Since this is a full-service blog, TaMara provides video of domestic duck baths, and I’m in charge of wild duck bath videos. (Sorry about the Twitter format, but that’s the easiest upload these days — long story!)
Black-bellied whistling ducks have a bath! pic.twitter.com/NvnhV1b8Am
— Betty Cracker (@bettycrackerfl) June 7, 2019
That’s their pal the juvenile white ibis hanging out in the background. It’s weird how some bird species get along just fine, even when they’re competing for the same food, whereas others get all huffy.
There’s a great blue heron who hangs out here a lot (he of the frog stuck on his face, I’m almost certain), and he doesn’t mind ibises or little blue herons or limpkins hanging about, but if a great egret stops to visit, he’ll charge it and keep charging until it flies away. Even if he’s not in sight and an egret lands (a great egret, not a snowy — those are allowed!), he’ll fly back to defend the turf!
Well, today, three great egrets landed on the strip usually occupied by the blue, who was away at the time. Honest to Christ, I think the great egret who kept getting chased off went home and told her older sisters to come help her stand up to the blue bully! I never did see the blue while the three greats were fishing. When they flew off, the blue came back.
In other animal news, I took Badger to the vet for his vaccination updates on Wednesday morning. That afternoon, he was really listless, so much so that I got worried and called the vet. When the vet tech answered the phone, I guess I must’ve said, “I took my Badger in for shots this morning, and he’s really listless this afternoon — is that normal?” Because she paused a long time and said, “You brought your…badger…to this office?”
I had to explain I meant my DOG, whose name is Badger, not an actual mustelid. She assured me he’d be fine, and he is. Good lord, I felt like a fucking idiot. Anyhoo, open thread!
UPDATE: A friend on the Twitter pointed out that there IS a gator in the video — sneaking up on the ducks to the left of the screen! Just a little ‘un, and no ducks were harmed, but sorry, Mnem!
rikyrah
This don’t make no damn sense.
Stop telling us that they are rational actors.???
They are gonna force you to have those babies, come hell or high water!
ain’t never seen no sh*t like this. an incident like this reveals the Fascist face of White Conservatism…
https://t.co/EtyZwCB2ZL
— skeptical brotha ? (@skepticalbrotha) June 7, 2019
rikyrah
Glad to hear that cutiepie Badger is going to be fine :)
I appreciate all the duck love on this blog :)
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: I would have never predicted we’d become so duck-focused, but I am happy that we have!
germy
Linda Fairstein has been dropped by her publisher.
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Good.
low-tech cyclist
Badger, badger, badger…
c u n d gulag
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!
Thanks!
I needed the laugh!!!!!!!!!
Uncle Cosmo
You damn well ought to “feel like a fucking idiot” – if you had given your pup anything other than the name of another type of animal, the chances of confusion would have been minuscule. (Unless you named him something like “My Husband” or “Barack Obama” or …)
I remember thinking exactly that when you first introduced himto the blog: Why in the name of all that’s Juicy would she name a dog after another type of animal??? And thinking it could only lead to trouble. As we say in the old country, Ecco!
Ohio Mom
@c u n d gulag: Good to see you! Where have you been and How are you? Please stick around, always enjoy your point of view.
rikyrah
@Ohio Mom:
ICAM.
Missed you.
trollhattan
It being Florida makes it 1. all work and 2. three times as funny!
ThresherK
WWC: France having a good time against South Korea, 3-0 in 55th minute.
Also makes me wonder about how many dogs in hunting parts of the USA are named “Tiger”. “You brought your…tiger…to this office”?
kindness
I’m waiting for the critter anti-vax folks to start freaking out.
You don’t seem to get many alligators. I’m surprised at that. Figured the rivers & backwaters would be thick with them.
WaterGirl
@ Betty Cracker up top
Oh, Betty, I am right there with you. Decades ago my cocker spaniel would eat everything. So I had at least two phone conversations with the vet that surely felt just like yours did.
