"The hot summer sun had descended and made way for the cool night with its gentle breeze. Well, the young possum, dubbed Pat, crawled forth from his hiding spot and popped his head out from the garage. Raising his moist, pink nose and gazing up at the stars with his black, beady eyes, Pat deemed it a most pleasant evening for a stroll.
At first, he quenched his thirst at a small pool of hose water that had collected in an old clay pot. But then the scent of ripe blueberries wafted towards him on an easy breeze. He did feel a bit peckish and those blueberries were looking quite plump and delicious.
He gracefully waddled to the nearest cluster of blueberry bushes. Not being one to waste time and energy, Pat dined on the finest berries that had already fallen to the ground. And if he happened to come across a tasty bug or two, even better.
In the distance, he was aware or something going schnick but paid no mind to it and continued to nose around for delicacies. Pat did, however, notice the skittering of nails followed by the thundering of paws. He recalled the feeling of being carried in large jaws and the unpleasantness of being stepped on and confined.
With the speed of a fat cat, Pat climbed his way up into one of the blueberry pots. The familiar scent of a big grayish thing with a black nose and large teeth was getting stronger. He could hear it searching for him. "I'd like to see it try this time!" Pat gleefully thought to himself as he dove between a set of v-shaped stems.
Pat tucked his head down and slowed his breathing just in time to feel a very blunt and wet nose jab into his side, inhaling deeply. For a moment his heart stopped.
But just as soon as the nose had arrived, it was gone, preceded by a call and followed with a resounding schnick.
"Guess I better get this meal to go," Pat said to no one."
Really, what other story could you come up with when you come upon a possum tucked into a ball in branching base stems of a blueberry plant, making itself difficult to get a mouth around, let alone be pulled free from the bush?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Twist Them Hips!
When Ritter first arrived at our home, he was reserved and quiet. Due to Lilah's obnoxious behavior, he was essentially confined to his crate. He's come a long way since then.
One thing that always makes me happy to see is Ritter rolling around on the grass or the rugs inside. He does it with such pure joy and derives such pleasure from it that it kind of makes me jealous. Okay, not kind of, I'm definitely jealous every time.
Something so simple as rubbing your face into the ground and then rolling onto your back to twist your hips and shoulders back and forth can make you that happy? I long for that easy life! And he always finishes his rolling session with a very satisfied snort/sneeze. It's like a 15 second pick me up that never fails.
I once witnessed Ritter twist on his back a distance of 10 feet down the slight incline of our dying backyard lawn. He must have been in seventh heaven!
Captured this roll session long distance (15-20ft) with my cellphone.
ENHANCE. Look at the expression on that super pixelated face!
One thing that always makes me happy to see is Ritter rolling around on the grass or the rugs inside. He does it with such pure joy and derives such pleasure from it that it kind of makes me jealous. Okay, not kind of, I'm definitely jealous every time.
Something so simple as rubbing your face into the ground and then rolling onto your back to twist your hips and shoulders back and forth can make you that happy? I long for that easy life! And he always finishes his rolling session with a very satisfied snort/sneeze. It's like a 15 second pick me up that never fails.
I once witnessed Ritter twist on his back a distance of 10 feet down the slight incline of our dying backyard lawn. He must have been in seventh heaven!
Captured this roll session long distance (15-20ft) with my cellphone.
ENHANCE. Look at the expression on that super pixelated face!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Solar Powered Puppy
Living in sunny Southern California means that majority of days are blue sky and bright sun. I don't mind it, running on the cold side and having only lived here. Apparently Lilah also doesn't mind it, because most mornings she dashes outside just to settle down for a good sunbathing session. Then she's all set and ready to play for the rest of the day.
However, on the few occasions that it's dreary or overcast outside, Lilah just lies around. Maybe she's depressed or maybe she's suffering from astigmatism (light bouncing off clouds can cause headaches for people with astigmatism). Either way, she's got no juice until the clouds either drift away or burn up.
Which leads me to believe that Lilah is solar powered. A solar powered puppy.
Now Ritter on the other hand, he travels from shady spot to shady spot, until he ends up running inside the house. He was born in snow country. I've nicknamed him Vampire Pup and imagine him coming from Transylvania.
However, on the few occasions that it's dreary or overcast outside, Lilah just lies around. Maybe she's depressed or maybe she's suffering from astigmatism (light bouncing off clouds can cause headaches for people with astigmatism). Either way, she's got no juice until the clouds either drift away or burn up.
Which leads me to believe that Lilah is solar powered. A solar powered puppy.
Now Ritter on the other hand, he travels from shady spot to shady spot, until he ends up running inside the house. He was born in snow country. I've nicknamed him Vampire Pup and imagine him coming from Transylvania.
Friday, May 6, 2011
The Importance of "Drop It"
It's been pretty hot here in Los Angeles this past week. In fact, it's been so hot that it has actually woken nocturnal animals up during the day due to the fact that they're so hot and thirsty. Case in point: Monday's Possum.
