Jack’s Walk

Jack and I came across a small spaceship this morning. Jack barked at it a few times, but there was no response. We decided that the aliens must be out reconnoitering and tip-toed up to the craft. It was smaller than it first appeared and there were multiple antennae on top that were connected to a central axis giving the ship a look similar to a satellite dish.  The body of the craft was of a soft, malleable metal unlike anything I’d seen before. We examined the exterior and could find no doors, ports or knobs that would allow us entry. Knowing that the aliens were out here somewhere, Jack and I decided to leave, but we kept a close watch for the rest of our walk and found nothing else of note. (Alright, it’s really an umbrella, but Jack and I like to pretend we’re on grand adventures)

Alien Vessel, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Is this a Dinosaur Tooth?

I found this fossilized tooth in my yard several years ago and I’ve been curious about just what kind of tooth it is ever since. It’s big, about 4 cm x 2.5 cm x 2 cm and it looks to be a tearing or biting tooth. If it were human I’d say it looks like an eye tooth. The bottom edge has been worn down to the dentin and the top end has no attached bone. It’s possible that it was buried in my yard, but it’s more likely that it arrived with a load of rock gravel that we ordered in. I have no idea where that rock originated so I can offer no real clues about its provenance. I know it’s difficult with only a few photographs, but I’m hoping someone out there can tell me a bit more about it.

Mystery fossil side view, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Mystery fossil root end, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Mystery Fossil biting end. ©voyager, all rights reserved

 

Wednesday Wings

These pictures and a heart warming story are  from Nightjar:

This isn’t just a cute photo series of chicks, it’s a heartwarming story of the kind you don’t expect out of chicken! At least I didn’t. To cut two long stories short, we recently had to join two broods of chicks born one month apart. The younger ones had to be taken from their mum the day they hatched, which always breaks my heart to do, but in this case it was for their own good. She wasn’t a good mum and their siblings died as a result. So we joined the three survivors with the older chicks, made sure everything was peaceful and they were warming each other at night, and hoped for the best. To our surprise, a few days later, we noticed that one of the older chicks had adopted the three little ones, she was behaving as if she was their mother. Calling them to her side, teaching them how to eat, opening her little wings to warm them. You can see that in the first two photos, the head of a little baby underneath her wing. She’s giving me that look, “do NOT even THINK of touching my babies”. They follow her around everywhere and she never leaves one behind. Just like a mother hen would, except this hen is only a month old!

Cheers,
Nightjar

Chicks

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Chicks

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Chicks

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Chicks

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Very cute, but I must say, those feet really tell you about the dinosaur foremothers.

 

Jack’s Walk

Dreary November Day, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Drizzling. Dreary. Drab. In other words, the weather hasn’t changed. Jack and I decided to go to the forest hoping the canopy would help keep us dry, but too many leaves are down and there was really no protection at all. I’m normally a fairly easy-going person, but this constant damp has me feeling irritable and out of sorts. At least Jack doesn’t seem to mind and his wagging tail and happy smile sure help to make being outside passably tolerable. Still, it’s good to be home and I might just hide out here for the rest of the day.

Chameleon

From Nightjar,

rq’s triune of lizards reminded me of this very special lizard I was lucky enough to see during my summer holidays. A Mediterranean Chameleon! They are native here in Portugal but not very common and only occur along the south coast. This was only the third time I saw one and the first time I had a camera with me. I was obviously very excited, but tried to be quick in order not to disturb it too much and also to avoid calling the attention of more tourists (one never knows… chameleons move slowly and unfortunately there are many humans who can’t be trusted around defenseless animals).

The photos are wonderful, Nightjar and I’m impressed with how close you got to this wild, little fellow. I notice in the second photo that his left eye is watching you even though his right eye is facing straight ahead. That is some interesting anatomy and so are those feet. I always thought of chameleons as being arboreal with those feet being designed to cling to small branches, but I see that they do equally well on the ground. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing, Nightjar.

 

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Monday Mercurial

American lynx. I liked how the enclosure was styled as an “abandoned farmhouse” with lots of corners and hideouts. The lynx (what’s the plural here anyway?) were still kind enough to pose for a photo shooting.

lynx, close up

©Giliell, all rights reserved

lynx

©Giliell, all rights reserved

lynx

©Giliell, all rights reserved

lynx

©Giliell, all rights reserved

lynx

©Giliell, all rights reserved

lynx, head

©Giliell, all rights reserved

lynx, sitting

©Giliell, all rights reserved

 

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s raining again. It started yesterday afternoon just in time to spoil Halloween. Most of the little ones had parents with umbrellas and the older ones out in groups were scarce. Really, there weren’t many kids at my door. How was your Halloween? What was the best costume you saw?

Grasshopper

This came in from Avalus several weeks ago and I suspect that this little critter may have succumbed to cooler temperatures by now. I did the google thing before I posted this and it seems that grasshoppers don’t survive winter. The adults mate in the fall, lay their eggs and then die off once this biological imperative is finished. It’s the eggs that survive winter in little curved pods that are buried underground.  The pods are created by rolling spittle with dirt until it becomes a hard case and each pod contains about 20- 26 eggs. I wonder if that’s what this little grasshopper was doing? Avalus says,

This time it is a grasshopper that I found on a gravel road. I think she tried to lay eggs.

I did gently remove her from the path, when a tractor was approaching. (In fact, she climbed on my hand when I put it next to her).

It seems like an odd place to lay eggs, but I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. Thanks Avalus, for the interesting and wonderfully detailed photos.

©Avalus, all rights reserved

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Jack’s Walk

They’re watching me, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Happy Halloween.

We had a trick today instead of a treat. Jack didn’t have his surgery because they found enlarged lymph nodes in his rear legs which they biopsied instead. Once we have the results back in a few days we’ll see what to do next. He had blood work done less than a month ago and everything was normal so that’s good. He’s also been happy and playful so I’ll try not to worry… too much. In the meantime these are photos from Jack’s evening walk last night. This is the best dressed house in the neighborhood. Click through to see where the eyeballs lead you.

 

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