Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[calhound]

Hi JP here is my advent card..

[ra]

Hi Jewelies!  Busy again.  Girls coming tonight, so had to make muffins.  The younger one is coming pretty soon, the oldest grand is going to the town Christmas parade with her boyfriend and his family, then they will bring her here.  I finished my Christmas tree last night and put a couple of stuffed bears under it.  When I got up this morning, someone had been playing with the smallest bear.  Handsome was a good boy though, he didn't play with the ornaments, but one of his toys was under the tree.  Shiny gold ball toy... guess he thought he was helping decorate!  lol

JP and cal... Love your Jacqui Lawson advent stuff.  One of my customers gave me that for Christmas one year and I had so much fun doing the daily stuff.  I don't work for that lady anymore... darn.  lol 

cal... I laughed at the guy that didn't want trouble from you!  lol  Our McDonalds had that double drive thru, too... I'm always worried I'll get the wrong order.  Looking forward to hearing if our QB Watson gets the Heisman tonight!  Fingers are crossed!

I need to finish my laundry before the grand gets here.  See you guys later.  Beautiful day here...74^o last time I looked.

[dlongkc]

Hi Jewelies! 

Just wanted to tell you guys hi before I go to bed. I'm tuckered out. Lara, Molly and I all went to pick David up at the airport. Usually you can just wait for them in loading zones, but NO! The airport cops and the regular cops and the parking control people were all over the place yelling at people and wouldn't let us wait at the curb. So Lara went inside to wait for luggage with Dave, and Molly and I drove round & round until they came out. I got motion sick from so much stop & go. Molly drives like everyone in Phoenix; after you stop you drive super fast to the next time you have to stop which could be only 10 ft and then you slam on the brakes. Then do it again and again. It's enough to give you whiplash. Anyway, then we went out to 54th St Bar & Grill in Liberty for lunch. It was 2:00 by then and the place was packed! We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. But we like that place and the food is good so we didn't mind. Then we went to Lara's house and just hung out and talked. It was great to have them all together. Here we are on Lara's back deck; it's David, Lara, Molly, then me.
 
 

And this is Lara's new rescue dog, MacMillan. He is getting so much friendlier and not so scared.

 

Cal & JP, I love your pretty trees! JP I see the Navy won again. 14 wins in a row against Army! I always loved those pretty sailor boys when I was lots younger! 

Ra Well, my tiny little tree is sitting on it's table. It has lights and nothing else on it! I was so sure I was going to have it all decorated but.......

Rues I can't believe you have robins and violets! It was pretty muggy here today. They kept saying it was going to rain and it never did. But it is headed this way now (oops, I think I hear some rain now) and it will be a little cooler next week. In fact I saw a long range forecast that had a little snowflake for Christmas Day.

Nora I hope Joe is feeling well today. The worst pain I had when I had my heart surgery was my ribs from when they spread them open. It was where your ribs attach kind of on your sides. It felt like someone had kicked me in each side. 

Obsver I was reading X that I had borrowed from the library to my Kindle. I got so busy I didn't have much time so this morning when I downloaded my newspaper my book went away! Now I have to go check it out again!

Bei Bei weighs 16 lbs now and getting around much better. Be sure to turn your volume up. Mom leaves him on the rocks and he has started learning to climb. In this video, he climbs around and then calls for Mei to come rescue him and she runs right over to get him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ekh4PfzZ8&list=TLnCgJ8S-Ny1IxMjEyMjAxNQ

This is another video of him escaping Mei and falling around on the rocks. Be sure to have your sound on for this one too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Z4gmzmMBw

This is a little fuzzy but I thought it was cute of them sleeping. Bei Bei is in the little rock pen. For some reason, Mei still thinks he won't get out of there.
 

Isn't this the sweetest pic of the sleepy little guy?

 


Hi to willi, Neva, Deb, Pat, Blschue, Chippy and all who visit here. I hope you are having a restful night. 

[jpalmken]

Here's Honey



Navy won but they had a tough time.   I feel so sorry for the Army who has now lost 14 consecutive games to Navy.  Unbelievable.  They seemed to be moving to score, toward the end, then interceptions wrecked that plus the missed field goal.  They sort of beat themselves.  Maybe next year.

dlong, so nice all are together.  My family has not been all together for about 8 years, now.

I see predictions for cooler weather.  It was unbelievable to see such warm weather at the football game.  It is usually cold and such in Philadelphia in December.

I hope all are well and getting ready for the Holidays.

