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Happy World Turtle Day!
Today is World Turtle Day, started in 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, itself founded as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation in 1990.
Celebrations occur worldwide — people dressing up as turtles or wearing “turtle green” clothes, research activities, arts & crafts projects, and even specific turtle lesson plans in classrooms.
Did you know that if you find a turtle crossing a road and decide to help it so it doesn’t get hit by a car, you should point it in the same direction it was traveling, so take it to the side of the road that it was traveling to and point it away from the road. If you take it to the side of the road from which it came, even if you point it away from the road then, it will turn around and start to cross the road again.
And what do I do for World Turtle Day? Why post a bunch of turtle pictures, of course!
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat.
I would approve this post
but I’m pretending to be a book
and no one has opened me yet.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
All cats are the same
All cats are the same.
Big cats, little cats, doesn’t matter.
It’s in their genes.
Proof from yesterday’s visit to the San Diego Zoo:
Compare that Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) to Zoey the Cool Cat (Felis catus iamthegreatest):
Or compare the Snow Leopard to this Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni):
Or compare this Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) to Zoey the Cool Cat (the cat to which all others should be compared!)
There you have it!
Further proof that all cats are the same.
I’m Zoey the Cool cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Happy Mother’s Day from the Queen!
Yesterday, the Queen’s subjects left at 5:40 a.m. (that’s in the morning before the sun comes up!), rode the trains for National Train Day (San Diego Trolley, Amtrak, and Los Angeles Metro), and arrived back home at 9:05 p.m. (that’s after the sun goes down!).
We expected to find Zoey the Cool Cat sleeping in her favorite chair, or on whatever clothes of mine she could find, or in a place where she’s not supposed to be (like on top of the piano).
There she was stretching her claws on the carpet with her rump and tail in the air, a sure sign that she was asleep until she heard the car pull into the driveway.
Then she was up and at ‘em, playing, jumping, running up and down the hall, checking out all the new stuff on the bed….
Ah, cats……..
In honor of mothers everywhere, following are some of my favorite cats. Happy Mothers Day!
And now we
for a word from our sponsor:
Again, Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere from the Queen herself:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Dangerous if provoked
Today I attempted to go to the Children’s Zoo at the San Diego Zoo. It has been a long time since I went to the Children’s Zoo. The #1 reason is because, in order to get to the Children’s Zoo, one has to walk directly past the Reptile House. And I love reptiles! They are so cool! I never make it past the Reptile House unless I close my eyes, and then I run into people!
From China, and the only species other than cobras to spit venom.
A critically endangered rattlesnake since it exists only on
Santa Catalina Island off the southern coast of Baja California
in Mexico. Unique because this rattlesnake does not have a rattle.
(Great! Now we have to worry about rattlesnakes that can’t rattle
to warn us that we might be intruding into their territory!)
From Central and South America.
Distinguishing feature is a set of modified scales
above its eyes that look like eyelashes.
From Madagascar.
Gets up to seven feet long and feeds on bats and birds.
From South America. An uncommon species. Bites from it have not yet been recorded although the indigenous people of southeastern Colombia greatly fear this snake.
From Southern Africa. Rarely seen in the wild or in captivity.
From Southern Africa. Can spit its venom up to 8.2 feet!
Is known to “play dead” by rolling
onto its back with its mouth wide open.
From Africa. Known to be cannibalistic, which could explain
why juveniles are diurnal while adults are nocturnal.
Ranges from Southern Mexico through Central America and into northern South America. Called “the ultimate pit viper” because it is the most common cause of snake bites in its range. An irritable and
fast-moving species, the sign at the San Diego Zoo says it is
“dangerous if provoked.” Well, der.
A common exotic pet from southeast Asia.
Has been extensively “harvested” for leather.
From southern Asia. The largest known Indian Python was found in
Pakistan and was 15 feet long and weighed 115 pounds.
Did you find the head of the Indian Python in the picture above?
If not, here it is:
I must make a mad dash over to
On The Border
for my requisite
Grande Raspberry Swirl margarita
for Cinco de Mayo!
