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I received a call today from a woman who introduced herself as one of the veterinarians at the animal clinic where I surrendered a homeless cat yesterday. She asked if I knew about the history of the animal and the only information I could offer was, a week ago the cat showed up in the courtyard of my building and neighbors were feeding her. The cat was quiet and very friendly but homeless. The reason for me delivering the cat to their facility was to keep my neighbors out of trouble for violating the association rules for feeding strays.
The vet went on to explain the cat was in pain having enlarged lymph nodes and lumps in her intestines. Most of her teeth were missing and several teeth were infected into the gums.
At that point I asked "Are we talking about the same cat?"
She described the animal and stated the her condition with all the problems it wouldn't be long for the cat to live and the most humane thing to do is euthanize her so she doesn't have to suffer.

I tried several no-kill pet adoption places and this was the only place in 50 miles or so that would take the cat in for spaying, shots and microchip. To hear they had to put the cat down came as a total surprise... and not a good one.

So ended my Happy-Friday and a full moon on a clear night.

Now it appears it worked and on the worst of cases .

I seem to have a talent for making friends with deer.
It has lead to excellent photos.

I never feed them. I just respect them and how they feel.
They are generally fearful of humans. I can understand that, and why.
I've learned their cues to this and how to interact with them to make them much more comfortable.
Eventually, they accept me, as one of their herd.

So far, deer in 3 different distant towns totally tolerate my presence.
But, I've never attempted it more locally, until this year.
It's in the beginning stages.
I've taken photos of them 5 times. Six times, if you include today.
Generally, the does are most receptive. Males, having testosterone, generally have less patience.
Thus, again generally the bucks are the least receptive.
However, it's not a rule.

Two times ago just, before dusk, there were 2 of them, a does and a young buck that were
lying down in a field about 15 feet from each other and they let me get near them
and sit down. I took some nice pictures of her, as she was closer.
Then, I got up and walked away from them to go back home.

The last time was 2 young bucks, probably 2 year olds. Their antlers are currently growing
and covered in felt. They tolerated me talking pictures of them as they ate leaves and grass.
I was probably 25 feet from them. They walked about another 20 feet from me
and I sat down, propped up against a tree. To my surprise they walked back close to me,
perhaps 12 feet from me and they both laid down near me. We spent about 20 minutes like
that with me taking pictures of them, before I got up and walked away. I always take it as a big
compliment, when a deer lays down near me. It says, I trust you. The defense of deer is their speed.
They can run very fast. However, they do not get up very quickly. So they won't lay down, unless they trust you at whatever distance you are from them.

Today as I arrived in that area, there were about 12 bucks. Older ones, yearlings and intermediate
aged ones. It was the largest gathering I've seen so far for this herd. While the older bucks ran away from me on previous days (my first experiences with the herd), none of them seemed all that nervous that I was there today. They were in the shade. Some were lying down. Again, I got good shots of them, and then I began to walk away from them. When I did, one of the bucks, perhaps one of the two who previously laid down near me on another day, started following me, as I walked away. He entered into the sunlight, so I stopped and then walked parallel to him to get on his sunnier side and take a couple of more shots of him. When I finally walked away, he had a look on his face, like he was disappointed, or confused, why was I leaving ?

Like humans, and other animals, they each have their own unique personalities and it can lead to friendships.

In the other 3 towns, it was always the matriarch of the herd that decided to accept me as part of the herd. And once the matriarch accepts you, the other deer in that herd will too.
Deer are like elephants in that the boss of the herd is the matriarch. However, in this local herd, it may be different. Perhaps the matriarch got hit by a car recently ?? I haven't seen a matriarch yet in this herd. There are some young does, but no older wiser matriarch, that I've seen. No boss of the herd.
Perhaps they feel a bit lost without one.

Woman murdered by police officer unarmed and no threat to the killer or anybody else .

I am accepted into 3 herds of deer in 3 different NJ townships.
They don't mind my presence. I've earned their trust,
just by keeping up with them, never getting too close (according to their reactions)
and never attacking them, nor making sudden fast movements, nor talking loudly.
I've never fed them. They just learned to slowly trust me.
Once the matriarch accepts you, the rest of the herd will too.