[calhound]

How Long Can Shadow Have Cubs? - UPDATE December 12, 2015

Shadow and Cub on August 17, 2015
Shadow and Cub on August 17, 2015
Shadow is the only bear I?ve heard of that has produced cubs beyond the age of 27. I?m looking for information on old black bears (or any kind of old bear) producing cubs. Shadow raised Spanky this year at 28 and is presumably in a den with Spanky at this time. A single cub seems to be the rule for final litters. Can Shadow mate this spring at 29 and beat the odds by having a litter at 30 in 2017?

Back in the early 1990?s, we had high hopes that old 641 would have a litter at 30. She was the oldest black bear we?d heard of at that time, so we named her Minda-Moye (Ojibway for Old Lady). In 1991, she had raised a single male cub when she was 26. It seemed to take a lot out of her. She weighed only 104 pounds the next spring (1992) when she was 27. She undoubtedly mated that spring, but food was scarce that summer, so it wasn?t surprising she didn?t produce a litter in January 1993 when she was 28. Would another year of weight gain do the trick for a bear her age? From what other bears showed us, she would have to reach a fall weight of at least 148 pounds to have any chance of giving birth, and she would have to reach a minimum fall weight of 176 pounds to be in the weight range where 28 of 30 females go on to have cubs in January. 1993 had reasonably abundant bear food, but there were no little voices in her den when I visited on February 14, 1994 when she was 29. The summer of 1994 had a bumper crop of berries and hazelnuts. With so much food, I thought maybe an old bear with worn teeth like Minda-Moye could put on enough weight to reproduce, but she was killed by a hunter at 29 ? before she could enter a den.

In other studies, no black bear that I know of has had cubs past age 27. Maine began a study in 1975 that has become one of the longest studies of black bears ever done. They had three bears produce cubs at advanced ages?25, 25, and (this year) 26. Few black bears live long enough to see what happens beyond that age, but the Minnesota DNR radio-tracked an exception?bear no. 56, who survived to 39 ?. She raised a single cub at 25 and was expected to have a litter at age 27, but ?researchers found her healthy in a den and producing milk but without cubs.? I suspect she gave birth to stillborn cubs or non-surviving cubs and ate them. She never produced another litter.

The only other very old female we studied (besides Shadow and Minda-Moye) was Midge, who raised 2 cubs at 24, mated with Lumpy at 25, and apparently had a cub or cubs at 26. However, those cubs were no longer with her by the time we saw her on August 27 when she was in failing health due to a terminal case of blastomycosis. Her necropsy revealed the placental scars that showed she had given birth.

On another subject, another error. A Lily Fan was good to notice the error on Dr. Donald Griffin?s name. She wrote, ?I noticed a typo in the scientist's name who argued that animals have feelings. He was "Donald Griffin" rather than "Griffith". He was an amazing smart man who loved designing experiments to show the intelligence and emotions of animals. He passed away in 2003.? Mention of his name brings back good memories. I bought Donald?s ground-breaking books, and he attended my lectures in Boston back then. I remember my last lecture at Concord Academy not long before he died. He was there with his beaver research equipment to give me. I?d had a Beaver Cam, and he did years of research on beavers, so I was the likely one to inherit his equipment. Knowing what I know now, I suspect he knew something he wasn?t sharing about his health and was trying to see that his research tools were put to the best use for the future. I also remember a nice lunch together at the home of the couple who arranged my talks in that area. With my background in animal behavior, I was interested in anything he had to say. I remember having him stand up in the audience at my lecture that night. A great guy, so full of knowledge and fighting a battle for acceptance of the idea that animals are more than automatons. Today, any Lily Fan knows better than that?partly because right won in the end thanks to Professor Donald Griffin of Harvard.

Thank you for all you do.

[calhound]

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/DE16C0D1C4E?z=0

[jpalmken]

It took me 5:11 to find any catnip.  I don't like the mouse with my new computer it drags.

[williwaw]

Nice family Dlong, even the dog is cute.

[dlongkc]

Nice family Dlong, even the dog is cute.

Thank you, Willi! 

[calhound]

hi d! just saw your post. cool avatar..enjoying this rain? i got the big ac on.

[calhound]

I told santa i wanted catnip in 3:17!

[ruesgram]

Good evening, Jewelies! It was a very warm weekend here! Wish it would stay this way but cooler temps coming later this week. Still saying no white Christmas here.