For the first one, I had to call and say that my dog had just eaten flash cubes. (are you old enough to know what those are) They thought I was some kid making a prank call, I think. As I explained the situation, I didn’t even sound believable to my own ears.
The second call was to the emergency vet when I returned home from the movies with my roommates, only to find that my cocker spaniel had eaten EVERYTHING from the garbage. Foolish 20-something me had cleaned out the thanksgiving leftovers from the refrigerator and then left it all in the garbage and left the house. Sounds like my IQ was in the double digits, right?
So I am in a total panic because my cocker spaniel has eaten: a couple of pounds of turkey that had turned green, a huge container of mashed potatoes that were moldy, a tub of rancid margarine… the list went on, but I’ll stop there. They thought that was a prank call, also, and I was half terrified about my dog and half hysterically laughing because what i was saying sounded so absurd.
Mellon was a special dog, and did she ever like food.
Inventor
@trollhattan:
Usually people take their badgers to the other office out off the Interstate.
Major Major Major Major
Some years ago I was with some friends at The Thin Man bar in Denver. One of them had recently acquired a small black dog of some kind (she found it and nobody claimed it). So we were getting some drinks and talking about what to name the dog.
The bar’s owner (quite a colorful character) came by to hang some lamps in a tree and overhears us. “A small dog needs an important name,” he said. “You should name that dog…”
He looped around the tree and fiddled with the wiring. “…Mister Senator!”
And so Mister Senator got his name.
Litlebritdifrnt
DH update. His visa application was received by the authorities yesterday. Tick tock. We were told that the approval time should be 30 to 60 days. Hopefully will have some good news for you soon.
Mnemosyne
@ThresherK:
Tiger is a pretty common cat name, because stripes. I think the Brady Bunch’s dog was named Tiger?
Betty Cracker
@kindness: We’ve got plenty of gators. I just don’t post photos of them very often because it scares Mnemosyne! ;-)
Mnemosyne
I got to fill out and print a lengthy questionnaire about my lady parts while sitting at my desk at work, so that was a little awkward. Fortunately my boss is out today, so I had some privacy for it.
(It’s to start a round of pelvic physical therapy, which will NOT be as fun as dudes will instinctively want to imply, so shut it, dudes.)
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
I can handle the dinosaurs with wings, but the ones with sharp pointy teeth still freak me right the fuck out. Give me a vicious mountain lion any day.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne:
Methinks said dudes must never have had physical therapy
Doc Sardonic
Lethargy can be a side effect of vaccinations, two of our cats have that issue. Our vet just gives them an antihistamine injection prior to the vaccines.
Harbison
Abrams is smart in so many different ways: https://twitter.com/_clarkekent/status/1136755666759143426?s=21
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
They’ll see the word “pelvis” and start snickering. ?
Did you see that I go on my Big Train Adventure to Portland next week? A visit to see my favorite ocean-based weasels is also on the agenda.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Duck > Trump.
Jim Parish
@WaterGirl: Have you ever read “I Has a Sweet Potato“?
NotMax
Repeated from 2013, but apropos.
germy
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: oh, fun!
Jim Parish
@NotMax: One of my sisters was friends with a very 1970s-Californian couple, who had a black poodle, whom they named Black Poodle. This was eventually shortened to “B.P.” and finally to “Beep”. The day came when the dog got out, and they had to wander through the neighborhood crying “Beep! Beep!”.
[Then there’s Molly Ivins’ story of her dog, Shit, and the day he got out – in a crowded New York residential neighborhood.]
Gin & Tonic
@germy: Wasn’t there a case a few years ago where a mountain lion was struck and killed by a car on either 95 or the Merritt in CT? They did a necropsy and found some incontrovertible evidence that it had come from South Dakota.
germy
@Gin & Tonic: I don’t remember that story. But they do like to roam.
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: PT, no matter what body parts are involved, is never fun. I think it’s a point of pride for the therapists to make it so.
Hope it works for you though. Not fun, but almost always better than surgery.
