Tag: Noon and Wilder

  • Mexican Grey Wolves Are Sneaky

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    Brookfield Zoo has a spectacular habitat for the Mexican Grey Wolves called Regenstein Wolf Woods. I learned something while reading about them on the Zoo\’s site:  \”All the types of wolves you’ve heard of, like timber, gray, Arctic, and Mexican, belong to the same species: the gray wolf.\”

    The habitat is large and affords the wolves much privacy; the downside is they\’re not always available for photographing.  We lucked out on one of our visits, though.

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    Nap time (in the very center of the image).

    Again, from the Zoo:  \”Mexican gray wolves were considered extinct in the wild until their reintroduction into Arizona and New Mexico in 1998.\”  Brookfield successfully reintroduced the female they had to a wildlife park in New Mexico, and last year celebrated the birth of a litter of wolf cubs.  They even held a naming contest on their website!

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    They won\’t, however, let one pet them.  ~pout~

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    This one is, admittedly, difficult to spot.  It\’s the center knoll in their enclosure.  If you see the smaller tree in the foreground, travel up along its trunk to where the branches first start on the right of the trunk.  You\’ll see the wolf centered in the branches.

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    Wolves have a strict hierarchical structure.  Whomever is at the highest point on the knoll is the alpha.

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    Another one arrives on the knoll for a nap.

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    The other wolves show deference to the alpha pair by lowering their heads and not making direct eye contact.

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    It\’s fascinating to watch their body language as they move around.

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    At first, it seems this one is hiding.  Then one realizes that it is, in fact, capable of seeing pretty much everything in the field of view – me and my husband photographing them by the fence, the front of their enclosure, the pedestrian path beyond that gate, all the way to the bald eagle.

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    And when one looks back, they\’re nearly invisible.  Camouflage.  ~shiver~

    Check back tomorrow for the North American River Otter.  Or… not?  Stay tuned to find out!

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • The King of the Jungle

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    This ferocious young man is the pride of the zoo, the king of beasts, the lion of doom.

    Well, I added the, \”of doom,\” part.

    His wife, on the other hand, isn\’t impressed.  Snooze city.

    He\’s actually not all that young, and he\’s been at the zoo for a while.  They are seriously threatened in the wild and Brookfield Zoo participates in an international Species Survival Plan to try and conserve these majestic creatures.  They are African lions, mostly nocturnal, though we did get to hear him roar one evening long about closing time.

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    Lions spend about 20 hours a day asleep.  Kind of like house cats, really.  In fact, in the book Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture, by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, biologists liken house cats\’ behavior most closely with that of lions.

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    Just makes you want to pet her, doesn\’t she?

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    Um.  Maybe… not?

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    Tomorrow, we get to visit the Mexican Grey Wolves.

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Konlabos. With a K.

    (Any Rundown [the movie with Dwayne \”The Rock\” Johnson] out there?)

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    \”K\” was a tricky one.  I took three shots in total, but this is my favorite of them and therefore my image for today\’s letter.

    My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

     

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Lookit Them Feet!

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    Kangaroos fascinate me.  They don\’t live on this continent, so I\’ve never encountered one outside of a zoo.  They\’re marsupials, which is rare here too – though not on their own continent of Australia, where there are many species of marsupials (the distinguishing feature of which is carrying the young in a pouch).  Interestingly, I read that during the Mesozoic they were more common on this continent than \”placentals\” (i.e. animals who deliver their young in a placenta). (1)

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    Their powerful hind feet, on which they stand, appear to have fewer toes than I assumed.  I\’m not sure why I thought they\’d have toes like us, but I did; from what I could gather it looks like one large claw and at least one, maybe two smaller ones.  But looking down at him like this, you can\’t really see the power of the haunches.

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    These two \’roos show you the sheer power of the butt. But in all seriousness, the mass seems mostly concentrated in the hindquarters; they clearly can pack a helluva wallop.

    Which leads me to my story.  My friend in Australia and I were talking by chat one day, and she commented that there was a \’roo in the front yard.  \”Cool!\” I said.  \”We can\’t leave the house.\”  Pause.  \”Why not?\”  I\’m thinking, at this point, what\’s the big deal?  We had deer in our yard growing up and you just walk outside, the deer run away, no problem.  \”She delivered young.\”  \”Cool!\” I said again.  \”You don\’t understand.  She\’ll attack us if we go out the front door.\”  The light bulb went on.  Never mess with a mother and young.  It\’s one of the first rules of hiking in the wild.  Stay away from rattlesnakes and don\’t bother bears.  Especially mammas.  Any mamma.