My mom and I, along with my brother let the dogs out around early afternoon. Like normal they raced out the door, Lilah to the back of the yard behind the garage to hunt for lizards (I'll address this in another post) and Ritter to the blueberry bushes on the patio where my mom likes to hang out and admire her hard work.
Except instead of hanging around her legs, Ritter darted into a tightly clustered grouping of blueberry bushes adjacent to the open garage. He was nosing after something, but I just figured it was a lizard that he wouldn't be able to catch. So I headed on back to where Lilah was to check on her progress when Ritter emerged from the bushes with something in his mouth.
"Aaaah! Drop it Ritter!" I said in that freaked out kind of tone.
Ritter did the equivalent of "ptooey" and ran in excitement to the back where Lilah was.
I had been quite wrong. Not only had he caught what he had been nosing after, but it was no lizard. Ritter had managed to catch a young possum, no bigger than a huge rat. He must have a soft mouth because he didn't puncture the possum, nor did it look injured. It did however look dead, as possums are known to do in the face of opposition.
In all the commotion of trying to round up the dogs, my mom yelling for Ritter and my brother trying to corral Lilah, Lilah zoomed past and actually stepped on the poor possum. I still believe that she had no idea what was going on and was just running around in the frenzy. She's really not the type to help a situation. Me, being the calm collected one of the group, ran off to fetch a container to cover the possum with until we got the dogs settled inside.
If you're imagining this scene in all its frantic glory, you can understand why my neighbor actually stuck his head out of his second story window to stare at us. I tried to ignore him.
Once we had it secured in a container in the shade with some water and a little fruit, we decided to let it go at dusk in my grandma's backyard (no dogs). After about an hour it too, had calmed down and was actually sleeping from all the stress and daylight. Up until that point I had stayed outside with it to make sure it didn't go anywhere. It mostly just hissed at me and opened its mouth. Well, no harm in going inside for a moment to get a drink and check on the dogs.
I got back outside just in time to see it climbing out of the container and wandering back into the garage. So much for that plan of releasing it at my grandma's. Hopefully though it learned its lesson to only wander outside at night.
My mom and I, along with my brother let the dogs out around early afternoon. Like normal they raced out the door, Lilah to the back of the yard behind the garage to hunt for lizards (I'll address this in another post) and Ritter to the blueberry bushes on the patio where my mom likes to hang out and admire her hard work.
Except instead of hanging around her legs, Ritter darted into a tightly clustered grouping of blueberry bushes adjacent to the open garage. He was nosing after something, but I just figured it was a lizard that he wouldn't be able to catch. So I headed on back to where Lilah was to check on her progress when Ritter emerged from the bushes with something in his mouth.
"Aaaah! Drop it Ritter!" I said in that freaked out kind of tone.
Ritter did the equivalent of "ptooey" and ran in excitement to the back where Lilah was.
I had been quite wrong. Not only had he caught what he had been nosing after, but it was no lizard. Ritter had managed to catch a young possum, no bigger than a huge rat. He must have a soft mouth because he didn't puncture the possum, nor did it look injured. It did however look dead, as possums are known to do in the face of opposition.
In all the commotion of trying to round up the dogs, my mom yelling for Ritter and my brother trying to corral Lilah, Lilah zoomed past and actually stepped on the poor possum. I still believe that she had no idea what was going on and was just running around in the frenzy. She's really not the type to help a situation. Me, being the calm collected one of the group, ran off to fetch a container to cover the possum with until we got the dogs settled inside.
If you're imagining this scene in all its frantic glory, you can understand why my neighbor actually stuck his head out of his second story window to stare at us. I tried to ignore him.
Once we had it secured in a container in the shade with some water and a little fruit, we decided to let it go at dusk in my grandma's backyard (no dogs). After about an hour it too, had calmed down and was actually sleeping from all the stress and daylight. Up until that point I had stayed outside with it to make sure it didn't go anywhere. It mostly just hissed at me and opened its mouth. Well, no harm in going inside for a moment to get a drink and check on the dogs.
I got back outside just in time to see it climbing out of the container and wandering back into the garage. So much for that plan of releasing it at my grandma's. Hopefully though it learned its lesson to only wander outside at night.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Emergency Preparedness Part 2
I finally completed gathering everything for Lilah's emergency bag.
It's roughly a 2-3 day kit that includes things she'll need if we have to evacuate our house. My goal was to pack all her necessities into her own pack and still have it be plausible for her to carry (10-20% of her body weight). As it is, I think it weighs 5-6 lbs. A breakdown of what I have packed:
Mountainsmith Dog Pack (Small)
Food and Water
-Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried Dinners - 17 patties vacuum packed in 5 bags
-Emergency Water Packets - 4 @ 125ml/packet
-Nalgene Collapsible Cantene - 32oz. (compact and empty, but option of carrying water)
Gear
-Dog Identification Card
-6ft. Leash
-Harness
-Dog Travel Bowl
-Poop Bags - 1 roll
-Tempo Paper Towels - 2 packs
-Ziploc Bags - 2 1-gallon and 2 1-quart
-Duct Tape
-Nylon Cordage - 11ft.
