Wordless Wednesday: Silly Cat

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My Scary Story!!

I'm not afraid of rats. Really. I have had them as pets and will be the first to say: they are smart, sweet and highly amusing. However, I was not prepared to meet such a well-fed rat as the one I saw this morning.

I must first say, it is cold in Florida! I was sweating in a summer dress yesterday and freezing in a cardigan today. I am guessing all the little animals are cold as well. When I uncovered some of my decomposing plant matter this morning, I saw a nice, healthy and shiny brown rat contentedly resting in the box. I'm sure I terrified her. I'm very sorry about that, Mrs. Rat, I just wasn't quite prepared to meet you.

Ya'll, I screamed and jumped like a little girl.

Then, I ran to tell my DH that I saw a rat. Of course, she was long gone by the time I looked for her. Poor thing. I hope she recovers soon. I also hope she leaves my compost pile alone.

By the way, wikipedia has a really interesting article on rats and laughter. Go. Read it.

The Stalker: Part Dos

The first time it happened was cute. The second time was eerie. The third time: downright odd. As of yesterday, I am now for certain.

I am being stalked

cheeky, originally uploaded by bekados.

This mockingbird is following me around the yard as I dig in the soil...waiting for just the right moment to dive and gobble up unseen (to me) seeds, insects and worms. This kid sits on fences and power lines, waiting for me to move along so he can feast.

On the occasion, he doesn't even wait for me to move, but alights mere feet from my working hands. What a constant companion. Can't wait for him to discover the corn!!!!

Super-Excited!!

I would post a photo of our own, but we were not able to get a clear shot. After last week's real winter weather, we are still recovering, trimming dead plants, mulching and so forth. This morning, I went outside to check the extent of damage to the milkweed. Unbelievably, last month's monarch migration has left us with impossibly tiny monarch caterpillars. They must have just hatched yesterday.

James couldn't believe I even saw them, but I look at my plants closely so they couldn't escape for long. With this warm weather we are having this week and as long as the milkweed holds out, the baby "cats" should be fine. I have been wanting real monarchs in my garden for some time now...and here they are!

The tortoise and the hippo!

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. "It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.

Have you all seen these photos? Wow!