    But not leave the house?

    \”What about work?\”  She seemed resigned to it.  \”We can get out the back, as long as we\’re careful.  It\’ll take animal control a couple days to come get her.\”  Meanwhile, they had a mamma with a baby in their front yard, near enough to touch.

    Cool!

     

    Tomorrow, it\’s the King of the Jungle – Lions!

    References

    (1) \”Marsupial Mammals,\” Dave Smith: New photos; modification of Thylacinus graphic; application of UCMP style sheet; addition of footer includes; minor text editing 10/10/05; from University of California, Berkeley, website retrieved from the following link, 04/13/2016.

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Jump Out At You

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    I\’ve noticed, in doing this project, that I\’ve started seeing letterforms everywhere – the wheel wells of cars, branches of trees, even the intersections of power lines.

    This one reminds me of a day I spent at the park near my house during the summer.  I reclined against a tree to meditate with my eyes closed, (you know, it\’s called napping), and something made me open them.  A racoon stood not ten feet from me, and we stared at each other in shock.  He trundled away and climbed up a tree.

    By the time I realized what happened, he was thirty feet away and mostly hidden.  Some photographer I was!

    In my defense, racoons are, basically, bears.  Getting in a tangle with one because I\’m napping in his backyard would ruin my day, y\’know?  o.O…

    We have some awesome stuff going on this week for you because of the RT Booklovers Convention going on in Las Vegas.  If you\’re not familiar, RT is the largest romance genre event of the year, with over a thousand readers and several hundred authors in attendance for a week of workshops, parties, networking, and fun.

    Not going to Las Vegas this year?  Don\’t worry, Dear Reader.  I will be posting at The Romance Studio for the Staying Home Party, and I\’ll have live convention reports – Tina Holland, Live at the Rio!, behind-the-scenes, interviews, and reminiscences from yours truly about RT\’s past.  And just for you, Dear Reader, it will be five posts a day for six days – PLUS the challenge posts.  So there\’s plenty for you to read and do this week!  Rest your eyeballs, \’cuz you\’re gonna need \’em!

    Don\’t miss it.  Truck on over now – plus, you can enter to win a bunch of awesome prizes, including a $100 USD Amazon store card.

    \"2016-04-12

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well asGrace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • The Bird That Wasn\’t: Jambu Fruit Dove – and a Party #giveaway

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    The Jambu Fruit Dove, admittedly, is a lovely fellow.  He looks like a flower – one of those star lilies with the overpoweringly lovely fragrance.

    He is, however, shy.

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    The more literal-minded among you will note this is not, in fact, a Jambu Fruit Dove.  I thought is was, as I stalked the wooly mammoth of a bird through the edges of his habitat.

    I did, successfully, identify the aloe vera plant, about which I\’m rather smug.  A birder I am not.  A planter, apparently, I am.

    Or something like that.

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    These two appeared to be gossiping.  Perhaps it was about how poor a naturalist I was?  But I adore nature.  Birds are not, perhaps, nature?  After all, the dreaded terror birds struck fear into the hearts of our forebears, at least according to the movie 10,000 BC.  Granted, that movie is fiction.

    I do want to point out, however, there is still no Jambu Fruit Dove.

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    Are you a Jambu Fruit dove?

    I\’m reminded of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam.  \”We walk up to people and ask them, \’Are you the enemy?\’ and if they say, \’Yes,\’ we shoot them.\”

    Upon reflection, perhaps that\’s why Mister Jambu Fruit Dove was nicht?

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    Okay, fine.  These gentlemen are the Gambel\’s Quail.  Which is a Q, which I don\’t need until next Wednesday – not tomorrow, but a week from.

    J is a fail at the zoo for this visit.  The Jambu were hiding.

    I\’m sure there\’s a parable here about something Zen, and maybe a tree or a river, but I need coffee and I do, as it happens, have plenty of lovely K pics for tomorrow.

    But tomorrow is another day, my friends, and you\’ll just have to wait.  (There.  I fit in another \”J\” for you.)