-Emergency Survival Blanket
-Emergency Glow Stick
-Dog Toy
-Water Treatment Tablets - 5
-Elastic Bandage Wrap
Even though Lilah and Ritter get fed traditional kibble, I opted to pack the freeze-dried raw meat patties into their packs because of the shelf life (1 year) and the space/weight. I read that a simple method to gauge a dog's daily water requirement is .5-1oz of water per pound. Lilah weighs about 30 lbs. and each packet is 4.224 oz. (125 ml.) She most definitely needs more water than is packed, however I intend to share my water with her. Which is where the collapsible cantene comes in. It's compact, but allows me the option of packing more water for Lilah.
Her gear list seems pretty standard to me. Maybe throw in a roll of Ace bandage material or a muzzle and if I had extra cash to spare, a set of dog booties. I also have an animal first aid booklet, but that's probably going to be packed in my pack.
One important thing though is I made a laminated card, roughly 5" x 7", with Lilah's identification information like her Los Angeles animal license registration information and her microchip information along with a shrunk copy of her rabies vaccination. Of course included is my contact information. In my own kit I have a copy of that same card along with pictures of her and Ritter, and me with Lilah. Hmm, maybe I should include a picture of me and my mom in her kit too...
Not too bulgy or cumbersome either.
This kit was made with the intention that we have to evacuate our home and possibly walk to our next destination, wherever it might be. That's why I put a heavy emphasis on keeping the weight down and having Lilah carry her own things because I'll have my own pack to carry too.
The most expensive item was the pack itself at $30 on sale at REI. The food typically is expensive, but I had a great coupon at Centinela. With that in mind, this whole kit cost roughly $60 to put together as some things I already had on hand.
Ritter's pack isn't as complete as Lilah's because hers was more of an experimental thing, to see how viable it was. Now buying Ritter's gear will be a snap!
It's roughly a 2-3 day kit that includes things she'll need if we have to evacuate our house. My goal was to pack all her necessities into her own pack and still have it be plausible for her to carry (10-20% of her body weight). As it is, I think it weighs 5-6 lbs. A breakdown of what I have packed:
Mountainsmith Dog Pack (Small)Food and Water
-Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried Dinners - 17 patties vacuum packed in 5 bags
-Emergency Water Packets - 4 @ 125ml/packet
-Nalgene Collapsible Cantene - 32oz. (compact and empty, but option of carrying water)
Gear
-Dog Identification Card
-6ft. Leash
-Harness
-Dog Travel Bowl
-Poop Bags - 1 roll
-Tempo Paper Towels - 2 packs
-Ziploc Bags - 2 1-gallon and 2 1-quart
-Duct Tape
-Nylon Cordage - 11ft.
-Emergency Survival Blanket
-Emergency Glow Stick
-Dog Toy
-Water Treatment Tablets - 5
-Elastic Bandage Wrap
Even though Lilah and Ritter get fed traditional kibble, I opted to pack the freeze-dried raw meat patties into their packs because of the shelf life (1 year) and the space/weight. I read that a simple method to gauge a dog's daily water requirement is .5-1oz of water per pound. Lilah weighs about 30 lbs. and each packet is 4.224 oz. (125 ml.) She most definitely needs more water than is packed, however I intend to share my water with her. Which is where the collapsible cantene comes in. It's compact, but allows me the option of packing more water for Lilah.
Her gear list seems pretty standard to me. Maybe throw in a roll of Ace bandage material or a muzzle and if I had extra cash to spare, a set of dog booties. I also have an animal first aid booklet, but that's probably going to be packed in my pack.
One important thing though is I made a laminated card, roughly 5" x 7", with Lilah's identification information like her Los Angeles animal license registration information and her microchip information along with a shrunk copy of her rabies vaccination. Of course included is my contact information. In my own kit I have a copy of that same card along with pictures of her and Ritter, and me with Lilah. Hmm, maybe I should include a picture of me and my mom in her kit too...
Not too bulgy or cumbersome either.
This kit was made with the intention that we have to evacuate our home and possibly walk to our next destination, wherever it might be. That's why I put a heavy emphasis on keeping the weight down and having Lilah carry her own things because I'll have my own pack to carry too.
The most expensive item was the pack itself at $30 on sale at REI. The food typically is expensive, but I had a great coupon at Centinela. With that in mind, this whole kit cost roughly $60 to put together as some things I already had on hand.
Ritter's pack isn't as complete as Lilah's because hers was more of an experimental thing, to see how viable it was. Now buying Ritter's gear will be a snap!
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