Tuesday Tails: Burn Baby Burn...

While the bad news that isn't under the radar flows out of Washington like a putrid river of sewerage, there is this...

Race to drill in the Arctic Tundra... From Audubon....

An Excerpt from the page..

"While the impact statement mentions some potential threats to wildlife, many experts believe it is not explicit enough when addressing the potential risks and even likelihood of extinction for a variety of species. “Oil and gas infrastructure in the Arctic Refuge, when considered in conjunction with climate change, poses an existential risk to several Arctic bird species," said Audubon Alaska in a press release. Moreover, choosing such an aggressive development plan despite the toll it will take on wildlife “just goes to show how far this administration is willing to go to extract oil and gas, even in what should be a protected area,” says Susan Culliney, the group's policy director."

Endangered already, several species, like the Spectacled Eider, have the US Government admitting that this newest frenzy to drilling has this bird in the cross hairs of extinction.

Here's what they look like:

 Beautiful, No?  And, this is not the only endangered bird or mammal that is being threatened....
The kids are marching and we can't just sit on our hands.  This train wreck might as well be Armageddon.  And, guess who plugged it in and turned on the engine? 

Millie's Story, as told by her new Mama...

Millie is a rescue dog.  We went through a lot of this with Wolfie.  Sometimes he still will scream.  Usually we know what causes it, and sometimes we don't.

 Her story as told by her new mom... Margaret Renki  From the New York Times..

NASHVILLE — The scruffy little dog of indeterminate origin — she’s either a beagle mix or a terrier mix, depending on which veterinarian is guessing — reaches the end of the driveway and sits down. A gentle tug on the leash merely inspires the dog to lower herself completely, her face on her front paws. A treat offered in exchange for progress on this “walk” yields no better results. In the dead heat of August, she flops onto her side, extending all four legs and dropping her head to the blistering asphalt. Her point is clear. This is rescue-dog semaphore for “I would strongly prefer not to leave this yard, thank you very much.”

I can hardly blame her — she’s new to this house, and she may never have had a house before. Who would willingly abandon her own home, even briefly, if such a boon is new? If such a gift, as far as she knows, is only temporary? She came to the rescue organization as a stray, so no one knows where she’s been or what she’s been through, but she is clearly traumatized.

Her fear is ubiquitous. She’s afraid of other dogs, of course, and strangers, but also doorways, shoe-clad feet, her own food bowl. Every unfamiliar noise causes her to stiffen, on high alert, and every noise is unfamiliar. She doesn’t bark; she has never barked even once, but she yelps at the slightest unexpected touch. It’s more than a yelp, really. Something between a howl and a piercing scream. Soon I am feeling traumatized myself. My dog screams, and my heart starts to pound: What on earth did I do this time?

Despite her manifold fears, this damaged little dog is preternaturally gentle — “grandmotherly,” according to her page on the rescue organization’s website. She tries to understand what we want from her, and she noses our hands, apologetic, when she can’t understand. We named her Millie, for our late neighbor who lived a life of quiet kindness.

At mealtime, I sit beside the food bowl and offer our Millie a piece of kibble from my hand, one nugget at a time. She approaches slowly at first, creeping on her belly, and then snatches the food away and swallows it in another room. It can take her half an hour to eat a whole meal this way, but finally the bowl is empty. Eventually, she learns to eat from her own bowl like the pampered house pet she has, inexplicably to herself, become. Mealtime gives me hope. Time, I think, is all she needs. Time and love will heal whatever pain has formed her pervasive fears.

But months pass, and the difficulties persist. I have adopted adult dogs before, and I know there’s always a period of adjustment, a time when infinite patience and constant reassurance are required, but I have never seen anything like this silent little dog with Groucho Marx’s wild eyebrows, this scruffy, world-weary animal who so often bears a look of desolation.

