Adventures in Nature

I got so busy writing daily animal birth and conservation stories for ZooBorns.com that I had to step back a bit from my usual story-telling blog posts here, opting instead to post funny animal pics or videos just to put out that daily dose for my readers. It's all good, but it's quite different content than what had been this blog's usual fare. 

When I lived in Houston and had the time to walk in Hermann Park and make astonishing relationships with all the wild animals (to the point that people began calling me Snow White), when I was a Docent and a Carnivore Keeper's Aid at the Zoo and later worked there in Interactive Marketing, when I was an Animal Rescue and Rehabber both at home and for the Wildlife Center of Texas, I reported here on all the animals in my world. I wrote about a wide variety of  encounters, but narratives on some regular characters began to emerge.... Kiva, the Zoo giraffe, aka my boyfriend, the complex and tender relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Goose, the devoted pair of Chinese Geese from the Park, and the baby squirrels I rehabbed at home, starting after Hurricane Ike flung about 2500 babies from their nests - and how all, from neonates to the mothers, all ended up in our rehab center to be fed, squiggle, and be nursed back to health and returned to the wild - to name a few. 

Below are some of the best of those posts, to revisit if you have been a long-time reader, or to discover if you are new here. You can also pick your favorite species and just click on the list to your right, and all the stories about them will come up. 

Happy reading! 

The Houston Zoo: 

First Day as a Keeper's Aide at the Zoo: Grizzlies
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/08/poo-of-pooh.html

About my boyfriend Kiva, the 19' tall giraffe: http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/09/im-in-love.html

Swimming Cats - The Malaysian Tiger:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/04/only-big-cat-that-likes-water.html 

Hermann Park: 

Mr. and Mrs. Goose - Love and Marriage
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/09/fluffy-butts.html 

When Mrs. Goose returned after being missing for weeks:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/08/shes-baaaack.html

Playing catch with wild Blue Jays:
(The clip that caught me tossing a nut and the Blue Jay catching it)
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-believe-it.html


Wildlife Rehab : 

Hilarious footage of an orphaned baby goat's first day at the center.
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/02/thursday-at-wildlife-center-woman-in.html  

A two-part story about two little fox squirrels who almost didn't make it.  The first is about getting them well and having to return them to the Center *sob* http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/11/love-is-letting-go.html

The second is about going to see how they'd settled in and how they'd grown....
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-give-thanks.html

Squirrel Philosophy:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/01/guardian.html

The day I found two chickens clearly out of place in a very ritzy neighborhood, and how I had to sneak them into my high rise to spend the night before I could take them to a wildlife center.
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/04/found-two-chickens.html

Part two - Morning delivery of the pair of Chickens and the Rooster who was pretty happy to see the new roommates: 
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-found-two-chickens-part-two.html


AND.... SAVING THE MOST AMUSING IN THIS CATEGORY FOR LAST:

Funny squirrel sleeping positions
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/08/sleep-clinic_22.html 

More hilarious squirrel sleeping positions:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-sleep-positions.html

Have a little visitor for the night. A baby bunny. 



Heard the worst prolonged screams - thought it was a strange bird. Heard pitiful cries again. Saw a cat staring intently at something in the yard - when I went out the cat (with collar) scrammed. Heading back in I looked in the direction it was focused on and saw this little brown bunny. I went to pick it up and it screamed (probably in shock by then) and hopped a few hops under my blackberry bush. Saw that its fur was fully pulled back from one hind quarter but no apparent open wounds, no blood. 

It was after 7:30 pm so no vets would be around, and there are no rehabbers near. Spoke to one and left messages for many. Have in a box with towel in quiet, next to window for air and hearing familiar crickets, though box is mostly covered. When I put grass and clover in, the bunny, who had been cowering with eyes shut and barely breathing, moved right on top of the grass. 

I dressed the exposed "skin" with pain relief Neosporin as the rehabber directed and put the fur back over it. Zero struggle (but I am very quiet, slow and gentle). 

Bunnies are low on the food chain and I learned when I did baby bunny rehabbing at the Wildlife Center of Texas that they are blessed with a system that lets them die quickly and easily rather than be aware while in the jaws of something. I thought for sure that would kick in. 