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
Xactly!
I was getting PT for my shoulder just after the Northridge earthquake and the young girl trying to kill me was giving it all she had as a firefighter walked by. He asked, “What the hell are you doing to him, he looks like he’s going to cry.” Two points for the firefighter, he got it absolutely right. It did feel better when she stopped BTW.
@Mnemosyne:
As a prior victim, see above, and several other times in my life, I say good luck and I hope it helps, otherwise it’s just abuse.
TenguPhule
@WaterGirl:
20 something and you had thanksgiving leftovers that spoiled?!
satby
@c u n d gulag: @Ohio Mom: @rikyrah: add me in as another happy to see your nym again!
NotMax
@germy
One never knows what’ll show up out there.
When was living in the wilds of Pennsylvania, we were used to bear sightings and thought nothing of them (other than to take the usual precautions). What really spooked me was the one time, while driving along at dusk, that I witnessed a black panther crossing the road.
rikyrah
Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) Tweeted:
“Symone Sanders, one of Biden’s senior advisers, confronted him, she confirmed to me Thursday night, telling Biden that he was missing how his position disproportionately affected poorer women and women of color without easy access to abortion” https://t.co/5Zm7l5poxI https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/1137027279773675520?s=17
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Saw your audience estimates earlier. Thanks.
Ruckus
@dmsilev:
My comment at 34 was about one of those times that the PT didn’t actually do it’s job completely and about 3 yrs later I went through 6 months of PT to avoid surgery, which it didn’t do and then 6 months of PT to recover after the surgery and that all worked fine. So, major PT 3 times for the same joint/area and surgery over about 4 yrs. Fun times. However the shoulder still works great now, 20 yrs later.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I know! I even splurged and got a roomette so I can eat and sleep in comfort. G is going to fly up and meet me because he’s not big on trains.
@dmsilev:
@Ruckus:
Menopause is not for wussies, and that’s all I’ll say about that.
dlwchico
In the late 60’s early 70’s my dad was stationed in Fort Huachuca, Arizona and we lived in base housing for enlisted personnel. Our neighbor was apparently a real racist piece of garbage. In his back yard was a black mop of a dog that dragged it’s matted self around the yard, it’s only friend, from what my mom has told me (I was about 5 or 6 at the time) was a duck.
This guy had named the dog the N word.
One day, for some reason, he took it to the groomers and had it’s hair cut. Turns out it was a black medium sized poodle. My dad saw this dog hop out of the car upon returning from the groomers and immediately offered to buy it from the guy, who sold it to us.
We renamed him ‘Blacky’, which was bad enough, since he was unfixed and an escape artist and I spent much of my youth wandering around military bases calling loudly for ‘Blacky’.
He was a good boy though.
Barbara
@WaterGirl: I have a friend whose dog ate his passport and cash folded up inside 24 hours before he was supposed to get on a plane to a European country. I still don’t understand, but the dog was totally fine.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
I hope that guy turns around and gives that money to Planned Parenthood.
NotMax
@Jim Parish
:·)
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
Old man, doesn’t know what his crap causes for the people he wants to vote for him. People shouldn’t have to tell him he’s a dinosaur but that’s what happens when the world passes you by. And the world passes by everyone sooner or later.
Gin & Tonic
@germy: Here you go.
satby
I finally finished planting the rest of my dahlias today, partly by giving a couple away to my neighbor ?. Three heirloom shrub roses to go and I’ll have finished all my planting for this year. What’s holding that up is that I really don’t know where to put them. I have two roses that died and was going to replace them with these, but these will grow bigger than the dead ones so I’m not sure if I want them in the same spots anymore. Then I hope I never have to buy another plant again for years.
Barbara
@rikyrah: Well, good for Symone Sanders but I don’t understand why every educated Democrat didn’t already understand that. Every kind of restriction on health care services — contraception, LGBT related services, etc. — disproportionately affects poor people and people of color.
Barbara
@satby:
You are clearly an optimist!
