While we're voting, we also need to vote for #2 in the 250,000 category.  Right now, H$U$ is in the #1 spot, and they don't use any of the money to actually help animals, rather to push anti- animal legislation.  They are liars, frauds, and thieves :-(
#2 right now in that category is Cystic Fibrosis, a VERY worthy cause.
Thank you!
Carol
WV

So I was taking my brothers Macaw to the vet for a nail and beak trim. I signed in and went to sit down. To my HORROR, this was on the the chair. I almost sat on this 4 1/2 foot Black and White Tegu. You know me and snakes, well this was no different, although, I found myself intrigued by this guy. The owner was in the room with his TWO other rather large Lizards, a monitor and another weird looking lizard. This guy just laid there, good as gold with his huge forked tongue going in and out. The owner has 6 all together, RUNNING around his house. They sleep with him and curl up on the couch and watch TV with him, (which I thought was rather strange). They have all bonded with him and the Monitor was not too happy and hissed BIG time at some woman in the office. (Made me run). The Tegu is from Argentina he said and it took him a while to acquire him. I think they should all be free but that's my opinion. He has 2 6 foot lizards running around his house. He loves them all dearly but for some reason I kept thinking of that show on Animal Planet, Fatal Attractions, where the beloved pets turn on their owners and kill them.

The Argentine Black & White tegu is also called the giant tegu, as it is the largest tegu in the world.

Beautiful lizards!  Lizards are fun, though the assembly and maintenance of proper habitat for them is difficult and expensive at Northern latitudes.  Take the Animal Planet show with the proverbial grain of salt, however.  More people drown in their bathtubs than are killed by any captive exotic pet.  These shows are produced by groups who don't believe ANY animal should be owned...
I salute that guy, whose lizards look to be in excellent condition, and well acclimated to "pethood".
Carol
WV

Ponds of mud!  Geysers of mud!  Pool needed to be drained.  Yup!  No landscaping in the back and no stones yet - it's a mess, but no where near what it could be! 

Speaking of which...
http://swimming.about.com/od/poolandspamaintenance/qt/drainswimpool.htm
 
Carol

Ponds of mud!  Geysers of mud!  Pool needed to be drained.  Yup!  No landscaping in the back and no stones yet - it's a mess, but no where near what it could be! 

Eeek!  Ever see a pool float?  Scary 
Carol

http://tinyurl.com/27ayxlo

Daily 
<ducking>
Carol

Just see I have Shaky to thank for those image posts... Tata!

And I as well!  Where would we be without this consummate techie at the helm?
 
Carol

This is just the tip of a massive iceberg :-(
All of us who love animals, and wish to continue sharing our lives with them, need to become aware of the current threat to our lifestyles.  Start here: http://www.pet-law.com/
I couldn't be more serious 
Carol

Most of you know I work at Home Depot (my "retirement" position, haha).  I'd say that AT LEAST 60% of the people who come in the door the past week or so are looking for something, ANYTHING, that might get rid of them.  The whole town stinks.  I keep a snack size Pringles can in the house, and every time I spot one, in it goes.  Apparently they have no natural enemies.  A friend says her dog EATS them.  Imagine what the dog smells like now!  Another friend says her cat plays with them, and now the cat stinks too.  Thank Goodness my cats ignore them.
Carol

After Carol P's uplifting thought for today (we always dance in the rain here...), I thought I would lower the tone with the following. Cannot remember how much of it is someone else's quote and how much I have modified... anyway... I will share:

"When we humans have finally ruined pretty much everything, the only things left on Earth will be wood lice, earwigs and Barry Manilow records."

and Stink Bugs.
Carol
<running for cover>

Carol F would.

I wish I had more, but Carol P. or Shaky probably have better access at this point.  I will poke around in the archived stuff in MY computer, and see what I can come up with...
I think the earliest stuff I have is 2002.
Here's one from then...
Carol F

I hope you all have some idea how much your kind words have helped line the hole in my heart that Miss Polly left.
They were a single entity, Bart&Polly, and my mission when I took them on was to see that they would never again have to face an empty bowl, or the lack of a clean bed and LOVE.  They gave back so much more...
Gratefully,
Carol

Enough with the web! He needs to relocate.

