Check out those paws

Photo courtesy Yahoo News®

Did you read the story about Oscar the cat from London that got a pair of bionic rear paws? The 2 1/2 year old cat got caught in a combine harvester and lost half his rear legs. The vet outfitted him with the $2996 bionic paws (that doesn't include the cost of the operation) and now he's living life more normally again. How crazy is that?? And why can't they do that for people? It's a real hmmm moment for me. How about you?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway on my cookbook for a chance to win a free Monkey Bread Kit! Only 4 days left!!

Another animal ruled by human laws

First a monkey got sentenced to rehab. Now a dog is being sentenced to good citizen classes. Yes he is. I swear. 

A pit bull named Winston in Chattanooga Tennessee decided he didn't like the way a police car looked and wasn't afraid of the consequences. He attacked the car, biting the bumper and tearing off a section of it and then went to work on the tires. 


He went to court where the judge declared him "a very bad dog" and sentenced him to obedience and canine good citizen classes. 


And don't think he'll get out of the prison uniform...he has to wear a tag now that declares him to be "potentially dangerous". Ya think?


The owner of the dog won't be penalized if Winston completes his classes successfully. Um, is there a test? I guess they could put him in the yard with another police car and see what happens.

Or maybe they could just hook him up as the new McGruff...

I am a chicken

It seems there is an issue over who’s allowed to be on the trail used by late night skiers in Bangor Maine. The skiers say it’s them; an owl has a different opinion.

A great horned owl has apparently decided that East Trail in the Rolland F. Perry City Forest belongs to him. He’s attacked at least 8 skiers and several dogs over the past three weeks.

One skier, Jim Allen, said “…all of a sudden, I felt a whack in the back of my head and this stinging…” Luckily he had a thick winter hat on and that protected him from the bird’s talons. Other skiers haven’t been that lucky.

Dr. Dan Cassidy, a local physician, said he had treated three skiers for lacerations after they had also been attacked by the owl. The city has posted warning signs to alert skiers and hikers of the threat.

I don’t know about you but I think I’d postpone any skiing I had planned if it was in the near future. I’m just a big chicken though. And owls scare me. I know that sounds bad *lol* but they really do. All hunting, meat eating, long, sharp talon bearing birds scare me. On the other hand, if people do stop going in the area because of the owl, it may decide it’s a good place to stay. I don’t know for sure about any of that…except that I would be scared.

One afterthought... Stephen King is from Bangor Maine. Do I need to say more about where this story took my mind?

Somtimes love leads to understanding and trust

On October 3, 2003, the magical performing team of Siegfried & Roy changed forever. It was on that day that one of their white tigers, a 7 year old male named Montecore, attacked and seriously injured Roy Horn.

According to Wikipedia, the tiger believed Roy was in danger. When a woman from the audience reached out to pet him, Roy jumped between the woman and the tiger and that’s when the trouble began.

After jumping between the woman and Montecore, the tiger bit into his arm and was ignoring his command to release. He hit the tiger with his microphone and was attempting to back up when he tripped over the big cats paw. Stagehands then leapt onto the tigers back in an attempt to restrain him. Former Mirage owner Steve Wynn said that it was at that time that Montecore thought his trainer was in real danger and took his neck in his mouth to drag Roy out of dangers way. They truly believe the cat was trying to help his master and not hurt him.

Roy also believed the tiger was not trying to hurt him and was even heard saying “Don’t shoot the cat!” on his way to the hospital. Doctors had to remove a portion of Roy’s skull to allow room for his brain to swell while healing. He suffered a stroke and partial paralysis. But he still never blamed Montecore.

After spending 10 days in quarantine to ensure he was not rabid, Montecore was allowed to return to his home at The Mirage. The show was ended.

Now a little over 5 years later the three performers took the stage for one final show. Roy Horn, Siegfried Fischbacher and Montecore performed together at a benefit for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health on Saturday. The center will treat brain disorders like the ones Horn now suffers from when it opens later this year.

