The Orphaned Fawn and the Old Golden

Wow, it has been way too long since I posted here! But I have a heartwarming story for you.

My sister Patty is a devoted animal lover and is often called upon by the Sioux City, Iowa, Animal Control to "foster" animals that require special care. Usually her "foster kids" are dogs or cats. She's had the occasional raccoon, baby skunk and deer.

Her newest charge is a deer, but the youngest she's ever had. This little fellow was a late season birth and either orphaned or abandoned. Estimated date of birth is October 5 and he was spotted near the road by a passerby who called Animal Control. They recovered him and called Patty to see if she could take care of him. The challenge for this little one is that, being born so late in the season, he has not had the opportunity to grow and gain strength for the winter. Under Patty's care he is being bottle fed and kept warm.

Patty's 13-year-old Golden Retriever, Bentley, has grown very feeble and they have nearly lost him a couple of times. But here he is providing warmth and surrogacy for this fawn, and contented to do so. He is accustomed to the "foster kids" and has really taken on a special role in this case.



The baby (he doesn't have a name -- we need to fix that) appears to be doing well. One of his struggles is standing and walking on the hardwood floor. Patty said he is like Bambi on ice, with his legs splaying in all directions. As he grows and winter comes, he will still require care and a warm place. He can't stay in the house forever (potty training is not an option) and Patty's barn isn't heated. But, as is always the case, God protects his creatures great and small. For now the great Bentley is providing warmth and comfort for the tiny fawn.

A Rare Sight .....

..... a live armadillo! This is rare for a couple of reasons. One is that he (or she) was in our large grassy area, about 100 yards from the ravine. I had never seen one back there but always suspected they were in the woods. This one came quite close to our fenced-in area. Just wandering around in the open.

(Apologies for the fuzziness of the photo. I grabbed the camera and started shooting without getting the proper lens and settings. Also it was toward dusk. Also, I was on the cell phone and the Canon 40D is not a one-handed instrument. Please, don't talk and shoot!)

The other reason this is a rare photo is that, as many people will attest to, most of the armadillos we see are, uh, road kill. Sad but true. As I was researching why this little fellow might have approached to near the house (and 4 dogs) I found an interesting tidbit of info that explains the common sightings of victims on the road. Here from http://bss.sfsu.edu/geog/bholzman/courses/fall99projects/armadillo.htm:
"Another behavior that has been a fatal one for the nine-banded armadillo is the ability to jump 3-4 feet vertically into the air when it is startled (Wilson, 1997). In the southeastern portion of the U.S., automobiles are constantly killing nine-banded armadillos. At first it was thought that the tires or the front of the car was impacting these armadillos, which do not look both ways before they cross a road. Later it was observed that when an automobile drove over an armadillo, it would be startled and would end up jumping vertically against the car (Storrs, 1982). "

I just hope I never hit one. It would not be the only one jumping 3-4 feet into the air!

So, this little critter waddled back down into the woods, safe another day from motor vehicles.

Thanks for indulging me this little biology lesson. I still get excited seeing these wild creatures in our back yard.

Barb

In God We Trust

Talk About BIG!

This week's Thematic Photographic is BIG.  When I received this email this morning I recognized it as the Hoover Dam ---- and that it is BIG!  This bridge is long overdue for the route from Phoenix to Las Vegas and it is good to see it underway!  Not that I will ever drive over that thing!  I would rather take the Grand Canyon Sky Walk!

THE WIDER VIEW: Taking shape, the new bridge at the Hoover Dam

Creeping closer inch by inch – 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River – the two sides of a $160 million bridge at the Hoover Dam in America slowly take shape. The bridge will carry a new section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting and winding around and across the dam itself. When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada and Arizona. In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive concrete arches which jut out of the rock face. The arches are made up of 53 individual sections – each 24 feet long – which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons.

 

Spectacular: The new Hoover Dam bypass

The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across. At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge. But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed. Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road. The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in Afghanistan. Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day. The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York to San Francisco. The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead, is 110 miles long and took six years to fill. The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936.

Thanks for stopping by and have a BIG day!
 
Barb
 
In God We Trust

Who Could Resist This Face?