Millie desperately wants to trust her new life, but she can’t. To her, the world remains a dangerous place. Months after joining our family, she is still reluctant to poop, apparently afraid to make herself so vulnerable. On walks, she pulls on the leash, straining to reach the neighbors who are walking at the same time, but when she reaches them, she trembles violently. Simple trembling is the best-case scenario, actually. Sometimes she still drops to the ground, flips over onto her back and pees on herself. This dog is a four-legged embodiment of the classic approach-avoidance conflict.

For help, I turn to “The Education of Will: A Mutual Memoir of a Woman and Her Dog,” Patricia McConnell’s superb account of healing, both canine and human. It comforts me to learn that it took Dr. McConnell, a celebrated animal behaviorist, months and months of concerted training to desensitize her own traumatized dog to his fears. Following her advice, I am learning to recognize Millie’s triggers and intervene before they can escalate into panic.

She looks forward to walks now and, most of the time, can encounter other dogs on the street without trying to escape. Instead of dashing to the end of the leash so fast that she flips in midair and slams to the ground, she keeps walking, staying close to me and looking up again and again for reassurance. (For reassurance and a chicken treat — a practical strategy I learned from Dr. McConnell’s book.)
Editors’ Picks
An 1840s Road Trip, Captured on Lustrous Silver
The N.F.L.’s Obesity Scourge
How Does Your State Make Electricity?

"Slowly, slowly, I am learning that love by itself might not be enough to heal a broken creature, but love combined with time and training — and high-quality treats — is at least the right place to start. It may be years before Millie trusts me enough to fall asleep beside me, years before she doesn’t howl in terror and run for the hills whenever someone inadvertently bumps her, but I am patient. I have time enough for both of us.

For Millie is not the only one who is sad and worried and afraid. Last summer, five weeks apart, I lost two beloved dogs — the aging hound-shepherd-retriever mix who helped us raise our children and the aging dachshund who was my mother’s greatest comfort in her own last years. They were old, beset by infirmities, but when they died I was undone by grief.

Late midlife is invariably a time of loss. If you’re very lucky, the losses are utterly ordinary, completely predictable — parents who die of old age, children who grow up and move on, dogs who live a long time and then can’t live any longer. But being ordinary doesn’t make loss less painful.

And life in this political climate is its own trauma, too. The earth itself convulses with melting sea ice, raging fires and cataclysmic hurricanes, and our fellow citizens respond by putting our government into the hands of people who don’t care. Suddenly, the world seems to be entirely populated by refugees, and many of our fellow citizens respond by shouting, “Build that wall!” How do we stand it, all this mortality? All this sorrow and suffering, all this dangerous anger?

Millie reminds me every day that life isn’t only a casting off, that it can also be, at times, an accruing. There will always be friends to make and seeds to plant. There will always be ways to help alleviate suffering. This, she reminds me, is no time for despair. This little rescue dog is rescuing me, too.

Last week, an unfamiliar noise woke my husband and me in the night. We sat up, puzzled. Then we heard it again and got up to follow the sound.

It was Millie, standing at the back door, barking. A possum had climbed up onto our deck, looking for spilled birdseed. It was a clear night, a full moon, and we could see the possum’s toothy grimace as clearly as we could see what woke us. She was standing at our feet, looking into our eyes and wagging her tail."

Tuesday Tails..... God Bless the Foster care Angels.....

We plan to be foster parents when the time comes.  I'm hoping we get a lot more years with our little Wolf... He's such a sweetie pie.. I remember his comeback photos...

He's sleeping a lot more.

Tuesday Tails: Birth of a Flamingo Chick... very cute....

Tuesday Tails.. What to do if you can't adopt an animal in need.....

All these things help.  All of them. And the more you can do, the more you can help.

For Rats and other Rodents (Hamsters and Mice) or Large birds:
Contact the groups that foster or rescue them.  Unless the Humane Society has told you they can both accept AND find them new homes, don't take them there.  Some ASPCA or USHS facilities aren't equipped to care for or foster these tiny relinquished pets.