After performing their illusion they stood silent with Siegfried standing between the tiger and Roy and blew kisses to the audience. An announcer said “Within all of us there is an illusive melody, which when heard and followed will lead you to the fulfillment of your fondest dreams.” The performance will be shown on a one-hour 20/20 special Friday. I’ll definitely be watching.

Is it safe to keep exotic animals in your home?

I am an animal lover. I’ve had many animals during my lifetime. They’ve all been pretty standard types of domesticated animals also known as pets. Dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, a couple of turtles and one time I had an ant farm although I’m not sure the ants would be classified as pets. They were just bugs in a glass case. I was fascinated by them though. They were creatures. They were alive. They controlled themselves. That’s always been cool to me.

The most exotic animal I’ve ever claimed as my pet is my turtle Henry. He’s a 20 year old snapping turtle; a Red-eared Slider to be precise. That’s a little exotic but not really. I have, however, known several people that owned truly exotic animals and I did have the opportunity to interact in one way or another with all of them.

One friend of mine had a mountain lion for 14 years. She was beautiful but very frightening. I threw her some food one time (raw meat) over the top of her cage and the noise she made while eating was what got to me. I felt it. It was this low, rumbling growl that shivered across the ground between us. I could see her teeth ripping through the meat like it was butter. There was no resistance at all. Her teeth just slid through the meat. It scared me. I had to go inside.

I remember asking my friend if she was ever scared of her big cat. She said that when she (the cat) was very young they kept her in the house. My friend came home earlier than her husband one day and the cat freaked out on her. My friend said when she came through the door all she saw was claws and teeth and all she heard was the cat growling. She ran for the nearest room (the bathroom) and slammed the door behind her. She was trapped in there for almost 2 hours before her husband came home. The cat continuously paced back and forth in front of the door, stopping to scratch every so often. The growling never stopped.

That was the last time their big cat was in their home. She became a permanent outside resident after that day. I can’t say I blame them. I doubt very seriously I would ever own an animal like that (I’d be too scared), but if I did I’m pretty sure it would be outside.

But then I think what kind of life is that for the animal? Locked in a pen being able to see the world but not explore it would be terrible. They have natural needs and natural instincts. I just don’t think that’s fair to them.

Now this is where I usually get a lot of flack from Tim. He’d say “They’re animals! Why are you worried about being fair? Yes, feed them. Yes, give them some place to get out of the rain and cold. But why worry about fair? They don’t know what fair means.” And he does have a valid point. If they had lived comfortably with everything they needed to survive then where’s the problem? That’s all they know. But I think somewhere deep down they do know they’re missing something. That instinct is always there just waiting for the day it can come out and be free.

I had actually been thinking about my friend and her mountain lion a little earlier this evening. I was watching Wife Swap and one of the families had several animals, one of which was an exotic bird. That’s where this whole thing started. And I had planned on writing a story about that cat and my friend on my Happy At Home blog. I got online just to do that very thing.

Of course I can’t come online without glancing over the headlines on my homepage. It’s impossible for me to not at least peek at them. That’s when I saw the story that brought my thoughts full circle.

The headline read ‘Police in Conn. Shoot chimp after it attacks woman’. I clicked on the link. I have to tell you what I read truly broke my heart.

The chimpanzee was 15 years old and had lived with the family basically as a child. They had trained him to use the toilet. He could dress himself after taking a bath, again by himself. He ate at the table like a person and used a Water Pik to brush his teeth. He was very smart. Smart enough that he had been used in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola and had even appeared on the Maury Povich Show.

Nobody knows why the chimpanzee suddenly turned angry. A friend of his owner had come to visit and when she stepped out of her car the chimpanzee attacked. She suffered serious facial injuries and lost a large amount of blood.

The owner, desperate to stop the attack, grabbed a large butcher knife and stabbed her pet numerous times. The chimpanzee then ran away and began wandering around the property.

When police arrived they tried to capture the animal. He wasn’t having any part of it and attacked several of the officers causing them to get in their cars for safety. Having been raised riding in cars the chimp opened one of the doors and went after another officer. He shot the animal several times and he ran away again.

Police followed a trail of blood into the owner’s home. The chimpanzee had returned to his area inside the house and died.