Cal, I was enjoying the article in the update about Minda Moye and then came the sad part. I didn't see that coming. Darn hunters.  Hate to read that stuff.  Yesterday morning, while I was watching Hyacinth, my cable went off. With the cable off so went the phone and Internet! It was off for 3 hours!! The episode was the one where Liz, the next door neighbor, let her brother Emmet move in with her. Hyacinth didn't know he was Liz's brother. She thought Liz's house had become an illicit love nest! Then the cable went off! Of course, having seen every show 200 times, I knew how it ended!   Last night I went with my sis and Sandy on the buggy ride around City Park to view the Christmas light display. It was so pretty with the lights reflecting in the pond. Remember last year it was cold and damp and a little icy and we worried about the horses slipping on the slick roads. Well this year was a complete opposite. No coats or jackets were needed. Some folks were in shorts! We noticed the horses were actually sweating! We questioned the driver about that and he said they were fine, for us not to worry. Our horse's name was Noble. He was pretty. I got home in time to watch part of Mary Poppins. This afternoon my sis and I went on our annual Christmas run to decorate parents and grandparents graves. The older sis still isn't talking to the younger. Our mom would be livid if she were alive. Love your Christmas tree! Did you hang your wreath on the door yet?

Jp, it's so good to see you up and running! Love your Christmas tree, too!

Dlong, you have a beautiful family! That pic is so nice! What a sweet pic of MacMillan! And all the pandas, too! I heard this guy on tv say when you pick someone up at an airport pick them up at departures instead of arrivals. At arrivals they keep moving you on but at departures they don't bother you. Since he told that on national news everyone will go to departures and cause a traffic jam now!  At the 2 airports that Robin uses they both have cell phone lots. So we wait there for her to call us when she is near the curb! She has a trip planned for New Years. 

Ra, we got up to 74 yesterday. Because of the clouds today we only hit 67! Several of my neighbors mowed! My yard needs mowed, too, but Crow put the mower to bed a month ago for the winter! Who would have thought you'd need to mow the yard in mid December? Did you cook some good stuff for the grand's this weekend?

Hi to everyone! Hope you all have a nice evening!

[williwaw]

I watched the Coat Of Many Colors tonight. I saw you posting about it. Good movie and that little girl WAS awesome, like you said.

[jpalmken]

Lily, last August



The NFL games went pretty much as expected, I guess.  The Chiefs won (hooray cal), Carolina remained undefeated white-washing Seattle, and the Dullphins avoided defeat by not playing until tonight.

I got poured on by an unexpected thunderstorm going to lunch yesterday.

We all have a new week to enjoy so let us make the most of it, starting right now.

.

[calhound]

Holly, Ice, Books - UPDATE December 13, 2015

Holly fixing the lens
Holly fixing the lens
Holly had the energy to pounce, probably toward the mouse or vole, and she had the curiosity to discombobulate the lens. The word we have is that Scott will fix it tomorrow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAhhb4da8xc

On ice thickness, Lily Fans were cautious about the rhyme a couple nights ago and sent recommendations to wait for thicker ice. They preferred the thicker ice recommended by the North Dakota Department of Game and Fish Ice Thickness - ? ND Game & Fish Dept
Ice Thickness - ? ND Game & Fish Dept
Around here, people are pretty ice-conscious. When the ice gets thick enough, they save miles by driving directly across big lakes. Being on the cautious side, I wait for others to make that move.

While I?m anxious to write a book as soon as the Ecology Hall and Bear Center are in shape for next year, I look up to my friend Dr. Steve Stringham who has written 7 books about bears. My book will probably quote the following words from his Beauty Within the Beast: ?In part because bears can be so dangerous, they force you to pay attention. Holly nosing the cam
Holly nosing the cam
The awe of being in their presence strips away the chaos of thoughts and distractions that normally dominate your consciousness. They focus your attention on the moment. They flood your blood with adrenaline and endorphins. They introduce you to terror, awe, amazement and ecstasy. They connect you to the deepest pulses of life. This is their gift. The power to take your life, or to renew it; to re-create who you are, if only for a moment, and perhaps for a lifetime.?

Beauty Within The Beast
Beauty Within The Beast
Steve is Director of the Bear Viewing Association and has been researching and conserving bears since 1969. He estimates he?s had over 12,000 close encounters with brown (grizzly) bears and black bears. His books are a unique compilation of entertaining adventures, enlightening scientific knowledge, and wisdom about living in harmony with bears. They can be purchased through Steve?s website www.bear-viewing-in-alaska.info. All profits fund bear research and conservation. Beauty Within the Beast: Raising Orphaned Bear Cubs in the Alaskan Wilderness is the story of Steve?s early years as a bear biologist. It recounts this forward-thinking scientist?s experiences rearing orphaned cubs so they could fend for themselves and avoid conflicts with people. I?d especially recommend the second edition which has more and better photos.

Holly nosing at the camera
Holly nosing at the camera
Dr. Stringham invited me to be part of a panel he is convening at the 24th International Conference on Bear Research and Management on June 12-16 at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska.

Thank you for all you do.

Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center