M31
I knew someone with a dog named “motherfucker” — I don’t recall the dog getting lost ever, but running around NYC screaming “where the hell are you, motherfucker!?” would be pretty unremarkable
Gin & Tonic
@Ruckus: When I was getting PT for my arm, I almost think the therapist was disappointed when she’d ask about the pain level and I’d say “1” or “2” even though I was obviously wincing. I told her I kept 9 and 10 in reserve for moments like the one in the ER when they put me in the finger-puzzle rack and tried to straighten the fracture.
germy
My wife went and bought a whole bunch of ladybugs.
Their job is to eat the pests that have been devouring her rosebushes.
That’s the plan, anyway. Several of the ladybugs yelled “fuck it!” when she put them on the roses, and flew away.
Others have remained, though, and are busy devouring the pests. We’ll see how it goes.
Raven
I’m trying to find Dr John’s second line at Kermit’s Ruffins online!
germy
@Gin & Tonic: I like mountain lions. Not up close, though, from a distance.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t insist of sticking out its tongue and waggling its fingers in its ears while doing so.
:)
@satby
“Hi, my name is satby and I’m a plantaholic.”
“Hi, satby!”
;)
Raven
@Ruckus: When I heard that I decided NOT to have labrum surgery.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Life itself isn’t for wussies. I can’t imagine a decades long physical system that changes in a short time is much fun. And yes I’ve heard stories. Being in possession of a simpler system, but one that can sure have it’s own but much less obvious and slower changes in some ways is good and in some ways not so much. All a matter of perspective if I may be so bold.
In any event good luck with everything.
donnah
Our yellow lab Spanky required thyroid meds and our vet said the pills they give humans were cheaper so he wrote a prescription we could fill at a local drug store. I went to pick the pills up and the pharmacist gave me the strangest look and finally she said, “ I’m sorry, but did you name your child ‘Spanky Dog’?”
I burst out laughing and told her we needed the pills for a dog, not a boy. She was relieved.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
Never smile at a crocodile
No, you can’t get friendly with a crocodile
Don’t be taken in by his welcome grin
He’s imagining how well you’d fit within his skin
Never smile at a crocodile
Never tip your hat and stop to talk awhile
Never run, walk away, say good-night, not good-day
Clear the aisle but never smile at Mister Crocodile
??
M31
@donnah: hahahahahah that’s perfect
Dan B
@Mnemosyne: What!? Has Betty C named her pet fish Water Weasel? And what a crazy name for a town: Flahrida, Oregon!
Have a great visit. The weather is supposed to be in the 80’s or 90’s next week. And if you want to ramp up the new BJ theme you coukd visit Eugene, home of the Oregon Ducks.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
Plus ça change, plus c’est la Mnem chose.
:-)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: I’m on my second cocker spaniel, they do love to eat. If my YorkiePom decides that she’ll leave some food for later, I tell her that Nikki(the cocker) will be more than happy to finish it for her.
jl
Thanks for the Black-bellied whistling ducks video. Can’t beat this blog for Black-bellied whistling ducks. It is truly full-service.
Hope Badger is feeling better. But the post brings up the delicate issue if Cracker does have a pet badger who is behind on its shots.
Possible blog scandal.
Ruckus
@Raven:
Well I had a rotator cuff tear, but not complete. Don’t get a lot of shoulder movement with that. Sometimes the PT works, sometimes it doesn’t. My insurance wouldn’t pay for the second round of PT but I thought it would be worth it if it worked. It didn’t. They paid for the surgery and the 3 rd round and it did. The surgery was actually worse than the original tear, I couldn’t move my arm at all. Oh well, often life is a crap shoot but sometimes the difficult or hard way is what is effective. One just has to make the choice to power through.
RepubAnon
@trollhattan: Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no stinking badges!
Wait, a dog? That’s fine – we all need pets…
Dan B
@Jim Parish: I feel so fortunate that my boyriend’s* dog Honky** never got loose in our majority black Tacoma neighborhood.