I’m not going to try and pretend to be some kind of animal expert but I will tell you what I think. For whatever reason the chimpanzee saw the lady as a threat. His instincts kicked in and he attacked. Animals and humans both have different levels of pain that they can deal with and if they are frightened or angry that level goes up. He probably didn’t feel the stabs. Maybe he even thought he was just being hit. I’m sure he felt threatened by the police. The police were all wound up over a person being attacked (and rightly so) and emotions were running high. Animals can sense that. Dogs always know when I’m scared of them. When he was shot he knew he was going to die. (I don’t know how they know, but I believe animals do know when they are going to die. I’ve had several that disappeared when I thought they were close to their time.) He went back to his safe place to die.

It’s just heartbreaking to me. And it makes the feeling that we shouldn’t keep wild animals as pets grow even stronger in me. I feel so sorry for the lady that was attacked and I pray she recovers soon. And I feel sorry for the owner losing her longtime pet. But I also feel sorry for the chimpanzee that didn’t know he was a wild animal and had to die in such a horrible way.

Australian fires fuel koala love

The devastating Australian wildfires have claimed over 180 lives so far, countless homes and countryside. Most of the news I’ve read on the fires has been heartbreaking to say the least. But this morning I found a story that was heart-warming.

Volunteer fire fighters came across a scared and badly burned koala bear in the forest southeast of Melbourne. They carefully approached her and offered her water from a plastic bottle. She reached for the firefighters hand and drank all that he offered. It was so beautiful to me. I’m going to include the YouTube video of her discovery to the bottom of this post. They named her Sam.

Two days earlier another koala was rescued and taken to a wildlife shelter. He was also burned but not quite as badly as Sam. They named him Bob. Three of Bob’s paws were burned but shelter workers believed he would be able to return to the wild in about four months. Sam’s recovery won’t be as easy. They believe it will be 7 - 8 months before she’s ready to return to her home in the bush.

The workers at the shelter said that Bob and Sam became quick friends. They put their arms around each other and kept giving each other hugs. There are approximately 20 koalas that have been brought to the shelter in recent days but Sam & Bob are by far the most popular. A County Fire Authority Victoria volunteer said “My heart goes out to the people in these fires and this was so innocent so people have used this to distract them from all the sad stuff that has gone on. It gives people a bit of hope.”

If you would like to help through donations, visit the Country Fire Authority Victoria website or the RSPCA website. Every little bit helps so if you can spare anything it would be a great help to the Australian people and the animals that lived in the now burned up bush.

How many dogs can you fit in a car?

Apparently 22.

In the town of Pottsboro 70 miles north of Dallas Texas constables discovered just that. 22 dogs crammed into a station wagon. Oh, don’t let me forget that the woman who owned the car was inside too.

Officers at the scene of the discovery said that the lady was not coherent and seemed to be in need of mental health care. She locked herself in the car with the dogs when they tried to serve her with a warrant to remove the dogs from her possession.

According to the SPCA of Texas rescue and investigations supervisor the ammonia level in the car was twice the level that humans can withstand without having health issues. Because of all the urine and feces that were present in the station wagon, the ammonia level was 23 parts per million and the average person experiences health problems at 12 parts per million. How could she even breathe?

The 20 dogs and 2 puppies were taken to an animal shelter and are being cared for until a hearing on the 16th of this month. The custody of the animals will be decided at that hearing. Adult Protective Services was contacted to help the woman. I feel sorry for all of them. The dogs, the lady, the officers that had to do something with that mess you know was in the car and the shelter that now has 22 extra mouths to feed.

Have you seen this goat?

For several days now I’ve been following a story out of Nigeria. It seems there was an attempted armed robbery and they’ve nabbed one of the suspects. He’s around 3 feet tall and probably weighs 65 pounds and is covered in fur. Yes, he’s a goat.

Nigerian police are holding the black and white farm animal on suspicion of attempted armed robbery. There was no mention of bale. Er, uh, I mean bail.

A group of vigilantes that I guess were wandering the streets came upon two men attempting to break into a Mazda. The men took off running, the vigilantes chased them. One of the men got away. The other one turned into a goat.

