Point Blue Conservation Science and me (hint: it's about birds)

I was Judy For a Day yesterday, when I joined a group of birders (who eyed me suspiciously when I didn't know the distinguishing traits of a Bell's sparrow (they might even belong to Judy)). An ornithologist from Point Blue Conservation Science headed up the crew, and banded six stunned suspect sparrows. I took honest-to-goodness research notes. And drove sparrows into a net. I felt a little guilty. We were Bullies For Science.

I'm putting some pictures on here. Please note: I'm doing this in the out-of-doors, and I can't see picture quality for quack. They may just be quack, I don't know. Sorry.

Buckeye Regional Park (Buckeye Recreation Area)

We were in the field by dawn. No, I don't believe it, either. I slept in my clothes.

Michael is The Hand. 

Michael held the birds for photos in front of a whiteboard. The birds don't struggle or flail, and some seemed willing to smolder and work it. No duckface. I told Michael he was a good fluffer; everyone but Michael thought that was funny. Sorry, dude. This is what happens when you recruit riff-raff.

Convincing shadow-bird.

Chris, the lead, took measurements and I recorded them. The birds got banded and released.

I got good suggestions about my solar issues, and I'm still processing them. Thank you for taking the time to mention things.

My last post ran afoul of the feed gods again. Another tweak; let's see what happens now. I'll bet it's good!

Volunteering at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

When you're in Kanab, you may have a free morning or a dull afternoon to deal with. Why not spend it at Best Friends? It's easy.

• Go to the Welcome Center. It's impossible to miss from 89, going north out of Kanab. Just follow the signs.
• Ask for a tour. Free! There are four every day, and a tour takes about 90 minutes. This is also an easy way to see some beautiful countryside.
• It's all here.

If you like what you see, and you're thinking about volunteering, tell them so when you get back to the front desk. They'll get you set up with a brief orientation time, and then you'll sign up for the department of your choice. Pigs fill up quickly, in an ironic twist.

I Hugged a Cowboy: tales of the Southwest

I have alluded to my fear of horses. We signed up for horse doody on Saturday, which is pretty much like it sounds. You grab some work gloves and a pitchfork, and Ron drives you through the canyon on a Polaris Ranger. We shoveled poop for a cumulative total of maybe 15 minutes, with a tour in-between piles.

I confessed to Ron that I was afraid of horses, and he was very reassuring. He told us how to be with them, and how to fend them off if they got too friendly.

I was inside their pastures STANDING RIGHT BESIDE HORSES. I touched them, and spoke to them, and scritched their necks. I even turned my back on them. Curly Sue followed me to the turd castles to make sure I was doing it right. Rocky got up-close-and-personal with my water bottle to look for the apple-mint treats he was sure I carried.

Rocky's girlfriend, Cassia. Cassia was severely abused in her previous life, and has permanent back injuries and trust issues. They believe she was a Mexican tripping horse. Her trainer demonstrates her Parelli training, a completely gentle technique.

Rocky moved to Best Friends when it was realized he was in serious pain with his bad feet. A trainer there determined to take him in, either to manage his pain, or to euthanize him. Now, BF's ferrier works with his feet, and Rocky is on pain medication all the time. He is a happy, active horse. With a cute girlfriend. And, they're both retired! Life has gotten a lot better for these two.

Anasazi grain storage facility, and Ron

800 - 1000 year-old corn cobs. Don't bother trying to compost them.

Pictograph

185,000,000 years ago, giant carnivorous cows roamed Utah. We're lucky enough to have the fossil record.

From Hidden Lake

Toward Hidden Lake

Kanab Creek forms a slot canyon

Anasazi hand prints

Potsherds. Ron holds some rarer decorated sherds.

Silver's Point. Hi-yo Silver! That Silver.

Turtle Rock. Yarmulke or beret? [I'm stealing Ron's jokes]

Ren was probably a ranch hand, and this is likely his headstone. This is now about seven feet above the ground, and was probably a couple of feet lower in 1883. Next visit, I'll show you Ren.

Anasazi dwelling. Bottom half of wall was still intact when it was rediscovered.

People still wonder what happened to the Anasazis. DNA testing indicates the Hopis and Zunis are descendants, and so it's possible nothing "happened" to them. They may just have moved and formed new groups.

If you get here to work, just don't miss the "horse tour." Ron loves showing people this stuff, and most people (us) wouldn't know to ask about it. 

Adopt a bird from Best Friends, if you insist.

Our gig today was parrots! We learned things! If you make it to the end of this post, you may learn something, too.*

This pretty boy Pretty boy! Pretty boy! is Skylar. He accepted pistachios from Annie, then bit her. It was a stormy relationship.

Macaws live 80 - 100 years. Adoption of a young bird is not a commitment to take lightly. Skylar is an Amazon and may live 60 - 75 years.



Birds see in the visible (to us) spectrum, and also see UV.
Birds fed a seed diet are like people who eat nothing but McDonald's food. Best Friends sees them come in with liver disease, like the guy who did SuperSize Me. Seeds are very high in fat. These birds in the wild spend 58% of their time flying to look for food. A parrot in captivity flies 0% of his time.

  Birds should not be fed ripe fruit. They eat little of it in the wild, and always unripe, because they don't metabolize sugar well.
Parrots are prey animals, and we are predators. They know this, because all our eyes are in the front of us. Sidle up to a bird to seem less like a predator.