Somebody needs to put a Chicken up there...
Or a cat 
Carol

Polly 1993?-2010
Background:
In April 1996, a house in Northern Virginia was entered by the Sheriff's Department, Animal Care and Control, and a local Vet. Six cats were euthanized on the spot, and 102 emaciated and shell-shocked cats were taken to the county Shelter. Most were later euthanized, unfortunately.
In December 1996, after a house fire in which our two cats were asphyxiated, while picking up their ashes at the Vet's, I was introduced to #5 and #6, a bonded pair, who had been named Bart and Polly, both congenitally deaf, who had been living at the clinic. It was thought that they were probably two to three years old at that time. Shortly after their seizure/liberation, their three kittens were born. Polly became extremely ill and was unable to care for the kittens, but Bart took over their care. Polly was so ill that permission was given to euthanize her, but after a miraculous recovery with the help of a strange little old herb lady, at the eleventh hour, she survived to care for the two remaining kittens, who stayed on with the Vet.
I was fortunate to adopt Bart and Polly in April 1997.
We lost Bart in October 2008, and Polly did better than I expected she would without her other half.
However, over the past year, she had become quite “elderly�. Hard to evaluate, as she’d always been VERY quirky. Deliberately naughty, openly contemptuous of other cats, very outgoing and affectionate with all people, rude and snappish with the other cats, persistent about scratching the furniture, even the leather that “cats don’t scratch�. Probably a Tourette’s Syndrome sufferer, definitely pestered by Greeblingz. She’s had her ups and downs, sometimes not wanting to eat for a few days, other times “normal� (for her of course). About a week ago, she just didn’t want to eat anything, was sleeping more than usual, and losing weight. Bearing in mind that this was a cat who considered any type of examination or treatment to be flat out attempted murder, and dealt with accordingly, we’d made the decision to let her be comfortable and safe, at 16 plus, but no assaults unless intervention became necessary. I believe she had a small stroke last week, as she was developing ataxia. Saturday morning, she slept in the sunny spot under the window that overlooks Bart’s final resting place, and never woke up. She rests now beneath a new little Japanese Maple, next to her beloved Bart. She was preceded in death by her daughter Pipper, son Brogan, and Bart.
She was the last known survivor of that horrible situation in 1996.
Life will not be the same without my naughty little P.
 
Carol

Well...as everyone here knows, I lack a sense of humour.  Seriously!  So I, a bird fancier, should be very, seriously, upset by this song., especially for the following reason: I have, living in my apartment -- I mean right inside -- a baby pigeon "squab", formerly living on the balcony, until the big, bad balcony repairmen decided to come and rip his balcony to pieces.  So he is boarding in my apartment (close to the door, so that Mom and Pop Pigeon will come in and feed him!  I only include sprays of cool water in the boarding contract...). It makes me pretty darn fond of the poor maligned pigeon!  In fact, this little one is the 17th baby pigeon born and raised on my balcony and every pigeon has been a wonderful balcony mate! They all vary in colours -- they are quite cosmopolitan in their feather choices, creating amazing patterns -- well some of them are pretty funny! but don't say I told you so! -- and they are all great teachers, when it comes to the raising of a baby squab!  HOWEVER, I cannot resist any Tom Lehrer song!  He is the king of satire, if you ask me for my humble opinion, and can do no wrong, as everyone knows it is what it is -- SATIRE! Even the pigeons were standing at the door listening and they were laughing (comes out as cooing, but I'm a pigeon expert and they were laughing!!) in response to the wit!
Please everyone, relax -- it's been a hot Summer -- but Summer is ending.  Relax, while you still can!  And if a pigeon poops on your head, realize that is a true form of good luck!!  Ask Dale -- she's the authority on such matters!!

Anne C. (Toronto, ON Canada,eh!)

Perhaps it's time for me to retell the story of my Sister's Pigeon.  Cyrus was one of a clutch at a bird rehab where my Sister volunteered.  She adopted him, and he was her spoiled pet for 21 years, minus those from 5 through 12, when he was in parts unknown, and given up for lost after taking off through an opened window.  When he returned seven years later, my Sister was at work, and her husband called her to tell her Cyrus was back.  Unbelieving, she rushed home, and he flew right to her and buried his face in her neck.  He died peacefully in his sleep in her arms at 21 years old.
Carol
WV

Hey, Carol! Do I know your friend? Our place is a "tip" too! (too much Forum watching...)

Once... when I was not long on this island and still getting used to the "new language"... I complimented a girl on her lovely vest... and she immediately began checking to see if her underwear was showing...

My very favorite is the exuberant Yank at a proper London reception, who extended his hand and gushed, "Hi, I'm Randy!"

Carol