I know I don’t do these often enough anymore, but I thought we could all use some respite for the weekend. Here are good people doing good things…
Flight attendant Amber May’s quick thinking saved six rare Chilean flamingo eggs after their incubator broke on the plane. David Muir has more on what happened to those eggs, and the special visit a few weeks later.
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I love this entire project and the woman who runs it.
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Foster fail alert!
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This one is a little more personal. The week Zander died, my friend, who volunteers at a bunny rescue, told me they got in TWELVE babies. Seven had a mom and the other five were dumped. These are all domestic bunnies, and people just don’t know what they are getting into, especially around Easter when they want that cute bunny.
The care is ridiculous, as I have learned from watching my friend with her bunnies, so they get dumped often. They find bunnies in boxes in parking lots, wandering through parks, out in the street. Dumped bunnies usually die as they cannot fend for themselves.
I did offer to help foster the babies, who were a week old – even though I found out after spending a day at the rescue that I am horribly allergic to bunnies and/or Timothy hay (their food/bedding). My friend declined my offer because as she said, “you’ve been through enough and the survival rate is low for these guys.” Through heroic efforts by the volunteers, nine of the bunnies survived and are thriving.
They are raising money here for their spay and neuter – donations are doubled in May – at this link.
Also, if you’re in the area and ever thought about bunnies, Rocky Mountain House Rabbits is a great resource for adoption and information. These folks really know their stuff. Unfortunately you will not find me there volunteering because I like to be able to breathe. But they are soooo adorable.
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And of course, here are my cuties:
This was the second time I lost Reggie – no need to worry, he just needed a nap on his favorite (MY!) blanket and Jasper was keeping watch.
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A little moment of zen. A couple of owls just chatting. My friends have a pair of Great Horned owls who live on their property and every year introduce them to the younguns’ – they bring them to the second floor deck to perch on the railing. This looks into their office and the birds often watch them work. While their dog was still alive, they would perch in the tree and watch them play fetch with him, like some avian tennis match, their heads on a swivel.
This is a good news open thread.
ETA: I can’t believe I forgot about Dulé Hill’s PBS Series, just chocked full of good people doing good things. I’ve added up top.
mrmoshpotato
Excellent. Thanks for this.
Scout211
I love the owl video. I wake up super early each morning and when the windows are open and it’s still dark, I hear the Great Horned Owls hoo-hoo-hooing at each other and the Western Screech Owls trilling their melodies at each other. It’s a wonderful way to start the morning.
ETA: Western Screech Owl sound.
Melancholy Jaques
The owls are not what they seem.
trollhattan
‘Ats-a lotta cat!
eclare
Awww…the stories about the zoo in FL and the “big boned” kitty were wonderful! I hope Axel continues to thrive.
Jackie
Reggie and Scout! Scout’s nose is bigger than Reggie 😂
And Jasper watching Reggie sleep…🥰
My daughter had a pet rabbit for eight years. It was a blast watching him chase the cats up the hallway, then them chasing him back… but oh, the bunny-proofing to protect lamp and computer cords! My daughter had to replace my living room lamps before we learned to use pvc pipes to protect cords.
NotMax
1989: Pets or meat?
Josie
I love stories about people who are in prison caring for and bonding with animals. It is such a win win idea.
eclare
@Jackie:
Wow I never thought about that. Knock on wood none of my cats or dogs have ever chewed cord.
And yes, Reggie with the Danes makes a cute photo. This was decades ago, obviously, Shaq was entering the NBA draft, and People magazine had an article about him. They posed him with a kitten!
https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/x5t40l/shaq_holding_a_kitten_from_his_time_in_college_at/
MazeDancer
Love that Sumo kitty. Such a personality.
West of the Rockies
OT, but NPR has an excellent Code Switch essay up about Jerry Seinfeld’s pissing about political correctness/wokeness.
What a smug hack comedian.
satby
Love these TaMara, thanks!
kalakal
Thank you for this, I think I’m in love with Axel.