 Hope you have a great week.. A Kind one.... no hassles or nasty surprises. 

Tuesday Tails: Anti Wind turbine fake news... Or so we are told, and yet another mug cake site. Love it!

this sounds legitimate, but unless I can find out more I'm reserving judgement.  Wind turbines have many more enemies than just the Oil industry. 



It's incredible to think that anyone would be this despicable,  and if it's true, the people who would do this are sadistic.   If I were God, I'd start to wonder about human beings.

Keep an Eye out for more volcanic eruptions.  I think there is some sort of connection between volcanism and  and climate change.  Just thinking like a geologist here..... There are a lot of triggers that haven't been activated in our brief history on the planet.  We should have been a lot more careful.

Here is a link to an excellent article, from Sierra Magazine, about the effects of fossil fuels on the environment, and how long ago the Oil Barons knew how bad it was.   I get the magazine but am happy that the Sierra Club linked it on their website....

The article is long but I hope that you will patiently read it. 

And, As promised, I finally found the mug cake recipe I put up a few years ago.  A Viola!

Tuesday Tails: Flamingo in San Diego (video) and the infamous Cherry Tree Rebellion.

Article about possibly Native Flamingos in Florida 

And, the Cherry Tree Rebellion, in Washington DC...  From HERE

Tuesday Tails: Jordan's story...You'll like it. and Wolfie's, story too.

This will bring tears to your eyes...



Hope for Paws.  You have to love these guys!

The San Diego Animal Shelter

On our anniversary, several months after Jazzie died, we went looking for another little dog.  We found him.

Wolfie was in terrible shape when we got him.  He had been kicked around, and had two broken ribs and a tail broken in two places.  He had been abandoned and was starving on the streets.

He was almost hairless, flea ridden, and an emaciated  mess when he was picked up off the streets of central district.  When we saw him, he had gained back some weight but still weighed only 9 pounds.  His healthy weight would be 15 pounds.

In six months he was a beautiful, happy little guy.

HERE is his story, in a Thursday 13 that I posted for him in August of last year. 

He's healthy and happy, and I can't imagine life without this wonderful little dog in it.  And I thank all the folks who made his recovery and his second chance at a happy life possible before we took him in.

Thank You both, San Diego Animal Shelter, and the San Diego Humane Society, who collaborate to find homes for these amazing dogs and cats.

I found an interesting article on the definition of a no kill shelter HERE.  It's both educational, and sad.

A Real Tuesday Tails this time. UpDated..Marbled Crayfish.....and an update on wee Wolfie..

Adding a LINK to my friend's blog.  She's a real writer.  


Sorry about all this.. I forgot to change the title to the Tuesday Tails post.  Well the second part was a rant about the Politicos, but as far as I know, none of them has ever revealed that they have tails, though I'm certain that some of them do.

A very big tail is watching them however...

This LINK goes to a New York Times  article about this new (only 25 years old) species that is taking the earth by storm.  It can reproduce itself through cloning.  Talk about a Marbled Menace....

Please ignore (or maybe not) the pop ups.

Wolfie was shaking his head again this morning after a walk.  I'm not so sure the expensive treatment is working well.  We will see what we will see.  Poor little fellow has those delicate sort of ears that many poodles (and Poodle mixes) end up with.

Tuesday Tails. Cute rescue of a baby squirrel....

....by his mother.  This came after being hand raised for a time by the man who had found him.

This is so cool!  Such a sweet man, too.

Tuesday Tails: Wolfie and Me, PLUS, a tail of reindeer and a Native People. Nat Geo

My New Model for Reality

A little bit of Wolfie:  He's slowing down a lot.  And he's lost a pound.  But he seems to have the energy to do his two walks a day with Papa.  And help around the house.  He keeps the floors clean of crumbs, and helps me out.....

