Tag: snow leopards

  • Yes, It’s Snow Leopards!

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    And so, Dear Reader, I reprise my topic of a few days ago, the majestic snow leopard.  Now, don\’t be like that; I did actually find a \”Y\” animal at the zoo, the Yellow Spotted Toad; but, all due respect to my husband, I am not a herper and toads do not excite me.

    Besides.  The toad just sat there.  And nobody ever got eaten by a toad, so there.

    Moving right along…

    These pictures are actually not from my A to Z prep trips.  They\’re from one of three visits to the zoo we took last year in April, before the two snow leopard cubs were born.  Here you get to see Mamma and Papa before they were a mamma or a papa.

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    They sleep just like my cats!

    Their feet are WAY bigger, though.  Holy Jebus, look at those toe beans!

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    Aww.

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    Oh look!  One\’s waking up!

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    ~squeak~

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    ~double-squeak~

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    Holy crap, these are majestic animals!

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    You know, I\’ve seen that exact same expression on my house cats\’ face.  I wanted to stare, but making eye contact is considered rude, so I looked down.  But man.  Sent chills down my spine.

    Tomorrow, it will…

    Oh, fine, for you literalists:

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    Mee-deep.  Mee-deep.

    So, who is this fellow?

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    Yellow-spotte… HEY! HONEY! I FOUND A Y!

    Keep your voice down, will ya?

    Then I noticed something.

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    The Yellow-Spotted Climbing Toad is, in fact, green.

    And that\’s not even on cold medicine, Dear Reader.

    Tomorrow, it\’s the Pièce De Résistance – Z!  (Psst – it\’s actually later this afternoon, since I\’m late an\’ all, but hey.  Keeping up appearances, right? Right!)

    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!

  • Been Waiting ALL Month For This!

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    And this, my Dear Reader, is Sarani, the queen snow leopard of the Brookfield Zoo.  Last year, she gave birth to two female cubs, Malaya and Daania.  I love watching these majestic animals, and the viewing glass lets me be near enough to practically touch them.

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    One of our visits in December, we found all three of them curled up on each other.  Sarani\’s resting her head on one of her daughters, which is exactly how my cats sleep at home.

    And I was a little started to see I\’d taken over 100 shots of them on just one visit!  I picked my favorites for you today:

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    Malaya and Daania wandering around, sniffing things.

    My cats do this all the time.

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    Busted!

    Um…  I\’ll just stand here and look at the… log!  I\’ll look at the log, not the large predatory cat that just caught me spying…

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    Look closely at this one.  The cub is curled up on TOP of Mamma\’s tail. o.O…

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    Hunting!  My cats do this exact same thing.  \”What izzit?  Can I jump that high?  I wanna catch it.  I think I\’ll catch it.  Is anybody watching me?  No?  Go!\”

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    \”Wait…  I\’d better check and see if I can climb up there first.\”  …  \”Nope.  Can\’t climb that.  Is anybody watching?  Go!\”

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    Boing!

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    Pounce!

    Turns out, somebody was watching.

    I meant to do that.

    Uh-huh.

    Cats.

    🙂

    Tomorrow, it\’s T for pTerasaur!

    No, of course not, those are extinct.  Must be a typo.  Now what did I pick for T? Hmm…

     

    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!

  • Sunday Box Talk – Scheduling Fun

    Sunday Box Talk – Scheduling Fun

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    Unless you plan ahead, you will fail to catch what you\’re hunting. This is one of the two baby snow leopards at the Brookfield Zoo, as she tries to catch one of the hanging toys in her habitat.

    I know there\’s a lot of ink spent on talking about new year\’s resolutions about now.  I don\’t actually go in for that all that much, other than to set an intention for the Roman New Year, since, being Wiccan, my new year is actually at the end of October.  But I do think that taking advantage of the collective energy around goal-setting is useful.  Here, then, are some suggestions.

    Five Tips For Fun

    1. Put it in your calendar.  Each month, set aside at least one weekend day for an outing.  It doesn\’t have to cost – hiking is free, and many public events are too.  Here in Chicago, for example, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Chicago Cultural Center are both free, as are libraries.
    2. Don\’t scoff at libraries; they\’ve had to make it into the twenty-first-century and have embraced it with ebooks, new media, and the old favorite, books.  You can get DVDs and music for free, and some offer laptops and even e-readers to patrons.
    3. Talk about it!  Go on Facebook or Twitter and make your intentions public – there\’s nothing like knowing others are watching to make us follow through on commitments – even commitments to fun!
    4. Check out meetup.com.  There are thousands of free events, all over the globe, for every type of interest.  If you don\’t find what you\’re looking for, consider starting one.  (Hosting a meetup isn\’t free, but it\’s not exorbitant either; many enterprising hosts, like me, say, ask for donations and receive enough to cover the fees that Meetup charges.  Attending is free; hosting is what costs.)
    5. Take pictures!  Use your smartphone, cell phone camera, or even kick it old-school and use a standalone camera to record your daily round.  Social media like Facebook and Instagram, not to mention photography forums like Imgur and Picasa, let you share with others around the globe.  Make new friends and share ideas!

    What about you, Dear Reader?  What fun is in YOUR calendar?

  • Z Is For… Zoo!

    Z Is For… Zoo!

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    I love going to the zoo. They serve an important function in the conservation of these amazing animals.  Brookfield Zoo here in Chicago is no exception.  Much of their work, besides creating a fun zoo to wander, is in helping many different species of animals to survive and thrive.  In fact, each of the signs describing the animals has a meter that shows where it is on the scale of wild populations.  Many of the animals at Brookfield, sadly, are endangered in the wild.

    When my husband and I visited recently, we lucked out: the pair of snow leopards had fallen asleep right next to the glass in the viewing area.  I got to sit on the ground, not two feet away from them, and study them for a full twenty minutes.

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    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What\’s your favorite animal to visit at the zoo?