Annie does not metabolize bird dander well, so she was mostly outside.


This is Layla, who wiggled and snurffled her way past me. She was a Vick dog, and is now living a fine, licky life.

Sasha is a macaw. Kevin isn't, but they get along well. Sasha will likely outlive Kevin, his kids, and his grandkids.

Here's the plan, see. I'll eat the nut, see. Then we'll...you dirty rat!

If you full-body stroke a bird, you are promising to mate with him.  Keep it above the neck, fella.



Paco (rear) is blind, but Rico is his seeing-eye-bird. They're never far apart, and they use a unique call to find each other.

Alo, an African Grey

A cockatoo will have seven to eleven homes in his life, because they live so long and because they are louder than your Great-Aunt Gladys without her ear trumpet. 
If there's a takeaway, I guess it's to know what you're geting into when you adopt a bird. 

• Their vet bills are breathtaking. 
• They will outlive you. If you don't like your bird, you can't just wait him out. 
• Birds are extremely dander-y. Annie had to leave the house after five minutes, so powerful was her allergic reaction.
• Birds are flock animals, and the reality of life in a cage stresses them. Counterintuitively, their lifespan in captivity is shorter than in the wild, even though they are prey animals.

All these birds are adoptable from Best Friends. You do need to make a visit to let your new bird friend pick you out. 

 

*Offer not valid in contiguous 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii, US protectorates, United Arab Emirates, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, or Greenland.

Best Friends: how to find your perfect cat

Annie and I split up today. We each saw other people.
Fear the Cute

Annie and Luke at Cat HQ

 

Chica

Annie socialized with the cats and kittens at HQ. 

Tyler

Tyler and Tanner

I went to Quincy's House (sometimes called "Kitty Motel"). They offered me the choice to socialize or to help with the work. The staff works so hard I couldn't say "no" to helping out. The caregiver told me that, literally, Best Friends couldn't function without volunteers. In the old days, with so many animals and so few humans, they would go into Kanab with $20 bills and ask people if they wanted to help. "Now," she said "you come to us!"

Knox is in a FIV+ room. He could not get enough of my shoes.

You can't take FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) home to your cats by working with them. FIV+ cats can live a long life, and don't necessarily convert to feline-AIDS. You can't get FIV.

These guys are kept separate from the other cats to prevent infection through fights and bites. 

Quincy's House is also home to the famous Incontinental Suite. A large number of the incontinent kitties have Manx syndrome, and are "rumpies." If you're imagining a big stink here, it's okay to stop. This place is clean. 

There are also several resident cerebellar hypoplasia (CH) cats here. They're sometimes called "wobbly cats," although no one here called them that.

Bug

Bug looked right at me, then staggered to the left. He overcorrected and flopped over to the right. I second-guessed him and put him on my lap - that was the right call. We snuggled for a long time.

These fellows eat out of soft silicone bowls, because they could hurt their faces on the stainless steel bowls the other cats use. This is a favorite spot of Bug's, so they wrap it in soft things to cushion him.

Bug-eyed

Duke

Annie and I got back together at 4PM. We're willing to separate again, for a good cause.

I'm planning to become more spontaneous, but I still need to know a little of what to expect from new experiences. If you'd like to know how to go about volunteering at Best Friends, I'll talk more about that soon.

Cat World's Biggest Loser, and Dogtown.

We made early morning appointments to volunteer, clearly forgetting who we are. We stumbled in and headed for our assignments; somehow I pulled the poshest "work" detail ever. I chose Sinjin's House, which is the home of Best Friends' fat cats. These guys need no socialization, so I spent three hours scritching and grooming them. Sure, my tongue is fuzzy, but my heart is full.

Millie:

 

Millie came to Best Friends at 31 pounds. Since she's been here, she's lost 3 pounds. You know what it's like to try to lose 10% of your body weight, so let's hear it for the girl. She's very healthy, but exertion taxes her heart. Walking hurts, as you might imagine, and makes her cranky. What doesn't make her cranky: scritches. 

She is a feature of the tour - everyone hears about Millie - so I felt honored to be in the presence of celebrity. One of the founders came through looking for her, gave her a pet and a pep talk, and left again.

Nora: <--- check out her "before" picture!
Nora gave me The Look only once this morning, and it was for this picture. She is affectionate and sweet, spending lots of time on my lap, and has no special needs that I know of. I sorta fell for her, but her house is so much nicer than ours! I was envious of her free access to a predator-proof sun porch. She would have resented me forever.
Aly is an attention-hog with a great voice. He wants your full attention, but will settle for the sound of one hand petting. Again, check out his headshots. They do a great job of slimming these big cats down, and replacing extra food with extra attention.
Buddah is the house's Biggest Loser, now that he's a slim, svelte kitty. Is this cat svelte? It is now - I just svelte him.
The caregiver, Barbara, described Orson as a hunka hunka handsome kitty. He is very friendly and cuddlesome. He does have special needs - he has meds for his glaucoma, and doesn't see fully. He probably suffered a car fan belt accident when he was younger.
Isabelle is shy, and enjoyed her cattery instead of enjoying me. I svelte like being alone.
Annie worked in Dogtown with the puppies, and she wants me to show you her fuzzy charges:

Bugs, who apparently eats anything. Shown: dirt

Hampton. He got adopted today! 

He doesn't have special needs - his junk was hot.

Not adoptable.

We signed up for four more sessions, including a PIG GIG on Saturday! SCORE!