Yes, I said turned into a goat. Witchcraft is widely believed in in Nigeria and the vigilantes insist that they cornered one of the suspects and he magically transformed himself into a goat in order to escape being caught as a man.

The police did say that they can’t base their case on magic. But they do have the goat in custody. I’m interested in seeing how this case will end. Will the goat turn back into a man? Or will he be tried as a goat? Either way I hope the cell he’s being kept in is escape proof. Goats are notorious for being able to escape from their pens.

Everything has a purpose

Meet Molly. She's a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case.

You know how that goes. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out,and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse,' she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay,the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Moore said. She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.'

Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.'



This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

It could have been SO much worse

When my daughter was in her infant and toddler years, her father and I lived basically in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by woods and a wonky, practically straight down hill that had a twisting road cut through the middle of it. There was a lot of wildlife. You could watch whole groups of animals cross that road if you were quiet and sat in just the right spot. There were bears, wolves, even a panther that stayed on top of that hill and screamed like a murder victim in the middle of the night. I thought they were beautiful creatures but I’m no fool, they were dangerous too.

So we kept guns. I loathe guns. I grew up with military parents and was made to learn how to shoot. Our father would take us out to our Uncle Alfred’s ranch and set up targets and we’d all take a turn. If we didn’t do well, we’d take three or four turns. Perfection was a big thing in my family growing up. But I learned and I can handle a gun if it’s required of me.

There were many weeks that I sat alone in that log cabin with a young baby as my only company. I had to protect her as much as I had to protect myself. So the guns were there. Luckily I never had to shoot anything although one time I did fire it into the air because a brown bear was on the hill directly next to the house. I could see it out the kitchen window! And I really didn’t want it to get comfortable there.

I don’t consider myself anti-gun even though I hate them. I believe there are times that a gun is the only answer. And I don’t consider myself pro-gun either. I’d rather not have one in my house and do not have one now that I live somewhere that all the animals are either in peoples houses or behind cages in the zoo.

I saw in the news where a four year old in Ohio shot his 18 year old babysitter because he stepped on his foot. The fact that he shot someone out of anger at four years old is a whole different story but for him to be able to get to a gun and actually shoot someone is shocking. Why wasn’t it locked up? We always kept the guns in a gun cabinet behind bulletproof glass (yes, I know) and two locks with the keys being kept in different very out of reach places. I just can’t imagine leaving open access to a weapon that causes death to any child of any age but especially with a four year old in the house.

They said in the story that no charges were being filed against the four year old. Well duh is all I can think of to say. At least in the video they suggested that the parents may be charged with something. Negligence maybe? I would think so. I know I’m not perfect, far from it actually. But I also know not to leave a gun sitting around LOADED just waiting for the accident that’s sure to follow. I’m glad the babysitter is ok and I hope these parents have learned a valuable lesson.

Be very very quiet...

I just had to share this video with you that I found while reading the news! The cat just cracks me up with his sneakiness!

Ninja Cat @ Yahoo! Video

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Last summer we went to the beach several times. On one of those trips my daughter Melanie went with us. It was a great day with just one little glitch…

The kids had gone off together playing in the surf. You could tell they were having so much fun. They were laughing and tackling each other. Suddenly Melanie came running out of the ocean and up the beach towards us with a look of panic on her face! She was holding both her hands across her leg and crying. She yelled, “Momma, something stung me!”.

Luckily a beach patrolman was driving down the beach on his four wheeler. We flagged him down and told him what was happening. He looked at her leg and told us rather matter-of-factly that she had been stung by a jellyfish. He told us that at our beach (Surfside/Freeport, Texas), jellyfish are common. He said it was a good idea to keep 3 items in our car whenever we were planning a beach trip. A clean towel (or two), a spray bottle filled with white vinegar and meat tenderizer.

Use the towel to wipe off the stung area. If you use your hand you’ll just end up with stings all over it too. You definitely don’t want that!

Next is the vinegar. It is said to remove the nematocysts. Nematocysts are the tiny stingers that inject the venom into you. Spray the entire area down to remove them. One word of caution about vinegar: In stings from Portuguese Men of War vinegar worsens the pain. A Portuguese Man of War is not jellyfish although they look very similar to them.