    And, if you\’re still with me thus far, we have some awesome stuff going on this week for you because of the RT Booklovers Convention going on in Las Vegas.  If you\’re not familiar, RT is the largest romance genre event of the year, with over a thousand readers and several hundred authors in attendance for a week of workshops, parties, networking, and fun.

    Not going to Las Vegas this year?  Don\’t worry, Dear Reader.  I will be posting at The Romance Studio for the Staying Home Party, and I\’ll have live convention reports – Tina Holland, Live at the Rio!, behind-the-scenes, interviews, and reminiscences from yours truly about RT\’s past.  And just for you, Dear Reader, it will be five posts a day for six days – PLUS the challenge posts.  So there\’s plenty for you to read and do this week!  Rest your eyeballs, \’cuz you\’re gonna need \’em!

    Don\’t miss it.  Truck on over now – plus, you can enter to win a bunch of awesome prizes, including a $100 USD Amazon store card.

    \"2016-04-12

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well asGrace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • There Is No \”I\” In Tree

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    I love these trees; and it finally occurred to me that it\’s because they\’re evergreens.

    Though, I do wonder what the folks in the neighborhood think of me wandering around loose, photographing the local flora.

     

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well asGrace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Gettin\’ Beaky With It – The Ibis In the Pond

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    Beaky has big feet!  This lovely fellow is…

    The White Ibis!

    I like birds, but they scare me.  Their beaks, in particular, are frightening because they\’re a combination of sword, knife, and skewer.

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    The pretty black bird behind the ibis is a Cormorant, another type of fishing bird.  We had lots of them in California, but I don\’t recall seeing very many here in the Chicago area.  (That doesn\’t necessarily signify; I\’m not really a birder.)

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    The ibis decided he wanted to move off his perch.

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    I didn\’t catch it until he spread them, but his wings have black edges.

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    And his wing-span is a lot bigger than it looks like when he\’s just innocently standing there.  This is a big bird.

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    He apparently likes being talked to, because he looked right at me.

    Or, he\’s planning to leap clear over the branch and eat my face.  Take your pick.

    Join me tomorrow for the hardest of the letter animals to find:  J.

    Oh, and a quick word about ichthyology – when I was researching the letters, I had a devil of a time figuring out what to do for several of them (including \”J\”).  I couldn\’t think of any \”I\’s,\” so I settled on ichthyology – or the study of fish.  I have lots of neat pictures of fish.

    But then I found the lovely ibis, and I had to use him for today instead.  🙂

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well asGrace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • It Came From the Ocean

    The Dogs of the Sea – Harbor Seals

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    He came over to see what we were doing.

    Or, to fish or check out his tank.

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    This is actually a Grey Seal, I believe, if I\’m reading my notes correctly.  The fatter speckled ones are the Harbor Seals, I think.

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    I wish I had video of this one.  He was hysterical.  He came out of his enclosure, barking, and waving his head back and forth like Stevie Wonder.  We think it may have been near the time they are fed.

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    This looks like it\’s on its side, but it\’s actually not – I was trying to get both of them in the same shot.  The one on the right seems to be the harbor seal, and the one on the left is the grey seal.

    I love their whiskers!

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    One more of this show-off as he came over and came up out of the water for me.

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    These are the seals I grew up around – California sea lions.

    So, I said yesterday I\’d tell you a story about Pier 39.  When I was a kid, Pier 39 was a fun place to go.  It\’s located on the bay in San Francisco, California, USA, and is literally the 39th pier along the wharf.  Filled with shops and eateries, it\’s a good place to spend an afternoon.

    Back then, the sea lions would come up along the shore under the wharf, which was a wooden structure along the coastline on top of which were built the shops and such.

    And the tourists, predictably, would feed the seals.

    A few years ago, there were reports of the now aggressive seals coming up onto the wharf and attacking tourists for food.  I\’m not sure how exaggerated those reports were, but let\’s face it: this is an animal weighing several hundred pounds.  It isn\’t the most agile on dry land, but it can move along at startling velocity.

    As much as I joke about wanting to pet the animals at the zoo, one must always remember that these are wild animals, and we are guests in their demesnes.  When researching some of my posts for the challenge, I happened to look up lions and human interactions, and came across several awful posts of recent deaths of photographers who, in their hubris, forgot this simple fact.

    These are wild animals, not pets.

    But I still wanna pet one.

    Remember, A-Z fans, tomorrow has no post, being Sunday; check back on Monday when I reveal what the heck animal begins with the letter \”I\” – and it wasn\’t easy!