One of my favourite things is the National Aquarium of New Zealands Little Penguin (Korora) rehab program. Korora are the world’s smallest penguins and they take in sick and injured ones. Those that can’t return to the wild have a permanent home and the world’s cutest publicity campaign
with Penguin of the Year contest and the truly wonderful
Naughty Penguin of the Month
eclare
@kalakal:
Love it!
TaMara
@kalakal: Hey, I clicked on your name, and wow, what amazing artwork. I hope you’re sharing on the Artist in Our Midst posts. ❤️
WereBear
@Jackie: We had an outdoor heated pen for ours, because we also had dogs who could refrain from chasing cats, but certainly not rabbits.
But he lived in our catio, visited by the cats, who accepted him as their cat buddy from different parents altogether.
WereBear
There’s something about a great big dog and a little tiny kitten. Greetings to Reggie! A great cat name.
Melancholy Jaques
@West of the Rockies:
Hack? No, but smug for sure. And completely out of touch with reality. Exhibit n for why we should not have billionaires.
Best quote from the excerpt:
realbtl
Whern my daugther was little these many years ago her favorite place was the ray petting pool at Monterrey aquarium.
mrmoshpotato
@Scout211: Much less screechy than expected.
Geminid
I heard some good news on the Harrisonburg, Virginia radio station yesterday. Harrisonburg City Schools just took delivery of their first two electric school buses.
I think this was a result of a provision the Infrastructure bill. I remember how the day after it was signed, Vice President Harris talked up the provision on a visit to an electric bus factory in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
zhena gogolia
@eclare: The Axel story is so great.
opiejeanne
@mrmoshpotato: That screech in the wee hours has made me sit straight up in bed some nights, heart pounding and gasping for breath.
Of course they don’t make that noise when they’re hunting, but that sound awakens some primordial terror in me.
trollhattan
@opiejeanne: In any of your lives did you publish a book “My Life as a Vole”?
eclare
@Melancholy Jaques:
That is so true! Prime example, Chappelle.
eclare
@TaMara:
I agree! Love the owls, such fascinating creatures, although I prefer mine screech-size, small.
West of the Rockies
@Melancholy Jaques:
What’s the deal with poorly-aging comedians? I mean, hey, they used to be funny.
SNL was making fun of Jerry Seinfeld in the 80’s. It’s all subjective, but I’ve always found him to be pretty one note.
TaMara
I can’t believe I forgot about Dulé Hill’s PBS Series, just chocked full of good people doing good things. I’ve added up top.
Scout211
True story: Screech Owls trill and Barn Owls screech.
I’m not sure why that is. An ornithologist playing a trick on us? LOL
Scout211
@TaMara: OOOH, this sounds super! BRB, setting up the DVR.
I love Dulé Hill.
JML
Great commencement yesterday (long ass day for staff like me, who put in a 12 hour shift to make sure all 8 ceremonies went off, but it’s worth it to see how happy the students/new alumni are). Great speeches from the students, who did a wonderful job and shared some really incredible stories. (personal favorite was the one who had really struggled in high school, came to college and graduated summa, and has his dream job starting next week)
Boo to the faculty who hid in their offices, and the local TV that showed up hoping for a protest and couldn’t be bothered to hear any of the student stories…
trollhattan
Can someone please check a calendar and tell me if it says March? Mine says May and yet it’s 55 degrees and pouring. Yesterday, 83 and sunny. WTAF?
eclare
@JML:
Yay you! My second cousin graduates high school next Sat, but seating is very limited so I’m not invited to that. But I’m invited to the big celebration dinner!
StringOnAStick
Great Horned owls are amazingly huge up close. We have a pair or two in our neighborhood, love hearing them call. I’ve watched a mated pair land on a roof top at sunset, have a conversation and then each take off in a different direction to start hunting for the night. So wonderful to see.
Redshift
Baby bunnies!
I’ve started fostering again with my local House Rabbit Society (maybe temporarily.) They’re dealing with a hoarding case and asked former fosterers to pitch in.
