It has been established that the "phenomenon" was, in fact, a Russian rocket test.

Or Swamp Gas.  Or maybe a Weather Balloon...
Carol
WV

Anne, I'm so sorry to hear that you've lost your Dad.  It was really nice having him as a part of this group, and we will miss him too 
Thank you for letting us know.
Hugs,
Carol
WV

[A juvenile Saltmarsh Sparrow.]

<snip>
But as new research by CLAS faculty member Chris Elphick and colleagues shows, these shoreline birds are remarkable for their “extreme levels of multiple mating� and are thought to be the most promiscuous birds in the world.
<snip>
Fifty-seven out of 60 broods had at least two chicks with different fathers.

At least 97 percent of females were mating with more than one male.

In any one nest, it was impossible to tell who the fathers were of all the chicks without checking DNA.

While most small birds have monogamous relationships, ornithologists say that low levels of “extra-pair mating� happen in many species. Even so, the promiscuity levels seen in Saltmarsh Sparrows are extraordinarily high. Only the Greater Vasa Parrot of Madagascar and the Superb Fairy-Wren of Australia are known to come close.

<snip>
A juvenile Saltmarsh Sparrow. pic

The HOSPs at the Home Depot where I work must have been reading this  :
Carol
WV

[God Bless you all... my dearest friend said she will let me bury her in her yard where she has a little pet cemetary and I can always visit her. We only have a condo so I was worried where I could put her. Your thoughts and prayers are all so appreciated. We get very attached to our lil fur and feathered babies don't we? They are all family to us... You know I saw she was suffering the last 15 minutes of her life so I took her off the towel I had her resting on and put her back in her favorite place, her happy hut on the floor of the cage, and prayed God would take her and he did minutes later.]

God Bless you all... my dearest friend said she will let me bury her in her yard where she has a little pet cemetary and I can always visit her. We only have a condo so I was worried where I could put her. Your thoughts and prayers are all so appreciated. We get very attached to our lil fur and feathered babies don't we? They are all family to us... You know I saw she was suffering the last 15 minutes of her life so  I took her off the towel I had her resting on and put her back in her favorite place, her happy hut on the floor of the cage, and prayed God would take her and he did minutes later.
Caitie Jayne (aka Janie on the Kodak yahoo group)

  We love them so much, and the parting is so hard.  I believe there is a Heaven for them, and that we will meet them there someday.
I will be praying for your comfort tonight.
Carol
WV

[/quote]

Spatzzle!  WooHoo!  I'm making homemade spatzzle for Christmas Eve.  Love Rebekuchen!  Heading to the Bavarian Inn in January for some good German food and beer!      I'm having an open house this coming Saturday and I have a cheese from the Rhineland. 
[/quote]

Nyah, Nyah, my work Christmas party is at the Bavarian Inn 
But I will have to try and hook up with you Olafsens in January, to try the house specialties
Carol
WV
12 miles from the Bavarian Inn

But then again I LIKE the Adams Family, the Munsters too.

Me too, I would love to have some vultures around here...just hanging out.

Friends of mine have a small farm.  It's affectionately dubbed Buzzard Hill Farm.  Whenever they butcher animals, the TVs get the leftovers, out on the hill.
TVs are very cool birds 

 

He actually sent 4 pics but even though they were 4 different shots, they all looked the same to me, so I only posted the 2.  

