Some of you seem to think that I spoil my animals.
Where in the world could you have gotten that idea?
Actually, I just finished reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything.
In it, in a section about critters who evolved to use us as their livelihood, he quotes a study that showed that in the “average six year-old pillow” ten percent of the weight was made up of dead mites and mite feces. So we bought new pillows this weekend.
And, as with most things past their point of human use or consumption, Luna gets them.
Besides, she’s in heat, and even more “precious” than usual.
I run the local Freecycle group (www.frrecycle.org), and someone requested old bath tubs to use as raised garden beds.
We have several, mostly ones that were used as livestock tank, plus the one I recently removed in the bathroom makeover.
One of the tubs they wanted to take had tadpoles in it. So we netted them out and I put them in a fish tank to complete their metamorphosis.
Today’s graduates!
(This one still has a hint of a tail.)
There are twelve left in the tank, still in varying stages of “froggyness.”
I’ve put them out in the vegie garden, with an old frying pan as serving as a shallow pond.
http://www.freecycle.org
I recommend that you join, if you haven’t already.
This one is one of the above frogs, about two days ago.
Btw, that’s my hand. They are about the size of my thumbnail when they are fully frogs, and about an inch long as adults. Oh, they’re australian Brown Tree Frogs.
And in case you didn’t know, when they are mostly frog and ready to leave the water, they re-absorb their tails.
Just hanging out.
We had a wonderful Brittany from 82-97. He became very spoiled by the wife and me. Very trustworthy animal, and took his role of protector of the house, especially when I was away, very seriously. He would bark and growl and carry on something fierce when someone came to the door. As soon as one of us opened the door though, his tail would start wagging, and he would roll over to let the visitor rub his tummy! When someone was at the door who we did not want to enter, we kept the storm door closed, and the barking and growling generally made any conversation short and to the point. Missed him a lot after we had to put him down.
I had a dog when I was growing up named Muffin. She was your basic mutt – we called her a beagle (voice and chest), terrier (legs and face), and poodle (coat) mix.
I was four when we got her, and 21 when I finally had to put her down. When we were little, she took it upon herself to protect my sister and I. She was the sweetest little thing (about 20lbs, and very short), but she’d growl at anyone who she thought shouldn’t be talking to her kids.
She’d also defend our cat Snowball from the neighbors’ dog, and generally treated him like a son.
She was the smartest animal I’ve ever met. I could teach her any trick in about 5 minutes. She went deaf when she was eight years old, and I taught her hand signals from then on out.
It took me years after her death to “remember” that dogs can hear, I was so used to signing to her. It also came as a bit of a shock, right after her death, that dropped food need to be picked up.
I posted dog’s poetry at the cafe last week, but this is probably a better venue. I found this poem in honor of Luna
That’s fantastic!
I ment comment on Luna being in heat. As some of you know, Luna is a pure bred Pyrenean Mountain Dog (aka Great Pyrenees). Pyrs are a minor breed, and she is a good example of the breed. We plan to have one litter from her and then spay her after the pups are weaned.
Right now, she’s is a year and a half old, and therefore too young to have puppies. So we have this heat, and probably one more six months from now, to get through.
For so many reasons, I’ve never understood keeping intact pets. Even our rabbits are neutered. Luna is clingy and all confused when she is in heat. And then there is the keeping her away from other dogs, and the blood, and the smell.
And with male dogs, there’s the agression and the humping and the total loss of brains when they smell a female in heat.
If I didn’t have an animal worth breeding, I’d never put myself, and them, through it. And as it is, I only breed a big dog once, since they tend to have large (8-13) litters. And that’s enough for any mammal.
I liked it too.
I figured that you intended to breed Luna at least once. But it’s nice of you not to make her have more than 13 children! She definitely deserves many cushy pillows!
BTW after I read that Bill Bryson book I also bought all new pillows!
You’re in Australia aren’t you? What did you think of his book about Australia?
I liked Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country. I read it shortly after I arrived in Australia and it helped me understand the culture a bit better. Unfortunately, I don’t share his ease with the getting-pissed-at-every-opportunity aspect of the culture. It may make Australians more affable, but it also fuels a very violent culture, especially for women, both as aggressors but especially as victims.
A Walk in the Woods, about walking the Appalachian Trail, is still my favorite. Especially the part where he obsesses over bear attack facts.
I have cats and I spoil them rotten–if I don’t, one of them uses the bathtub as a litterbox and the other one meows constantly (enough to be aggravating) if I dont!! They trained me and I love the hell out of them–they are my babies.