Bunny has perked up quite a bit, so I have hope it will live through the night so I can get it help. Send out a little prayer pls!

This morning I dreaded lifting the towel covering the baby box but I was met with a bright eyed little one and lots of poop pellets. I think that's a good sign. Can't tell if any grass or clover was eaten so put a little lettuce in and some water in a shallow saucer. It began to pour and early birds were singing so I was hoping at least the sounds of nature were helping balance the not-natural environment of a plum colored bath towel. 


It's staying in the corner, of course frightened of me and looks smaller today than it did last night. I do hope that the Nevins Farm SPCA where I take kids a few times a year to teach them about animal rescue and rehab can take this baby -a vet might just put it to sleep. 

Will report back. I don't know if they can stitch fur back on or what, but I do want it to get antibiotics if needed and hopefully be released back into the wild, which is always the hope.

That same trip I went to visit the UVA Campus and at the front steps I saw this phenomenon….

I always enjoyed coaxing squirrels out of the trees or across a loan to try to get them to eat out of my hand. And I succeeded many times.  It was always a special relationship to

When I started to save sick, injured or orphaned baby squirrels as a part of the animal rehab place I volunteered at, I was their mother.  I nursed them back to health and watched them grow, some of them from the neophyte stage - hairless, eyes not even developed, and so small it was nothing short of astonishing that they were alive - and opened their mouths and nursed with vigor 10x beyond their size.

Here's a neonate that is already furring. I have had them before they're even at this stage. They are about the size of your palm when cupped at this point:


















As I nurtured them through every stage till they could eat solid foods and be given to another rehabber for the next stage of acclimation to the outdoors so they could be released back into the wild, I began to have a real curiosity about how they were raised by their own mothers.  I can identify squirrel nests from a mile away, a large leaf covered globe - with a roof not just a bottom part like birds -- or in some even more mysterious hole in a hollow tree - and always wondered what went on in there.

There are so very few pictures of them. People know I'm a squirrel nut so send me videos and pictures and cards galore - I've seen them all, multiple times. But I got this the other day and it was a first.


I love seeming those little babies all curled together, their fur so shiny, their soft little heads, just as they were in my fleece-lined cereal bowls that I made to mock a warm, cozy nest.

I need to Google some kind of Squirrel Nest Cam - not sure if there is one because they would most likely not pick a spot that'd been tampered with… If you know of any, or have any more pictures like this, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

Jeff Irwin put this out on social media -This turtle likely crawled through a discarded plastic ring of a 6-pack of beer or soda when it was a baby, and now is being forever strangled in a plastic hangman's noose! 

Don't worry, Friday is coming!

"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way." -- John Muir

I have not personally tried this because I am not a tick magnet. But I know people who are. There is so much lyme disease going around that I'd think anything that might prevent that is worth passing on. I read of this method today so am posting it in case it can help. 

I got so busy writing daily animal birth and conservation stories for ZooBorns.com that I had to step back a bit from my usual story-telling blog posts here, opting instead to post funny animal pics or videos just to put out that daily dose for my readers. It's all good, but it's quite different content than what had been this blog's usual fare. 

When I lived in Houston and had the time to walk in Hermann Park and make astonishing relationships with all the wild animals (to the point that people began calling me Snow White), when I was a Docent and a Carnivore Keeper's Aid at the Zoo and later worked there in Interactive Marketing, when I was an Animal Rescue and Rehabber both at home and for the Wildlife Center of Texas, I reported here on all the animals in my world. I wrote about a wide variety of  encounters, but narratives on some regular characters began to emerge.... Kiva, the Zoo giraffe, aka my boyfriend, the complex and tender relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Goose, the devoted pair of Chinese Geese from the Park, and the baby squirrels I rehabbed at home, starting after Hurricane Ike flung about 2500 babies from their nests - and how all, from neonates to the mothers, all ended up in our rehab center to be fed, squiggle, and be nursed back to health and returned to the wild - to name a few. 

Below are some of the best of those posts, to revisit if you have been a long-time reader, or to discover if you are new here. You can also pick your favorite species and just click on the list to your right, and all the stories about them will come up. 

Happy reading! 