*ex Jesuit
**White Shepard. Mated with a Samoyed. Most gorgeous / handsome intelligent dogs ever. Remembered us years later.
raven
@Ruckus: Right and my was diagnosed as “maybe a torn labrum” and we’ll know when we get in there. I decided to stop swimming every day and laid off for 6 weeks. I’m achy but I’m swimming every other day so not doing it worked for me.
CarolPW
@donnah: We had a diabetic cat with a prescription for the insulin used for humans (before the pharma shit and it was dirt cheap). They always thought we were weird because her name was Tweezer,.
Raven
Here’s that Second Line for the Night Tripper
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: She does have a badger, it’s named ‘Dog’.
kindness
@germy: When I bought ladybugs for my garden they said to put the container under the plants you want them to go on at night when it is cold. That way they don’t wander/fly off much. The next morning they crawl up the plant looking for breakfast.
I figured I was lucky if 1/3 of them stuck around really.
Mnemosyne
@Dan B:
I’ve been to Eugene, though many more years ago than I care to say. Their logo really is of that famous ill-tempered duck — they received special permission to use it from the Giant Evil Corporation back in the 1940s and they’ve kept it ever since.
It’s funny that I’ve always had beautiful weather without a cloud in the sky every time I’ve visited the PNW — just lucky, I guess!
Dan B
@satby: Rose replant disease is an issue. Roses planted where other roses were planted frquently die from it. I’m not sure of the current research so do the google. Years ago no one knew why they died.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
In the grand scheme of things, my problems are pretty small, but really, really annoying for all that. Hopefully they’ll be relatively easy to fix.
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes, Ms. Punster? ? If it goes well and I’m feeling nice, I could give you a sneak preview of the sea weasel enclosure photos I’m spending extra money to get. I’m hoping I get to throw them a shrimp as well, but they don’t promise that.
WaterGirl
@Barbara: Oh, no!
Dan B
@germy: Ladybug larvae are the big pest eaters – orange and black wiggly crawly things. Predatory insects tend to hatch and arrive a few weeks after the pests. So you don’t see local ladybugs until there are a enough pests to gorge on. There are companion plants that encourage ladybugs and other predators to hang around and lay eggs. Annuals, perennials and weeds work. There’s info online.
Dan B
@donnah: Our big fluffy Tuxedo, part Maine Coon cat, needed paxil. So we have prescriptions for Furr Beast B(my last name). The pharmacy in the gay-hippie-wild kids, and oldsters, neighborhood didn’t bat an eyelash. Dog knows what other names they’d seen. I know Faygele and Mr. Rainbow were among them.
Ruckus
@raven:
Whatever works is the best way. My ortho surgeon was the one who suggested trying the PT, and he’s very good. A buddy broke/crushed his foot in too many places to count and this doc told me it was like a jigsaw puzzle to put back together (that’s how the doc and I got hooked up, my buddy recommended him) Buddy walks fine now.
Dan B
@Mnemosyne: Psssst. Don’t tell anyone. The most accurate weather forecast for Seattle is “rain”. Works 60% of the time.
We had light rain showers yesterday at Ralphs garage haircuts. Went to Texas BBQ in funky + recent Asian immigrant White Center (neither white or center of anything, but a rapidly gaying neighborhood*) This dive bar with chainsaw chandeliers and manly blue collar workers was hosting a White Center Pride Drag show on their patio from 6 to 9 – the patio with the partially buried Airstream on one side. Weather cleared at 6 thanks to some Drag Queen magic.
*There are three gay bars in this little burb of maybe 10,000. Two opened this year.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
I would love that! My sneak-preview address is my nym at the gmail place.
(N.B.: Do not, repeat not, look up “sea weasel” in the Urban Dictionary.)
.
.
.
I TOLD you not to do that.
Another Scott
@kindness: A friend had a bunch of ladybugs behind the siding on his house. They were yellow and hungry when they came out. And they bit! Ouch!