The last item is the meat tenderizer. Meat tenderizer contains papain which will ease the discomfort of the sting. Papain is an enzyme that breaks down proteins. Just rub a thin layer over the affected area. Leave it on about 15 minutes. Be sure and rinse it off after the 15 minutes or it could irritate your skin worse.

Without a doubt I will have these items in my car the next time we are going to the beach. I hope we never have to deal with jellyfish stings again, but if we do, I’m going to be prepared!

(Portuguese Man of War)

(Common Jellyfish)

(Sting on my daughter's leg)

Nemo, my suicidal fish

We have a fish tank, a very large fish tank. It actually requires a lot more care than I realized. It’s really not a bother. I adore animals and taking care of them. I have the idea in my head that they couldn’t survive without me. I know I’m right because my animals constantly prove it to me. I have this one fish in particular, Nemo is his name. He’s disturbed. Suicidal even. I swear to you I’m not making this up.

When we first brought Nemo home he pretended to be a normal fish. He acted just like the other fish. Not one sign of mental illness at all. It didn’t last very long. He became obsessed with an ornament in the tank. It’s one of those clams with an airhose attached to it so it opens and closes. I’m sure you’ve seen them before. When it opened, in he’d swim as fast as he could. Then it closed. I know they say a goldfish only has a 3 second memory…I heard that somewhere from someone. Anyway, over and over he would get stuck in the clam. Until I was so disgusted with watching this show that I turned the clam off.

He then decided that the sunken ship would be his new toy. The sunken ship with a hole half the size of his body. The sunken ship with only one way in or out. Can you imagine what he did yet? Yes! He squeezed himself INSIDE the sunken ship. By the time I noticed him he was so panicked that he was actually rocking the ship back and forth. I literally had to shake him out and sometime during his panic he managed to rip half his tail off. He has since recovered from this adventure and thankfully his tail is growing back. Around this time is when I decided he may be on a suicide mission.

We ended up with parasites in our tank, I assume from a couple of new fish we bought. But because I am home all the time I pay quite a bit of attention to our animals so I noticed immediately that they weren’t acting right and did my research on how and what I needed to do. The general consensus was to use Quick Cure and to drain our tank and vacuum the gravel thoroughly. I set out to do this, transferring my fish from their tank to bowls while I was cleaning their house. Of course Nemo viewed this as another opportunity to end his miserable fish life. I have him in the net going towards the bowl and he Leaps out! He landed on the table flopping around, almost reaching his goal of fish suicide but I yet again foiled his plans.

As of today Nemo is alive and well contrary to all his well laid plans. He has made a couple more attempts to leap out of the tank when the lid is open but thankfully the food has distracted him.

Henry...he's a cool dude

When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter we went fishing at a this little pond. My friend (and now my sisters husband) Mitch saw a little turtle floating on a piece of wood and he caught it. It was adorable, about the size of a quarter…I fell in love with him instantly. I took him home and named him Henry. I don’t know why, he just looked like a Henry to me. Animals have always been a weakness of mine..

I have him in a large tub now. He has lots of room to swim around and we built a little island out of rocks for him to “bask” on. They like sitting in the sun.. If you’ve ever walked up to a pond on a summer day you more than likely saw a lot of turtles on logs.

Henry is a red eared slider. He has distinctive red stripes down the side of his head, hence the first half of the name. The second half comes from their ability to slide quickly off whatever they are basking on and into the water.

I got Henry in 1989 so he’ll be 20 in a couple of months. It’s kind of amazing to me to think he is just now middle aged. They generally live about 40 years…sometimes longer if they are taken care of well.

He is actually a terrapin which means he is semi-aquatic. He spends most of his time under water and has to eat underwater. They have a fixed tongue which makes it impossible for them to swallow if they are not underwater so they couldn’t snap a fly out of the air but they can snap them off the surface of the water. I like to give Henry bugs.. I like watching the hunt and the kill… maybe that makes me morbid but I do like watching it…