One time when I was snowed in with a two-year-old in NH, I sent my Mom a post card with a similar view.  I divided the lined side of a plain white recipe card like a post card, with her address on the right side, and the message "opposite, scenic view of Wolfeboro, NH", on the left, a    pretty good rendition of what I was seeing from the windows.
Carol
WV

Has anyone seen the commercials for kitty-food appetizers??  Some of them look like sushi!  And I thought Fancy Feast was extravagant!
Suzanne

Yes, and the real thing in the stores as well 
NO bad ingredients, although, as the label says, they are not a complete diet.
Really nice if you have a kitty who is off her feed for one reason or another, but most cats would probably start turning up their nose at regular food after trying these...
Carol
WV

Re: My local pound gave me a jar free of charge...so far it works Carol.
Thanks!  I have requested that they contact me, as I have a couple of outside unowned cats for whom it would be a godsend.
Carol
WV

My 3 are indoor and stay indoors. The 3 outside....2 females spayed ($90 per cat) and 1 on birth control...every Tues, I give her a dose of Feral Stat. So far, no more KITTENS!!! They've been here for 8 yrs now, 2 sisters and 1 baby from one of them 4 yrs ago. I probably had 50 kittens in 10 yrs..all adopted....PHEW!!!

Donna

Feral Stat?  Please tell me more!
Thanks :-)
Carol
WV

1 cup each of shortning, peanut butter, flour, rolled oats, corn meal and raisins, 2 cups bird seed.  Melt the shortning & peanut butter, stir in the other stuff and dump into 9 x 13 pan, cool, cut into size you need.  Can be frozen.

I would hesitate to use shortening, until we know whether it has the same deleterious effect on birds' arteries as it has on ours.  Suet or lard would be safer 
Carol
WV

[She may have devised treatment for fungus afflicting population]

She may have devised treatment for fungus afflicting population


Kashmer applies a diluted concoction of apple cider vinegar and warm water to bats' skin using a Q-tip -- a trick she learned as the owner of tropical fish.

Most interesting...
One wonders if perhaps misting sleeping bats in caves with a dilute vinegar solution might turn out to be effective against this plague.  What a breakthrough that would be 
Carol
WV

The RSPCA said: “Staff were extremely upset to hear about the death of this eagle and the society agrees this is a very sad and tragic event.� It said that it had had only two days’ notice to make preparations for the bird and during its stay staff raised concerns that it might have had underlying health problems.
 

As usual, the RSPCA is trying to cover its arse for another of their unwise and unwarranted seizures
Carol
WV

When I have to sign in for a slideshow that someone has shared with me, all I get is a black screen with a whirling icon.  However, I can view their album if I then go to Classic Gallery.  I wrote Kodak advising them of my problems and advising them to either fix the New Gallery or let it go the way of New Coke.

 Personally, I think that the best Kodak Gallery was the original Ofoto one.  I hate Flash, and have a friend that cannot view either the Classic Gallery or the New Gallery because her security settings prevent her from updating Flash. Kodak could save a lot of money by simply firing their entire programming staff and returning tom the original Ofoto site and updating the Kodak logos.

Paul

That's the best idea in years 
Carol
WV

More Info on Cat and Dog Nutrition:

National Report -- The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) estimates half of the dogs and cats in the United States are overweight or obese. That’s 33 million dogs and 51 million cats, according to APOP.

On Wednesday, the APOP hopes to raise awareness about the dangers of pet obesity during the third annual National Pet Obesity Awareness Day. Veterinarians are being asked to gather data on the weight of the pets they treat, and pet owners are invited to log on to APOP’s Web site to answer questions and report their animals' size and weight.

"Pudgy pooches and fat cats are now the norm," says Dr. Ernie Ward, founder and president APOP. "This is the first generation of pets that will not live as long as their parents. Even worse, the majority of today's overweight pets will endure painful and expensive medical conditions -- all of which can be avoided. We're loving our pets to an early -- and painful -- death."

The biggest cause of the obesity epidemic is carbs, according to Ward. Today's pets consume high carbohydrate and sugar treats and foods that create changes in their brain chemistry, causing them to crave these foods even more, he says.

Too often veterinarians aren't taught how to prevent obesity -- only how to treat the consequences, which is why APOP has partnered with the Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) to heighten discussion at the nation's veterinary medical schools.

For more information about Wednesday's events or APOP, click here.
http://www.petobesityprevention.com/

Carol
WV