Hope you had as much fun here as Zoey the Cool Cat and I did!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
If it itches, scratch it!
The San Diego Zoo has spent a lot of time cleaning out some of the exhibits that were overgrown with vegetation, such as the eagle and condor exhibits. Now we can see the Andean Condors, and here is one that had an itch while I was there:
The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) is the only member of the genus Vultur. It lives in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. Its wingspan of up to 10.5 ft is exceeded only by the Wandering Albatross, the Southern Royal Albatross, the Dalmatian Pelican, and the Great White Pelican.
Andean Condors are primarily scavengers, feeding mostly on carcases of deer and cattle. It is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 100 years in captivity.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Joey needs a name…. Wait! What?
A blogging friend and her husband came to town yesterday so Jim and I took them to the San Diego Zoo.
One of the little fellas that we saw was a baby Koala (remember that Koalas are not bears, so don’t go saying “Koala Bear.” They are marsupials.)
Turns out that baby Koalas are called joeys, and the San Diego Zoo is asking for help in naming this little joey.
In the picture below, you can see mommy teaching her little one that the reason why koalas exist is to sleep, up to twenty hours each day.
By the way, the San Diego Zoo has the largest colony of koalas outside of Australia. Unfortunately, there are only four currently on exhibit because their old exhibit was torn down and rebuilt into a huge Australian Outback. The new exhibit, which opens May 24 (I’ll be there!) is probably a good twenty times larger than the old exhibit which I heard had been there since sometime around 1935. So it was time for a little home remodeling!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Might have been foreplay!
When I stop by to see the zebras at the San Diego Zoo, quite often this is the view I get:
I admit that sometimes I’m lucky and get a picture like this:
I’ll be the first to admit that a picture of a zebra’s rear end or a picture of zebras eating are not the most exciting pictures in the world.
One of the reasons to have an annual pass to the Zoo is to regularly check up on the non-photogenic animals to see if they might be in a photogenic mood that day.
Recently I got lucky with a male and a female zebra having a little fun….. might even have been foreplay considering the time of year!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Just 12 more days to visit Butterfly Jungle at Safari Park!
Butterfly Jungle opened on March 16 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido, California.
It’s only open through April 7, so if you intend to go, don’t want until the last day. There is timed entry to Butterfly Jungle. I got there the other day at 9:00 and the wait was already 30 minutes. By the time I left at noon, the wait was 2½ hours!
Here are some pictures from this year’s Butterfly Jungle:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Looks mighty uncomfortable
When Zoey the Cool Cat gets into some of her contorted positions to take a nap, I often wonder just how comfortable it can be.
Seems other creatures also like to get into awkward positions that look mighty uncomfortable:
That’s a young flamingo from last year’s brood.
The flamingos at the Zoo are busy building their nests for this year’s brood.
Here are a bunch of nests from last year:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Intelligent life, and it’s not in the halls of Congress
I’m pretty much a believer in the intelligence of wildlife.
I think they are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for.
In fact, maybe man’s simply not intelligent enough to understand what all these other creatures that we share the Earth with are actually thinking.
The Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) at the San Diego Zoo is a great example.
I stood and watched it for almost an hour the other day.
Interestingly, I didn’t connect with it— or did I? An hour with it? — until I got home and saw the pictures I had taken:
The Secretary Bird is a Vulnerable species from Africa. It is related to buzzards and vultures but is the only species in the family Sagittariidae. It gets as tall as four feet with an 87-inch (7¼ feet!) wingspan. They spend most of their time on the ground although roosting in acacia trees.
Adult birds hunt mostly in pairs but sometimes in a loose familial flock. They discover prey by stomping on clumps of vegetation or waiting near wildfires and capturing anything trying to escape. They are known to stomp on their prey until it is stunned or unconscious enough to swallow, and there are unconfirmed reports that they know which snakes are venomous, capturing them, taking flight, and then dropping those snakes to their death before making a meal of them.
Now tell me these birds aren’t intelligent!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
