read, the person way up the street running his power-washer on a Saturday morning, those stupid birds singing so early this morning, the guy who I just hung up on the phone to.

Hmmm, Don’t tell me I’m part of the solution.

My husband rides a Harley. Some days the call of the road gets to be a necessity and he heads out on the byways of Alabama. So when I saw an article on motorcycling in our local paper I thought if he loves to ride I know there has to be a ton of people enjoy the “ride” with the wind in their face.

“Alabama photographer/motorcyclist, David Haynes’” wrote a book call Motorcycling Alabama: 50 ride loops”. The rides are only about 75 to 150 miles so they are an easy day trip for the weekend rider. His blog covers the rides, he maintains a list of monthly newsletters and offers pictures that will make anyone want to hit the open road.

As a dog-aholic I was pleased to see that he takes his ride with a side car loaded up with his two goldens, Roscoe and Bailey. To add to the cuteness factor is a great story about these two dogs. He says that Bailey once belonged to his neighbor about two miles away. But she met Roscoe and would come a calling regularly. Haynes would let her play and feed her when she came a calling but would take him home after their play time only to find Bailey back on his doorstep. Finally both Haynes and the neighbors agreed that Roscoe and Bailey were smitten with each other and Bailey moved into the Haynes home. So off he goes now riding down the road with these two adorable goldens.

The side car has been expanded to fit Bailey alongside for the ride. Where ever Haynes stops the dogs attract attention. They clearly are in the limelight. In fact when David Haynes starts his rollout tour for his book, Motorcycling Alabama there will be Roscoe and Bailey riding along with him. Probably stealing his thunder!

Website for David Haynes’ blog: http://motorcyclingalabama.info/

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.  ~ Rachel Carson

Just about a decade ago my husband and I moved into the house we are living in. It is the first time since we have been children that we decidedly returned to a rural community. New sounds and sights that we had not seen in the large cities were now all around us. Horton was the first significant visitor to our home.

Horton is an owl. He comes regularly to visit with his mate. The first time I ran into this great bird was one evening I was out in the back yard. It was dark. I noticed that I had left the door open to the garden shed so I went out to close it. There on the corner of our shop sat a Barn Owl who promptly let a deep strong hoo, hoo to alert to me of his presence. I was both surprised and impressed.

Barn Owl

I didn’t think much of Horton after that but soon I realized he and his mate were residents in our small rural neighborhood. I usually hear them in the predawn morning. As I did this morning. Just as it was barely light I let the dogs out and decided to step out to enjoy the sunrise. There in my pine tree was Horton! A nice loud hoo, hoo from Horton and within seconds a answering call came two houses down from Horton’s mate! As I walked around listening I was led by a firefly, another wonder of a southern rural community. What a surprise! And what a pleasant experience.

For years Mr. and Mrs Horton have come back. I pondered how

long Barn Owls live. While owls are generally nocturnal the early morning hours or early evening I have seen Horton. I think these two owls have settled in to this area because there is plenty of food and protection. I know Barn Owls are rather short-lived so I wonder if what I am hearing are offspring. But I don’t care because The Hortons are legendary now.I guess I should not be too surprise that I have the pleasure of their visits as they are one of the most wide spread land birds worldwide.

It always makes my day to have a visit from the Hortons. Every day I go out into nature. I really need it, no exaggeration.  I love these birds. They are not like the other species that I hear flocking into my trees every evening. My dogs take it as a natural occurrence to hear the owls calling back and forth. This time of year they are more concerned with the rabbits trying to breach their guard to the vegetable garden. It is a serious job and they take it seriously.

So for now I am the one that enjoys the Hortons.

What a great weekend! We “unplugged” (okay well, except the phone) and drove to the furthest point south in the State of Alabama. Dauphin Island. The weather was perfect. The first morning we started the day watching the rosy dawn with the sound of the Island Ferry docking in the distance. What a great way to wake up. Throughout the day we could see the bay with boats and the ferry coming in and out. And off on the horizon could be seen oil rigs that turn on lights at night that remind me of Christmas lights lit up reflecting on the water’s surface.  Not a cloud in sky, mild nights and refreshing sea air. Ah, we were on “Island Time”.

This little tiny island has so many things to do and within walking distance. You can walk from the campground directly down to Mobile Bay which takes all off 5 to 10 minutes. On the bay there are two great points of interest. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab offers an aquarium as well as the estuairum. The Estuarium is an exciting educational facility highlighting the four key habitats of coastal Alabama: the Mobile Tensaw River Delta, Mobile Bay, the Barrier Islands and the Northern Gulf of Mexico. It includes the 10,000 square foot Exhibit Hall and Living Marsh Boardwalk.

Then further down within site of the Estuairum is Fort Gaines. This is one of my favorite places because I am a history buff. Best known for the battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War you can stand on the wall facing the ocean and imagine hearing the words of Admiral David Farragut as he said, “Damn to the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

And right outside our camp was the famous Audubon bird sanctuary, Dauphin Island Audubon Bird Sanctuary has my heart  because I have been into birding my whole life. And while we were there the birds were migrating. ” Many species of birds, called neotropical migrants, nest in North America and spend the winter in Latin America. Twice each year these birds migrate the long distances between wintering grounds and spring nesting locations. Each spring millions of birds that wintered in Central and South America are driven north by the urge to establish breeding territories and select mates. They first push north to the Yucatan Peninsula and the adjacent Mexican coast.

Beginning in early March, migrants reach the tip of the peninsula and if the weather conditions are favorable, just after sunset, migrants leave Mexico and head north across the Gulf of Mexico. The trip across the Gulf is 600 miles and with good weather takes about 18 hours. Arriving on the Texas coast midday, some of these birds stop on the coast; but most will fly inland until nightfall.”