We have a litter of six lionheads (long hair just on their heads, mostly) and they are of course adorable. They’re also very sociable, love to be petted.
mrmoshpotato
@WereBear:
Yes! Adorable, but hilarious at times.
The Thin Black Duke
@West of the Rockies:
It’s what separates successful comedians from great comedians. Case in point, George Carlin. As the world changed around him, Carlin’s humor evolved. He could have packed Vegas stadiums doing a recycled Hippy-Dippy Weatherman schtick for years, but Carlin chose not to.
eclare
@Redshift:
Photos!
Redshift
@Jackie: A theory about cord chewing is that their wild ancestors lived in underbrush and had an instinct to trim off twigs in their path, which are about the same size as cords. That’s the thinking about why you can train them out of some bad behaviors, but not that.
eclare
@The Thin Black Duke:
That is exactly who I thought of when I asked myself “who aged gracefully?”
Redshift
@eclare: I’ll work on it. 🙂 All but one of them are all black, so it’s a challenge.
trollhattan
@StringOnAStick:
GHOs migrate through but don’t live here. I have good portraits of a young one sitting high in a neighbor’s tree after crows harassed him(?) into perching there, waiting one supposes for nighttime and sweet revenge. Very handsome birdies! Wish some would stick around to deal with the nocturnal rats.
Leto
@West of the Rockies: Rob McElhenney Used An ‘It’s Always Sunny’ Reference To Quiet Jerry Seinfeld’s Complaint That ‘P.C. Crap’ Is Killing Comedy
Just because the comedy spark has passed you by, Jerry, doesn’t mean that it’s all “p.c.” And “woke”. I guess the best comeback to that would be: Hacks. Enough said.
OT- got an email from Mark Hamill, on behalf of Biden/Harris, asking for donations. Those mofo’s know exactly which buttons to push.
Edit: apparently Jerry’s Pop Tart movie is doing about as well as a turd in a punch bowl. Or doubling dipping a chip.
kalakal
@TaMara: Thank you, very kind of you to say so. I’ve been edging closer and closer to it
Eyeroller
@Redshift: Rodents and lagomorphs have incisors that grow continuously during their lives so they have to chew and gnaw on things to keep them worn down. I don’t think it’s more complicated than that–cords are easy to find and chew. (I had a cat who would chew cords and he didn’t have the teeth excuse.)
eclare
@Redshift:
Hahaha…I know it’s a chore, but the cuteness must compensate.
eclare
@Leto:
Hacks is brilliant. I am so glad it’s back. I would also argue somehow Martin Short and Steve Martin have managed to stay funny and relevant, with a THE HORROR young Selena Gomez, so Jerry can go whine by himself.
Glad to see his movie about Pop Tarts is tanking.
kalakal
@Scout211:
Pah! That’s nothing.
Coyotes are faster than Roadrunners.
My childhood was built on a lie
Redshift
@Eyeroller:
Nope. Lagomorph top and bottom teeth wear down against each other (unless they’re misaligned), they don’t need things to chew on constantly like rodents.
StringOnAStick
You can buy this coiled split tubing for bundling your PC wires. We have it on all our exposed cords because we have a cat with deviant chewing behavior.
Jackie
@StringOnAStick: A chewing car? I’ve heard of guzzlers…🤔
J/K I know you meant cat 😸
TaMara
Hey guys, since it looks like the other FPers were raptured, I put up an open thread up top (there’s also a Beaver-centric climate post to read at your leisure).
Timill
@StringOnAStick: Got a linky for that? We could use some, as some of our armored USB cables are getting old.
pieceofpeace
@Scout211: I love a lone owl, I think, that lives close to where I am and awakens me pre-dawn.
If I’m in the mood, I’ll hoot or howl in response.
An enthused way to begin a day.
pieceofpeace
@kalakal:
What fun!
NotMax
@StringOnAStick
An el cheapo method.
Can run an insane amount of cables inside the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels. If so inclined, can pretty it up with spray paint, or a piece of fabric and some glue.