That doesn't mean they will trust other humans. They can distinguish individuals.
I've been with a herd and someone else would see it and walk towards me,
and before that person got within 80 yards, the deer would run away.
Regardless, 3 herds is a tiny amount of the herds in New Jersey.
There are literally tons if deer in New Jersey.

A couple of weeks ago I was taking pictures of a deer herd,
that does not know me at all.
I had snuck up on them using some tall grass as a blind.

That worked fairly well and I got some good photos of several of the deer.
However, eventually one of them saw me move. She signaled the others
and the matriarch came over to check things out. I got one photo of her.
She snorted and they were off running away to an adjoining field about
80 yards from me.

I moved to a tree row that bordered the 2 fields and kneeled down and watched.
About 15 minutes later, something spooked the deer and they ran off again.
This time it wasn't me. After a few minutes, I saw an animal walking along
the opposite side of that field about 150 yards away.
It was just about sunset time. Indeed, the sun was about 1/2 down.
The 4 legged animal got closer as he angled across the field.
I could see through my large lens, that it was a coyote. Or was it.
It seemed larger than a coyote, a bit smaller than a wolf.

It looked a lot like this one (not my picture);


I had heard on the news last year, that there had been coywolves, a cross-breed between wolves and coyote there. Was this one similar. So recently, I did some research. Indeed, research has been done on the genetic make-up of the eastern USA coyotes. .From this research it was found out that the coyotes here in the eastern USA are all crossbreeds in various combinations.
The mixture within a modern day eastern USA coyote is mostly coyote (about 64%) and about 13% Eastern wolf, about 13% grey wolf and about 10% dog. The exact mix in any coyote can be as low as 8% for any
of the above, except coyote. The further south you travel the more dog and the less wolf. The further north, the less dog and the more wolf.

It seems the wolves aren't that choosy when & where mates are scarce.
While part dog, I highly doubt any of the eastern USA coyotes is Chihuahua.
But hey, you never know what a wolf or coyote will do for some Taco Bell.

Federal law allows wolfdogs as pets. That's where a wolf is intentionally bred with a dog, as long as the original wolf was at least 5 generations ago. However, different states and even different counties within states regulate it somewhat differently. In some states or counties it is illegal to own one.

If you try it in those areas, I suppose you're barking up the wrong tree.

Ashlyn was an old dog at a shelter in North Carolina — and she really wasn’t doing well.

She’d dropped a ton of weight and she suffered from sarcomas — cancerous tumors under her skin. Yet it wasn’t too late for her to have a stroke of luck.

When people at the New England Humane Society (NEHS) discovered someone with a perfect home where Ashlyn could spend the last few weeks of her life, she just needed a way to get there. So Paul Steklenski, founder of Flying Fur Animal Rescue (FFAR), decided to fly her up in his plane.

As he flew the plane with Ashlyn in the seat beside him, Steklenski started getting emotional thinking about how this might be her last ride anywhere.



Even though he’s used to flying needy dogs to rescues so they can get the homes they deserve — he usually transports about 15 to 30 dogs per month — the senior dogs particularly pull at Steklenski’s heartstrings. “Those are the ones where you focus even more on what they’re going through,” Steklenski told The Dodo.

At the beginning of the two-hour ride, Ashlyn was a bit hesitant. “She started off a little bit distant,” Steklenski said. “Then she would kind open up a bit, and she got closer.”

The dog biscuits he fed her definitely helped her feel more comfortable. “Then she gave me one paw and then the other,” he said.

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The birds around here chirp all night long. Lighting around all the condo buildings is super bright and the birds hang in the trees chirping... all night long.

My grandmother had a parakeet that wouldn't shut up if the lights were on, so she draped a dark cloth over his cage.

Maybe I can invent a directional high pitched horn, above the range of human hearing and point it at these freakin' birds to convince them to go somewhere else to chirp all night.

80-1 odds overcame. Incredible race and view.

Australia has the reputation of having the World's largest collection of poisonous, (and otherwise dangerous) wildlife. ALL of these animals should be treated with great care.....Most are found outside of urban areas...and do not present a problem to the average tourist....Enter their domain, however, and/or provoke them, and you are asking for real trouble!...particularly in a remote area, where it would be difficult for Emergency Services to access (we have a lot of those)....you've been warned!






Even the kangaroos seem to be getting out of hand!





Any comments, or questions, are welcome.............