Animal Holidays

In honor of all Animal Holidays This is a short video of "Jasper the raccoon" playing with a cat toy in the back yard of the cottage. Raccoons play just like cats do and it's so much fun to watch! Jasper is a wild animal and not a pet, but does come to visit and play with my cats frequently. And "No" Jasper is not in a pen. My cats are house cats and not allowed to run loose- so I have a pen for my cats where they can come and go- in and out of the house as they please, but can't go outside of the pen. I'm taking the video from inside the cats pen. :) Little Jasper is known for sitting by the pen and watching the cats play with their toys. Sooner or later Jasper starts reaching through the fence trying to get in on the fun. Many times he/she (I don't know if it's a girl or a boy raccoon) is lucky enough to steel away a toy as you see from the video; and he/she plays up a storm. I love all animals and it's a joy to watch them :)
Animal Holidays To Remember!

National Wild Bird Feeding Month: (February)

Responsible Pet Owners Month: (February)

National Cat Health Month: (February) National Wildlife Week - Week 3 (February)

Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month: (April)

World Habitat Awareness Month - Learn how to protect the habitat of all Earth's creatures.

Wild About Wildlife Month: (July)

National Wildlife Day: September 4th / www.nationalwildlifeday.org

World Rabies Day - September 28

World Animal Day & Month (October)

World Day for Animals - October 4

National Frog Month & Pet Frogs

April is National Frog Month and I though it would be the perfect time to tell you a true little frog story and to also talk about pet frogs.

Did you know that American green tree frogs are one of the most popular pet frogs? This delightful little fellow is available in most pet stores and cost between US$10.00-$20.00 each. They are relatively easy frogs to take care of. They need a large (at least ten-gallon) terrarium and do well with bark and pebbles for the bottom and a nice tree branch.

Frogs like plants and will benefit from having live plants in their terrarium. You see the Pothos plant in terrariums at pet stores. Pothos can be left in pots, grown in jars of water or planted directly into soil on the bottom of the terrarium. The plants will provide the frogs with places to perch and will help maintain high humidity. Green tree frogs thrive best at humidity levels around 75%; spray the terrarium once or twice a day using a plant mister filled with pure water to help maintain appropriate humidity levels. Do not use water containing chlorine or heavy metals, as these chemicals can soak into the frogs and kill them. Water should be provided in a shallow non-metal bowl on the bottom of the terrarium. Water in this bowl should be changed often. Captive green tree frogs should be offered small crickets, waxworms and silkworms.

Frog Story
Ok I couldn't pass up telling you my frog story. hahaha!
When I was around 23 years old I had this huge fascination for frogs. One day I noticed a fishing boat in my brothers yard was full of rain water and I thought it would be a good idea to pull the plug and drain it. As I was about to do that I noticed that the boat was full of little black tadpoles. After watching them for a while I just couldn't bring myself to pull the plug and kill all those little fellows so instead I dipped them all out and put them in a bucket. I then took them home with me and placed them in a beautiful fish tank with a nice little island for them to crawl up on once they turned into bull frogs.

This little project was so fascinating. I watched every day my little bullfrogs loose their tails and then grow their legs. One morning I got up and headed to the kitchen to fix some breakfast and noticed that my dining room wall was completely covered in blackish green dots. I thought.... what is that??? I looked closer and OH MY GOD I was in shock. My tadpoles that I thought were bullfrogs that would stay in the tank, were not bullfrogs at all. They were little green tree frogs (you know the ones that have the little suction cup fingers and can crawl up walls) Well they were crawling everywhere! Not just a few either. I had saved at least 400 little tadpoles from the bottom of the boat that day and I had at least 300 out of the tank. They were everywhere! It took me a whole week to get all the frogs out of the house. I couldn't even eat a meal at the table without a baby tree frog coming out of nowhere and leaping on my head. True Pet Frog Story of mine. Giggle~ Pam

National Cat Week!

My Cat Smokey Originally uploaded by pamelasvoboda

Hello hello hello! I trust everyone had a spooktactular Halloween. I know I sure did. It's now November 1st and I wanted to let everyone know that the first week in November is always National Cat Week. The picture you see here is a pic of my very own cat Smokey Dumpster. He's a beauty and quite the show off. He loves to roll around showing his fangs all the time. LOL! Visit Here for more pictures of him. You can even see picture of our other cats too. We have 7 of them! Please love your cats and do something special for them in honor of National Cat Week. Buy your cat a new cat toy or give him a special treat this week. Maybe your cat would like a new cat bed to sleep in or a new cat blanket. They love those. Or maybe.... you could go down to the animal shelter (petfinder.com) and save a cats life today. Think about cats and celebrate National Cat Week. They will love you for it.

Lizard Birthing

This was sent to me in my email today and I just had to share it with you. You will get a big laugh out of it and that's a fact. It's Priceless!
Overview: I had to take my son's lizard to the vet.
Here's what happened: Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two lizards he holds prisoner in his Room. "He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm serious, dad, can You help?" I put my best lizard-healer statement on my face and followed him into his Bedroom. One of the little lizards was indeed lying on his back, looking Stressed. I immediately knew what to do. "Honey," I called, "come look at the lizard!" "Oh my! Gosh," my wife diagnosed after a minute. "She's having babies." "What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!" I was equally outraged. "Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I accused my wife. "Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired. (I actually think she said this sarcastically!) "No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her, (in my most Loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth together). "Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed. "Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know," she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm, you think?) By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience, I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth." "Oh, gross!" they shrieked. "Well, isn't THAT just great! What are we going to do with a litter of tiny Little lizard babies?" my wife wanted to know. (I really do think she was Being snotty here, too. Don't you?) We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny Foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later. "We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "It's breech," my Wife whispered, horrified. "Do something, Dad!" my son urged. "Okay, okay." Squeamishly , I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results. "Should I call 911," my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?) "Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged. "I don't think lizards do Lamaze," his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is of her womb, for God's sake.) The Vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass. "What do you think, Doc, a C-section?" I suggested scientifically. "Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. And Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside. "Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked. "Oh, perfectly," the Vet assured us. "This lizard is not in labor. In fact, that isn't EVER Going to happen... Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they Um....um....masturbate. Just the way he did, lying on his back." He blushed, glancing at my wife. "Well, you know what I'm saying, Mr.Cameron." We were silent, absorbing this. "So Ernie's just...just...


Excited," my wife offered. "Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood. More silence. Then my viscous, cruel wife started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly. "What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness. Tears were now running down her face. Laughing "It's just...that...I'm picturing you pulling on its... its...teeny little..." she gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more. "That's enough," I warned. We thanked the Vet and hurriedly bundled the lizards and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay. "I know Ernie's really thankful for what you've done, Dad," he told me. "Oh, you have NO idea," Closed mouth, my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter. 2 - Lizards - $140... 1 - Cage - $50... Trip to the Vet - $30...


Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie... Priceless!
Moral of the story - finish biology class - lizards lay eggs!

Matzo
Licensed WI Rehabber
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