Pets
Pets have been a significant part of all of my life - childhood through adult. As a child my family had all of the usual - hamster, gerble, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits (including a 20 pound jackrabbit), and I am sure more. Martha and I have always had cats - the working rule is never more cats than laps. As our children have grown up we have had the various small rodents, parakeets, cockatiels, rabbit, chickens (flock of eight), dogs, and fish. No surprise - a significant part of our chores every day is the care and feeding of our pets!
Three zig-zaggy bands of color, first, and then some round accents...
Starting with the canvas - our 5 year old Golden Retriever - old enough to be amazingly patient!
And the templates - cut from a shopping bag.
Freedom - we took a walk through the neighborhood, of course, to show off our handiwork. But started with a good run at the soccer field!
Chicken Egg Tooth
We have egg-laying chickens - still pets, as one of our chickens is approaching nine years old. But also very functional - the younger chickens lay a variety of colors - green, blue, brown, speckled. There is attrition, of course, and we have recently added to the flock - purchasing 1 day old chickens from the local feed store.
The egg tooth. Chickens are born with an egg tooth, present on the upper tip of their beak. The egg tooth falls off soon after birth, and the chicken uses it to break out of the egg. We looked at our young chicks and saw something like a blob on the end of the beak - I thought maybe something hard and possibly a little abrasive - enough to get the job done. But then I did some searching and found this outstanding article, What is an Egg Tooth, by Gail Damerow. I learned that the egg tooth is used twice: First time is about three days before hatching - at this time the chick has grown and is using oxygen faster than can diffuse in through the shell. So the chick uses the egg tooth to break the membrane at the blunt end of the egg to gain access to that little bubble of air - enough to begin respiration and make the last three days before hatching. The second time to use the egg tooth is to break out of the egg.
The article has much more information than this - I most recommend reading it! After reading, I went back to my pictures to look more closely at the egg tooth. I finally found a picture taken at just the right angle and lighting to see that the egg tooth is pyramidal and forms a sharp point! So it is not just a blob of maybe abrasive stuff - it comes to a sharp point, useful for breaking a hole through the hard shell.
The egg tooth is very visible here, coming to a clear point. I have adjusted lighting to favor seeing the egg tooth here, but exactly the same image as the one just above - just zoomed in on the egg tooth and with lighting adjusted.
There is nothing like the energy of a young dog! Here our puppy, Phoebe, puts everything into her launch after a tennis ball.
co-existence - we have seen chickens walk right over Phoebe! The gentle mouth of a retriever is amazing - she has returned with a baby bird in her mouth, and another time a baby rabbit - in both cases the baby was entirely unharmed, and returned them to the back yard.
Change of season - Phoebe out on a frozen pond.
These Golden Retrievers are 8 years apart, and played together endlessly. Here are their "ugly faces". And also co-existence with the other pets at our home - in particular our cats and chickens.
And the picture below - a little hard to see at first, but Phoebe is hard at work excavating some hole.
Chickens were a project of one of our high school age daughters. Naturally our daughter has long since grown up and left the house, and we continue to perpetuate the flock. All the chickens have names, the oldest recently died at over 10 years old - and taking the top perch all the way to the end! The young ones gather around us when we are out in the yard, squatting down and sticking the wings out in anticipation of a back rub! At least two have been grabbed by a hawk - one lifted to 10 feet or more before the hawk finally dropped her.
Attrition is a fact of life, as is aging and a drop in laying. Seeing as our chickens fall into the category of pets, they are allowed to age in peace! Usually we add two or three chickens at a time, maybe every couple of years. For some reason we added six chickens this go round, bringing the total flock to twelve! Suddenly the daily egg production was boosted to overwhelm us!
Our chickens are pretty clear about their dislike for snow! But - cooped for days and weeks on end with heavy snow - they can get over that dislike. Here they are making their way down a path in the snow that leads to the driveway and back porch - both warm in the sun.
The cast iron chicken statue is always good for a laugh. And a warm spot for two pullets!
Cleo - Golden Retriever
Our first Golden Retriever was Cleo, who was with us for over 12 years. Dogs have the important requirement of a walk three times a day - enforcing an ongoing social interaction with the people of our neighborhood - the "dog people". All of our family also routinely take longer walks in the woods with our dogs. Indeed, to a large extent many of the photos in this collection come from the weekly walks we have taken in the woods. I am often in the woods for hours on the weekend, with our dogs free to roam while I visit my favorite remote spots and explore. Our retrievers cover a lot of ground during a walk, but also keep a good eye on our progress. I might sit for an hour on a log observing something of interest, and our dogs will explore very peacefully, often finally settling down for a nap.
Cleo lived past 12 years. She died suddenly and unexpectedly to cancer. Saturday and Sunday, both, she was hiking in the woods, mucking in the frozen river, had a bath after, had her well dog visit with the vet on Monday and got a clean bill of health, and died that evening with the family present. A great family dog, and many memories - we will miss her!
Cleo was very much a ball dog - she would retrieve a tennis ball over and over, no matter how far it was thrown, and whether across a field or lost in the underbrush, or far into a body of water. For years, and especially when we had young children, she would climb the play structure in our yard and sit at the top with a tennis ball - after time she would release the ball down the slide, and then follow down the slide to retrieve the ball.