Wolfie still helps me with the crossword puzzles

Treat Time!  He checks the floor constantly
 for any which may have escaped him

 As for me, this is just about how I handle the days now.  I'll just ride my Unicorn.

I'm even going to make some very colorful cookies one of these days from This Page.   though.. there be more than....

........Unicorns on that Page...

BEWARE! Fair readers..... that page (Above) has been monetized out the ying yang.)

I read this with interest, and thought you also might like it.  I hope there aren't any big ads on it.  I won't do many Tails on my own anymore.  I'm just absolutely flummelled.  But, I've learned to take Naps!  From NatGeo......

Here's the LINK to National Geographic's Home page.

Hope you have a sweet and happy week, overcoming any of the things that keep you DOWN.  May you be UP all week.

This image is on the page below....

Habits of Supremely Happy People Page

Early Tuesday Tails... Sunday Stills at NatGeo UPDATED with a warning.

Just in case you missed this sort of Viral photo......

I'm not happy with this LINK TO SOURCE PAGE AT NATGEO 
and when you get there, you'll understand why. Adware.. sheesh

Tuesday Tails. A very intelligent article about feathers, from NatGeo....

I'm just going to provide the link because I'm behind on a lot of things, and I also slammed into a piece of furniture and can't walk that well. lol

Here is the Article at the National Geographic magazine site.  Expect a few ads and pop ups.  They are ubiquitous these days!  *rolls eyes*

The feather of a threatened Golden Eagle.

I hope that  the tribal efforts at managing these very valuable feathers, and the preserving of habitat and populations of the birds themselves, will be successful.  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is putting it's foot down on this, and doing a good job, so kudos to them here as well.

I'd like to send the Eagle killers to that place in hell where vultures eat their livers constantly.  But, I guess that is a little harsh. Maybe it is.  And, maybe it's not!

Tuesday Tails: Both hard to watch and inspiring... A kitten for Kylie.

I think this site is very inspirational, even though it is most likely sometimes painful to watch.  I was not looking for it, just stumbled onto it when researching How to videos for my camera.

This story is very beautiful.   The kitten become cat, looks like- except for the larger white mark on her chest, my favorite female cat, Ever.  Pepper came to us, with her sister, when Laura was but a baby.  Pepper moved with us 7 times.  She was an amazingly loyal little feline who gave us "gifts".  She was ever the hunter.  

Tuesday Tails: The Climate Accord to try to save Earth's Biosphere

HERE is the article from the New York Times.

Daily Kos article about the Coalition of the states and Canada.

Now that there is a New York, Washington and California coalition, as well as Canada, to form a bloc, all other states have been invited to the party.

With all the big tech companies already spearheading the movement for the environment, just maybe we can squeak on through to the other side.  Kudos to The Doors.  Bravo to the States!  O Canada!

And now, something Beautiful that you can do:  Wildflower seed offering.
I'm just posting it because not many humans can resist flower fields.  I have no connection to the site. It's just a great site.

And HERE is another wonderful wildflower seed place at American Meadows.  That, below, their Seed site picture of a Midwestern meadow flower field.

Tuesday Tails: Mom and pups rescue video, and update on Wolfie.

Healing the Heart.

Scoop on the pooch

Tuesday last week, Wolfie was doing poorly.  He started having "accidents" in the house, which has never happened before.

Ex-Rays  on Thursday revealed that he had an intestinal obstruction since Tuesday, and this occurred after his stealing a napkin and eating part of it.  That's not surprising since he spent a looonnggg time living on the streets fending for himself in central San Diego. If we hadn't got him to the vet on time, he would have died.
This little guy had been kicked around for the first five years of his life, before we got him, and his insides must have taken trauma because he has two broken, out of place, ribs, as well as a tail broken in two places.  We knew he would have issues, and we're just really glad to have found him and glad we could help him have a better life.

He's 13 years old sometime this year.  We mark it as October 26th since that is the day we brought him home.  We want our sweet little guy to be around for as many more years as is possible.