The Houston Zoo: 

First Day as a Keeper's Aide at the Zoo: Grizzlies
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/08/poo-of-pooh.html

About my boyfriend Kiva, the 19' tall giraffe: http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/09/im-in-love.html

Swimming Cats - The Malaysian Tiger:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/04/only-big-cat-that-likes-water.html 

Hermann Park: 

Mr. and Mrs. Goose - Love and Marriage
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/09/fluffy-butts.html 

When Mrs. Goose returned after being missing for weeks:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2008/08/shes-baaaack.html

Playing catch with wild Blue Jays:
(The clip that caught me tossing a nut and the Blue Jay catching it)
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-believe-it.html


Wildlife Rehab : 

Hilarious footage of an orphaned baby goat's first day at the center.
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/02/thursday-at-wildlife-center-woman-in.html  

A two-part story about two little fox squirrels who almost didn't make it.  The first is about getting them well and having to return them to the Center *sob* http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/11/love-is-letting-go.html

The second is about going to see how they'd settled in and how they'd grown....
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-give-thanks.html

Squirrel Philosophy:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/01/guardian.html

The day I found two chickens clearly out of place in a very ritzy neighborhood, and how I had to sneak them into my high rise to spend the night before I could take them to a wildlife center.
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/04/found-two-chickens.html

Part two - Morning delivery of the pair of Chickens and the Rooster who was pretty happy to see the new roommates: 
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-found-two-chickens-part-two.html


AND.... SAVING THE MOST AMUSING IN THIS CATEGORY FOR LAST:

Funny squirrel sleeping positions
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2009/08/sleep-clinic_22.html 

More hilarious squirrel sleeping positions:
http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-sleep-positions.html

Even though we're moving into spring, this still applies. Remember to check all four wheels. Please pass this along!

The I Brake for Squirrels bumper sticker.  I would put this on my car and that is saying alot.
Only $5.99. I'm ordering one. Are you with me? CLICK HERE to order from Kabdoodle.



PS: Click the link - they have all kinds of other ones, like I Brake for Zombies, sure to come in handy this holiday...

Just right for the Squirrel lover?

This little pillow cover is meant for a 16 x 16 throw, with designs front ant back at only $20.  Also available as a piece of framable art, a tee shirt, stationery cards, a phone case, an ipad sleeve etc... just check it out on Society6.com.


Throw Pillow Cover made from 100% spun polyester poplin fabric, a stylish statement that will liven up any room. Individually cut and sewn by hand, the pillow cover measures 16" x 16", features a double-sided print and is finished with a concealed zipper for ease of care. Does not include pillow insert.

I went waking in The Park for the first time in a little while and visited some of my little friends. I always feel I've earned my day on earth if I've fed a squirrel... 

“He could tell by the way animals walked that they were keeping time to some kind of music. Maybe it was the song in their own hearts that they walked to.” 
― Laura Adams Armer, Waterless Mountain Dew

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
~ John Muir

The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose.
Charles Dickens

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~John Muir

These babies have made international news with their antics - they are joy personified. If you haven't already, meet Baylor and half sis Tupelo from the Houston Zoo. It was a joy to see them come into the world and grow.

Seriously, there is no way to not have every trouble on your mind disappear or any mood you're in be lightened by just pressing play. SHARE IT!

Breaking News: Lonesome George, the famous, last remaining Pinta Island giant tortoise, who long serves as a conservation symbol for  the Galapagos Islands passed away Sunday. He has no known offspring and so this is the end of the line for yet another species of animal on this earth. 





I had the express pleasure of editing and publishing the blog series by Dr. Joe Flanagan, the Houston Zoo's marvelous vet. He kept a diary of his time in the Galapagos on one recent trip to help giant tortoises repopulate Pinta Island. You can read his whole series HERE, you just need to start at the bottom and work your way up.

To quote Dr. Joe: His island was stripped of tortoises by pirates and whalers in the 17th and 18th centuries. This species of Galapagos tortoise was thought to be extinct until George was found in 1971.  He was transferred to the Charles Darwin Station in 1972 and is now housed with 2 female tortoises from another island in hopes that he might reproduce. Despite many attempts, there have been no fertile eggs, and the hope of finding a female tortoise from the island of Pinta anywhere else in the world, including zoos and private collections, is very slim.

Read more about Lonesome George's passing HERE.