     

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Number One Goose, and Giraffe Have Long Tongues

    Okay, \”G\” is a bonus letter day because I have a ton of pictures of geese at the zoo, because they make me laugh; and I took some pictures of the giraffes on my last visit.

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    This big guy was nesting in a planter immediately in front of the restaurant windows.

    Next to the stairs.

    And he was hissing.

    Hrr?

    Okay, giraffe it is then!

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    Their tongues are black!

    I had no idea of this fact until I saw this lady mackin\’ on the tree.

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    I\’m pretty sure this is the two-year-old male that lives in the enclosure with the three other lady giraffes.

    They are so dopey-looking when they walk around, and especially when they run.

    I still wanna pet one.

    Tomorrow, we visit the harbor seals and I\’ll tell you a story about Pier 39.

    Bonus, for you fans of Noon & Wilder – for the holidays this past year, we wrote a short story, Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable.  The talented Vance Bastian performed it on the WROTE podcast.  If you haven\’t had a listen, step on over there and give it a try.

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Too Foxy!

    Fennec Foxes!

    I adore these little guys.  Their ears are bigger than their heads, practically!  While they have a large desert-like enclosure in which to play, I\’ve only ever seen them curled up in their nest, snoozing.

    \"20151220_0364\"

    It\’s tough getting the lighting right, because they\’re in a very dark enclosure.  This one is the center fox, but if you look carefully, you can see his mate\’s ears just behind his haunches and realize that there\’s a whole second fox back there.

    \"20151220_0365\"

    I tried to get a better framing for them both, but the rear fox is in too much shadow.

    \"20151220_0366\"

    I managed to catch it on this one, but kneeling down practically on the same plane as their bed.

    \"20160326_0358\"

    There are actually three foxes in this picture, as this next series was taken on a different day.  You can see more of the right one\’s nose and face structure.  His ears really do dominate his head.

    \"20160326_0359\"

    He\’d almost drifted off here, and you can see the other two\’s ears even though most of their bodies are in shadow.

    \"20160326_0360\"

    Something caught his attention, I don\’t know what. (I\’m using \”he\” in the indefinite form here; I don\’t know their sex.)

    \"20160326_0361\"

    This one\’s a little clearer just on the one who\’d raised his head.  What you can\’t see from this angle is that the rock on the right leads out to their main enclosure, so they get sounds that echo in from the walkway that patrons travel.  I wonder if he heard something there, or if my camera shutter was annoying him.  I don\’t know if he can hear it through the lucite, but with those ears, I\’d imagine so.

    \"20160326_0362\"

    Aaaand, nap time in three… two…

    \"20160326_0363\"

    …one…

    \"20160326_0364\"

    I really wanted to get a close-up on their ears, but was having a devil of a time with the lighting.  I like this one, though, because it\’s pretty clear on the right-hand fox.  I couldn\’t quite get the other two clearly enough to be visible.

    Come visit tomorrow for G is for…

    … well, I haven\’t decided.  Goose or Giraffe, we\’ll see.  Maybe both.

     

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Stephen Colbert Ain\’t Got Nuthin\’ On Him!

    E Is For Eagle!

    \"20151220_0560\"

    Nestled in a fairly small enclosure between the bears and the wolves is this lovely fellow.  It\’s a bit of a sad story; he was injured and can no longer fly; therefore, he cannot be released back into the wild.  I\’ve seen a few bald eagles in the wild, but always at a distance.

    They\’re big damn birds, that\’s for sure.

    \"20151220_0561\"

    He seemed to be keeping sentry over the picnic area, and if I\’m not completely mistaken, he was watching a very loud little boy with a dour eye.

    \"20151220_0562\"

    The minute I thought that, he turned.

    \”He\’s looking at me, Ray.\”

    (Think the first Ghostbusters.)

    \"20151220_0563\"

    He has a piercing stare, and that beak looked plenty dangerous.  I\’m curious if the videos with Stephen Colbert and eagles ever featured a live eagle?  That must be something.  Look at how powerful those talons are!

    \"20151220_0564\"

    He didn\’t move very much, content to perch on his branch, so the photos are all very similar.

    \"20151220_0565\"

    I said to my husband, \”Honey, let\’s go.\”  And he turned and looked at me again.

    o.O…

     

    Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature.  I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!