Tuesday, for all the tailed ones; 10 questions; a Skywatchers post.

LINK goes to Greenpeace article at Medium.com, the Greenpeace link: "Ten Question you've always wanted to ask an environmental scientist".

I love Mother Earth, and all the earthlings, far too much to let this go down without a fight.

Sky watcher post:

Tuesday Tails: Some happy, some sad......

from BankerChick's blog.  I stole it, as 'twas very cute.

Rusty Ring's story about the passing of dear family Kittcat is HERE
Bittersweet and beautiful

Now for a different sort of sad:
Some so called sentient beings (the selfish,greedy and aggressive,etc) live in another world it seems, but not any of them are birds apparently.  So $#%&* Sad! 😢

"The White House budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018 ( a pdf) would mean crippling reductions to America’s most important conservation initiatives, many of which support Audubon’s efforts to protect birds and the places they need.

Story at Audubon.  Yes, this is the story of yet another stupid Governmental decision 

Now for some happier news from South Korea...

For more information visit HERE

Even More good news:

And from Tucson Arizona..  Tiny Arizona Pygmy Owls get a day in Court

Tuesday Tales... "Pickles" cartoon..

Now I know who Wolfie's been "channeling"!  Roscoe!  heehee

Still no Churchy.  I prayed for him that who ever picked him up will take good care of him and feed him properly and LOVE him...  Torts are undemanding and sweet.  I hope who ever has him will return him, but if that's not possible, I certainly hope who ever has him appreciates the species and gathers the knowledge for proper care.

Tuesday Tails: Tort Report, out of hibernation

Last year's Photo.
The littlest two, Milagro and Dusty, went out in the garden
the day before their parents and adult sibling, Lucky.

As you can see, the disparity in their size is growing every year.
I am starting to fear for Dusty, who should be the same size as Milagro.

The three Adult Torts, who sleep in their climate controlled boxes in the garage, got a good soaking, and a weigh-in, and they are now eating all their favorite weeds in the Back Garden.

This is Mamma, Poko Ono, yesterday.  She weighed in at a nice 11.25 pounds.

She is a Gopherus morafkai

And here is the Pappa, Churchy, who weighed in a lot lighter.  He's 64 years old. He is a Gopherus   Agassizii and weighed in at  10 pounds 5/8th

Churchy, yesterday

And here's their oldest Son, Lucky. He is a hybrid of the two species.  He now weighs 10 pounds.  I expect that he'll be a fifteen pound tortoise one day.  He was the size of half a walnut shell when he was found, and he was kicking his tiny legs to try to turn himself upright in the Geranium pot.

Lucky, yesterday

I call him Lucky because he was the lucky tiny tort that got dropped into a flower pot, surviving the fall from the sky, and saved from being eaten by a crow.  We must have lost a lot of these babies before we even realized they were out there.

Then we went on to find more, and then some more, and yet a few more of these itty bitty tots.
Fast forward three years, and we found out the hard way that some cannot survive the first hibernation without "snack Breaks".  But Lucky did, and his brother Milagro (the newest Milagro is his name sake.)

But the two torts that I gave to my faceting instructor are alive and well, also.  So Lucky has some other siblings out there in the world (other than those pesky teenagers, Milagro and Dusty).
Lucky, who will not have the challenges that poor Churchy had, is the same size as his Pappa already. Churchy was not fed properly for decades.  I didn't have him at that time, and, despite his constant dueling with his son, he is a charming fellow.  He likes to sneak up and bite toes, especially if the nails are painted red.

Mother and Child

Here is a page that explains the division in the tortoise species

And here's a San Diego Zoo site that will tell ALL you'd ever want to know about these amazing little animals.

And so, that is the full Tort Report for now.

Piffff on Politics! It's a bloody tug of war!  Hang on to your hats, my fellow Free thinking Americans.