There are two kinds of cats - the talkative, bendable, must-be-with-you-at-all-times lap cat, and the cold, cigarette smoking, trench coat wearing cats - too cool for you.  My childhood cat Puff was the latter. I loved him more than anything or anyone in the world.

I dealt with his testy meows, his rejections, and finnicky eating habits for his short life of 10 years... and I told you how much I loved him anyway right?  But if I could have another cat, I'd hope to get one like this calico who ran up to greet me when I checked into the Paia Inn in Maui.

She chatted with me as she led me to my room, came right in as I unpacked, walked back out the door with me, and bid me a noisy adieu as we parted ways in the parking lot.

The next morning I went to get coffee on the lanai and found her napping on a chair. True to form, though you can tell she is a little groggy, she immediately snapped awake and said not one but four hellos.

I read somewhere that Muscovy ducks have a life span of about three to maybe five years. This then leads me to be extra delighted when I visit The Park and find Elvis safe and sound, since I've been visiting him at The Park for about 5 years already. I've written much about Elvis on this blog, but if you haven't read it, CLICK HERE to get your introduction.

Yesterday, while walking through a quaint little village, I saw something fuzzy scampering across the cobblestones quite a ways ahead of me. I always have an instinct for squirrels. Friends tease me that I'm like the dog in whatever kids movie that is, that always says "Squirrel!" In fact, that is exactly what I do. I wish I could be as observant of everything else, or more important things, like my stock portfolio, but alas, that stuff is not cute.

I immediately abandoned where I was headed and followed the little thing until I got close enough to identify that it was indeed a squirrel. He was quite off balance by something he was carrying in his mouth - way too big to be a nut.

I did my best to scamper behind him, moving fast enough to gain ground but not so fast as to make him move even faster, thinking something was pursuing him. He'd stop but by the time I'd get my darn auto-focus camera to stabilize, he'd take off again. Finally I got a shot of what he had snagged for lunch...

I never have a clue what they're really thinking.

Very very sad today. Mourning the loss of Kiva the giraffe, who passed away this morning in the safe and excellent care of the Houston Zoo vet and hoofed stock staff. A very special being, the most charming and engaging creature I've ever known. Long-time readers of this blog will recognize him as "my boyfriend". He was the first animal I really bonded with when I began at the Zoo, and our little love affair carried on over the 4 years I was there-- and it will continue. So gentle for his size, and such a flirt... with only me, of course. 


You forever marked my heart, tall guy.


Here was the blog post I'd written about him back in September of 2008. You can read more about Kiva and his family by clicking the Giraffe category from the list to the right of this page.


I'm In LOVE!


Again. Used to be with the zoo's very handsome lion Jonathan, and though I'm still sweet on him, for the last 8 months or so I've been charmed away by the big, tall male giraffe. I've a huge crush on him and it seems like my affections are returned. In fact, I've been positively encouraged by him, I'm convinced of it. He pays me a lot of attention when I'm on the sidewalk, bats his huge brown eyes at me, and follows me until he can't see anymore (and at his height, that's a long way). Though in reality he's probably interested in a lot of folks, I'm in denial and am quite sure WE have a special relationship. Today was further proof of it.


My niece pointed out that his head is 4 times bigger than my own and they are right. These beings are unspeakably beautiful and awe-inspiring. To have connected this much with one was a miracle, something that was a peak experience in my life, a life that has been chock full of big and amazing things. 


I love you Kiva, and I will never, even forget you.


You can read the details about his passing on the Houston Zoo website. 

If you're an animal lover, and I know you are if you're reading this, please LIKE the Wildlife Center of Texas' Facebook page HERE. You will see wonderful photos and stories of the tremendous rescue and releases they do there every day, 24/7, 365 days of the year!

Someone sent this to me in an e-mail and I thought you'd like to see it too:

The law of the wild says kill only when you are hungry. Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya's Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw:  "These three cheetah brothers have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old," he said. "On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together. At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away. But one impala youngster was not quick enough and the brothers caught it easily." These extraordinary scenes followed:

I asked a Carnivore Supervisor from my local Zoo what could be going on here. He said the cheetahs are likely just too young to be doing much.... and who knows, it I'm sure is also because they're probably not hungry :-)