We couldn't resist her! She is the newest addition to our family and her name is Mattie. She was needing a good home and I couldn't say no. So she joins our other three Shih Tzus and is very much at home after only one day and one night. She is between 18 months and 2 years old, weighs about 5 pounds, and is a cuddler! She has already had a litter of pups though she still has that puppy smell herself. Mattie is proving to be very smart and photogenic.

Mattie was originally named Bubbles, but I just couldn't take that, so she is Mattie, short for Matilda, one of my favorite children's stories and movies. She is learning her new name pretty quickly, but when all else fails she answers to "Bubba".

Cookie, Emma and Shakes have been very good to her. Smokie the cat, not so much.

Jerry hasn't seen her yet but he has been wanting another Shih Tzu. I was the one resisting it till I met Mattie. He can't wait to see her.

So, welcome, Mattie!

Thematic Photographic 64 --- Big!

The Thematic Photographic theme this week over at Written, Inc. is BIG! The interpretation of that is endless. I have photographed truly big things, big events, big moments, and big mistakes. Then there are the little things I photographed to look big, and the big things I made look small. But some of my favorite subjects are the big animals at the zoo.

This fellow here is one of my favorite giraffes in all the zoos I've visited. He resides at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Everything about him is big, from his big neck, big spots, big horns to those big brown eyes laced with big long eye lashes. I think he is also a big ham because he seemed ready to pose for all who approached. One thing is for sure, he brought big smiles to a lot of faces, big and small.

Join in the big fun and show us your BIG! Just jump over to Carmi's Written, Inc. for the rules and links to others' big photos.

Thanks for stopping by!

Barb

In God We Trust

It Takes Patience to Photograph a Turtle.....

.... but, surprisingly, they can get up quite a head of steam!

Behind our house is a half acre hill that is nothing but thick green grass. Usually I see crows, squirrels or the occasional rabbit out there. Yesterday morning, though, the crows were showing curiosity about a brown lump. At first I couldn't tell what the lump was, but was afraid it might have been a dead critter. The crows weren't picking at it and soon lost interest. I grabbed my camera and used the zoom as a spyglass and discovered this ambitious mud turtle.

This is quite a steep uphill climb, but by the time I set down my nice hot cup of coffee and went down the steps from the deck the little guy was nowhere to be seen. How far can a mud turtle go in just a couple of minutes?

Soon I spotted him near the chain link fence that keeps our dogs from running off and other critters from getting in. Even mud turtles.

I went outside the fence to get better photos and "phlup!", in went head, feet and tail for protection.

Turtles don't come with periscopes, so he had to peek out every now and then to see if I was still there. I was. Patiently waiting.

But like every self-serving photographer I needed better light, so I picked him up and moved him over into the sunlight. He became a little more curious about the lens moving back and forth, so I did get a couple of good macros.

Well, considering I was running around the yard in my jammies, bath robe and slippers, plus I have snoopy neighbors, on top of soaking my slippers in the morning dew, I went back inside the fence to let him go on his way. But he didn't go away. He was back at the fence trying to get in.

He would get his head and legs through, but, of course, not his shell. I couldn't hear it tap against the metal. Not being one to give up easily, he slowly moved over to the next opening and tried again.

Tenaciously, he tried four openings before giving up and sauntering away.

Head held high, he continued his journey.

By the time I went back up to the deck he was out of sight! My guess is he was scooting along the retaining wall toward the front yard.

This might not have been his first visit here. I found a mud turtle about the same size at my front door one day. So, maybe I'll see him again.

I'd Like to Thank the Judges......

Hey, everyone, if you haven't checked out Mike's blog Ozark Photos you are not only missing out on some spectacular photography, but also stunning views of our beloved Ozarks of SW Missouri.

Mike recently hosted a contest to take high noon photos. We all know that high noon can put some very stark lighting and sharp shadows on our photos, but what a challenge to get some shots that really work. I took him up on that challenge and showed some of these shots here. I sent Mike the photo above for the contest and found out this morning that I won first place!! What a great way to start the morning! There were many great photos submitted so be sure to check out Ozark Photos to see them.

Thanks, Mike, for the fun challenge.... what's next? Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and I hope your week is wonderful!

Barb

In God We Trust