Cheers,
Scott.
mrmoshpotato
Thank you both and everyone else who posts pet and wildlife pictures.
Ducks, dogs, cats, birds, badgers – wait, what?
Love this place.
rikyrah
He has lost SEVEN staffers quickly. They have no morals, because, well,, they’re Republicans…so, what’s going on???
POLITICO Florida (@politicofl) Tweeted:
Gov. Ron DeSantis has lost as many as seven top aides in the past 24 hours.
Everyone is wondering: What is going on over there? https://t.co/SDpjZ3V9XP https://twitter.com/politicofl/status/1136739627304411136?s=17
Mnemosyne
@Dan B:
I’m going to play it safe and bring my raincoat and umbrella, but I do seem to have pretty good luck. Last time I was there, it was sunny and warm all weekend.
@SiubhanDuinne:
I haz your info from our prior correspondence. We’ll see how it all works out. Amtrak has had some issues with being hours behind schedule lately, so I’m a little nervous about the trip up. ?
mrmoshpotato
@Major Major Major Major:
Mister Senator! Stop drinking out of the toilet!
*confused neighbors look at each other*
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: I’ll take Bald-faced Corruption and Idiocy, Alex!
Is Florida (The Flood Me State) still banning referring to climate change? (Why am I even asking?)
SiubhanDuinne
@Another Scott:
Technically known as “a bloom” of ladybugs.
satby
@NotMax: yep. I need an intervention. Fortunately (or not) nature helps thin out any oversupply.
J R in WV
@germy:
I like mountain lions, in theory. But when one stalked me in my cousin’s back yard in SE AZ, it was all different. Ran for RV I was staying in, where my gun was. Carry a gun when out and about in AZ now, as they’re big out there. In reality, there was a fire in the mountains, drove the game out into the valley, the lions followed the deer and antelope.
When they were living in the valley, everyone was prey.
Neighbor has a photo of a footprint, put his king-size cigarette pack by the footprint, which was bigger than the pick was tall. I smelled the one that came for me!
Salty Sam
@Ruckus: @Ruckus:
Same situation here, plus damage to the labrum, from injury last summer. Waited until February when Medicare kicked in- ortho said to try PT before going through surgery. Did one round, got some range-of-motion back, and then headed north to finish my boat.
So far so good. Been working hard at it for three weeks now, still lots of discomfort, but ROM continues to improve- I can reach back far enough to get my belt through the loops, which has been impossible for awhile. But unless the pain subsides, I imagine there is surgery in my future.
Ps- Aspercreme helps.
Uncle Cosmo
@Mnemosyne: George of the Jungle’s faithful elephant companion was named “Shep.” Just sayin’.
(ETA: Good friend in his early 70s was inspecting flooring in new construction Monday when he took a fall & fractured his shoulderblade – spozedly the hardest bone in the body. He’ll start physical therapy in a few weeks & maybe by the fall he can start back inspecting, which is his main source of income other than SocSec. Ouch. Oy.)
Uncle Cosmo
I want to know why the fuck my last comment (#93 when it appeared) was “marked for moderation” ONLY AFTER I EDITED IT! FYWP!
mrmoshpotato
@Uncle Cosmo: You know what you did – pissed off the WordPress gods!
Ruckus
@Salty Sam:
Could not get anywhere near full range of motion with just the first round of PT.
After lap surgery – and PT, I was at about 98% with no side effects.
The shoulder not working is hard because the range and freedom of motion that it normally has. And how much we miss it when it’s gone. Especially if it’s your dominant side.
J R in WV
Have had both shoulder joints replaced — all the cartilage was gone, pain was horrific. Family doctor knows all the local doctors, been working with them for 40 years, recommended a great joint surgeon.
Took a year, 6 months for each shoulder surgery — a month to heal and 4 months of PT for each shoulder. Not quite the range of motion I once had, and still some pain from tendonitis, but nothing like the pain from bone on bone movement. So glad I did it…
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Hey, at least it recognized you when it passed you by.
Think how you’d feel if hadn’t.