As you can tell it was quite a treat to spend part of three days and two nights on the Island this past weekend. And even our dogs enjoyed it. We nestled our small motor home in the middle of four oak trees. The squirrels and birds did not disappoint. They showed up and watched us eat in hopes of getting a morsel. Our dogs, Pip and Lizzie, guarded our campsite until they were exhausted. We have been home a couple of days and they are still recovering from the necessary job of guarding.

This was one of more pleasant mini vacations we have taken. If you get a chance I highly recommend a visit to Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Or more directly Lizzie, my English Springer Spaniel, is obsessed with capturing every anole she can find in our yard.

This time of year the anole lizard is plentiful in the southern United States. And they are very territorial which runs smack into Lizzie’s territory. And so the season begins with the anoles trying to stake out their territory in our yard and Lizzie trying to control the takeover. But alas, the anoles are fighters and very aware. Bold to a fault coming closer, ever so closer to the huge brown and white furry specie trying to dominant the territory. And since the breeding season for these little critters is in the spring they can be seen in a mating dance. Oh, and if they are not careful the predator will win the day.

Lizzie wears herself out watching every flower, bush or tree. She can pace for hours up and down from the rain barrel along the gutter line looking up persistently in hopes to win the day. Only to come in for the evening exhausted from a day’s hunt.

I use to think that a Springer was a hunting dog. I mean a dog who hunted with their hunter for like say, ducks or pheasants. But in the absence of this they will use that hard wired drive to hunt something else. This time of year it is the anole; in the fall it is the squirrels jumping from tree to tree trying to wrestle a few pecans away for winter storage. This is when I hear her barking from tree to tree following them across the yard.

But she never barks at anoles. I think it is because they are quick and they change colors sometimes. They can go from a bright green to a dark brown coloration because their pigment cells or chromatophores are responsible. If they want to be turn yellow then xanthophores are responsible, or blue (my favorite) call on the cyanphores pigmentation, all the colors are pretty. I have never seen an anole turn black (melanophores also responsible for brown) but then I have not seen them cold or distressed. Mostly I just see them in their bright green presentation.

But Lizzie sees every one in our yard no matter what color they are. I know that mating season will be over when Lizzie isn’t spending every waking moment outside hunting anoles and trying to regain her territory. But for now she is like a small child who gets exhausted from too much play that needs to be told to come in to relax.

I would have asked Lizzie to explain this herself but she fell asleep and left it to me to share with you! She is too tired to even dream of her prey. It probably is for the best that I explain her hunt becuase her eyes would just glaze over in fixation mode to be on point!

This is how I see anoles most of the time but they have be very active for me to see them. Lizzie has a keen eye and see anoles even when they blend into the environment.

So what about pigeons? We see them in city streets and around us all the time. We have gotten so use to them that well, you know, we consider them pests.

Pigeon House in Egypt

The other day someone sent me a picture of pigeon houses in Egypt. Hmm.. I thought, so what is the deal with pigeons anyway? Besides the fact that they have lived among us for thousands of years what possible use could they have right?

Well lo and behold pigeons have a ton of great uses and are very smart! In fact they are considered one of the most intelligent birds on this planet. Did you know the little critter can recognize their own image  in a “mirror test”.  And that is not all. They can recognize all 26 letters of the English language. They also have the ability to conceptualize  meaning they recognize and separate what they see.

Oh don’t be caught off guard by their bobbing heads as they bop around the yard. There is actually a reason those little avian do that. Theyhave  monocular vision so they bob their heads for depth perception Yep. They have a reason for bobbing about, it is so they can correctly orient themselves.

Pigeons have been war heroes and messengers. Many religious groups feed pigeons for religious reasons. In the Christian religion a pigeon (otherwise known as a dove) is used as a symbol of peace and of the Holy Spirit.

That bird does get around, does it not! I think the thing that intrigues me most about pigeons is how they can remember where they came from and where they are going. While there are many theories as to why that happens “a 10 year study at Oxford University concluded that pigeons use roads and freeway to navigate, in some cases even changing direction at freeway junctions”. Still others feel the earth’s magnetic field has something to do with their homing abilities but, for whatever reason it is a remarkable feat, would you not agree?

Two famous pigeons that received recognition were Cher Ami (Dear friend) who saved the lives of French soldiers by carrying messages across enemy lines. Poor Cher Ami was shot in the chest and leg. But! the pigeon got the message home.  For that Cher Ami was awarded the French ‘Croix de Guerre’ for heroic service. Another pigeon of note was G.I. Joe who saved the lives of thousands of soldiers who served in World War II. G.I. Joe received the ‘Dickin” medal for bravery after flying 20 miles in 20 minutes.

So you thought pigeons were just another pest in your yard or on your window sill? Think again. They are big business in some circles. Can you believe one racing pigeon was sold for a cool $132,517.00? Some famous people today just love this little humble bird.

What got me to thinking about pigeon fanciers was Mike Tyson whom I saw on a TV spot the other day. He is a pigeon enthusiast and I later learned he is in good company with the late Elvis Presley and Paul Newman.

So who decided that pigeons were just pest? Who decided that they needed to go? I learned that early in the 20th century we humans completely wiped out the passenger pigeon. And to what end?  I think pigeons need to be respected for their role in our lives. People have chosen to take them in for various reasons and the lowly pigeons aka dove merely cooperated. So the next time you see a pigeon, think about how smart they are and how people have found a way to use their intelligence to aide them in our lives.

You can find more amazing facts about pigeons at http://www.deterapigeon.com/21-amazing-facts-about-pigeons.htm . At this website are probably questions that you have wondered about. But whatever you find you will never look at pigeons the same way again!