Archive for the ‘animals’ Category

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Adapt or Die

August 13, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

Our cats can be rascals. Unfortunately, they discovered that the dresser drawers come out AND they discovered that they can open these drawers for themselves. Suddenly the dresser became a playground and their favorite hiding place when strangers come around. This means cat hair all over whatever is in the drawers. Bert decided to kick it up a notch and he pulls clothes out of the drawers onto the floor to make room for himself. I’ve taken to putting anything I don’t want covered in hair or out on the floor into nylon net bags.

I tried putting a stick down through all the drawer handles hoping this would keep them from opening the drawers. However, it only slowed them down, making it so that they had to nudge all four drawers open at the same time.

white cat inside a set of dresser drawers

This would be why DaddyBird is attaching “child locks” to the drawers today. We’ll see if that makes a difference.

Then, Bert discovered the wonderful world of the false ceiling. Most of the ceilings are too high for him to reach and are cement, but the kitchen and bathrooms have ceiling tiles and conceal pipes and air conditioning ducts. Bert has always been a “tree dweller” wanting to be as high up as he can get including jumping up onto the top of the doors. He discovered that if he pushes up against the ceiling tiles he can cross over into the wonderland. However, getting up there is easier than getting down. It is not just a matter of clicking one’s heels three times. The ceiling tile usually falls back down, leaving him stranded up there. He has gone on enough expeditions that we now know for certain that the ceiling areas of the kitchen, entry way, hallway and three bathrooms are all connected.

Having gotten tired of the ceiling rescue routine, here is my un-elegant solution.

plastic sheeting taped up to the ceiling with duct tape

The air conditioning workmen had left behind a roll of plastic sheeting. It is now applied to Bert’s favorite access points.

tabby cat on top of cabinet investigating the plastic sheeting duct taped to the ceiling

There are still some access points that need to be “sealed.” We’ll see how this tests out first.

It is we who must adapt.

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Jigsaw Puzzle Cat

July 29, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

white cat laying next to a jigsaw puzzle box

As I am on vacation, I decided to do a puzzle. Oliver, of course, decided to help. He wasn’t crazy about the fact that I wouldn’t let him chew the puzzle pieces.

puzzle almost done, except for the sky section

It always comes down to the sky pieces, doesn’t it?

white cat sitting in the puzzle box

Oliver is being very helpful by holding down the puzzle box. Boxes have a powerful cat gravity.

white cat sitting on the partially assembled puzzle

Then he decided to be unhelpful.

completed puzzle

But, I finished in spite of his help.

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Singapore: Day One

June 24, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

busy pedestrianized alley with lots of shops and restaurants

After checking into our hotel, we were off again to meet up with our friend, Adrianna, in Arab Street.

Mexican bar

We had some lovely nachos at this Mexican bar, Piedra Negra.

bar covered in mosaic tile work with a large bird sculpture

There is a lovely bar covered in mosaic tile work and a large bird (condor? quetzal? Quetzalcoatl?)

small lizard clinging to the wall

And a nice little lizard clinging to the outside wall.

Then we were off to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, A.B. Ah Meng Kitchen.

open air, alleyway restaurant

Where we had

prawns covered in salted egg and deep fried

Salted egg prawn ball – prawn (shrimp) with corn coated in salted egg batter and deep fried. Very tasty!

deep fried fish skin

Deep fried fish skin – just what it sounds like, fish skin lightly battered and fried until crisp. Tasty, but one of those things you know isn’t good for you in the long run. DaddyBird wants to go back for more.

vegetables with mushrooms in a creamy sauce

Vegetable with Golden Mushrooms – which is not what I would have guessed by the looks of it. This was tasty also. (Tasty, my overused word of the day.)

mug of beer with ice in it

And beer with ice cubes.

cat curled up and sleeping under a motorcycle parked at the side of the street

Here is the first of what will be many cat pictures.

Then we toddled off to our hotel and slept and slept and slept some more.

(Apologies for blurry pictures. My camera was on the wrong setting which has been rectified and the pictures will improve.)

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An Anniversary Not Forgotten

May 4, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

Earlier this week DaddyBird said “What are we doing Thursday?” I stupidly said “Is there a reason we should do something Thursday?” Oh, yeah. That pesky wedding anniversary has come around again. Needless to say I am not the romantic in this relationship. This was an improvement over last year when we both missed our 10th anniversary remembering it a week after the fact.

So, what did we do on our anniversary? Well, we started by driving around town to find the Afghani restaurant that I had previously seen, but couldn’t remember exactly where it was. This led to stopping to photograph stray cats and dogs around dumpsters. There were eight around one dumpster, including kittens. Unfortunately, we can’t take them all home and pamper them. (If I were independently wealthy, I would have a cat sanctuary.)

a stray cat next to a dumpster

We did eventually find the restaurant.

restaurant sign

We had a really delicious dinner of mutton bukhari (the rice dish – there are two large pieces of lamb/goat meat under that rice), grilled meat (I didn’t get the name of that dish), hummos, chana dahl (lentils in a tomato sauce) and lovely bread. The red substance in the small dishes is a cold soup or thin sauce made of tomatoes and spices. It was a lot like salsa. Very tasty. It was clear that they had used fresh, ripe tomatoes. The hummos was also very fresh tasting. On the whole, yummy! The entire meal cost us 41 AED ($11.00 USD)

plates of rice, meat, salad, hummos, and bread

Then it was onto the main attraction – The Avengers movie. I find it hard to describe just how good this movie is. All superlatives seem insufficient. As we walked out, DaddyBird asked if we could see it again – immediately. I insisted on waiting until the next day. It is action packed and witty. Perfect.

The evening was not over, yet, however. We finished with a trip to Baskin Robbins because DaddyBird was in the mood for a milkshake and it is hard to find a good milkshake here. I went for the banana split.

There you have it. An anniversary well celebrated.

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The Elusive Duckrunner

May 2, 2012

Posted by Kanga,

red waddled lapwing - a water bird

For years I have been trying to identify this bird. Pooring over my bird books did not help. The trip to the Arabian Wildlife Centre finally answered that question. This is the red waddled plover or red waddled lapwing. A rather boring name. I, however, have been calling it the Duckrunner for years. On first impression, it looked like a cross between a duck and a road runner, hence Duckrunner. They should let me name birds.

Not only his species was hard to come by. Getting this picture was a challenge. Everyday when I came out the car he was nearby, but he is so skittish, I couldn’t get close. This blurry picture is the result of using my zoom function and cropping it down.

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Arabia’s Wildlife Centre

March 30, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

Yesterday, we ventured to the Sharjah’s Arabia’s Wildlife Centre. It is located between Sharjah and Dhaid. The centre is part of the Sharjah Desert Park which also includes a children’s farm (we’re assuming this is a petting zoo) and a natural history & botanical museum. Entrance to the park is 15 AED for adults ($4.00 US).

Photography is strictly forbidden in the wildlife center, so all you will get in this post is this picture of camels crossing the road which we encountered on the way there.

two camels crossing a road

We highly recommend the wildlife center. It is very well designed and most of the animals were visible and active. Included are animals of all kinds native to different areas of Arabia, not just the U.A.E. – snakes, geckos, lizards, frogs, mice, rats, gerbils, grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, scorpions, foxes, wolves, wildcats, sand cats, jackals, porcupines, hedgehogs, honey badgers, gazelles, ibexes, oryxes, ostriches, flamingos, pelicans, owls, bats, and so much more. If only I could have used my camera, I would have so many desert hare pictures – bunnies everywhere!

On our way out, we passed the big animal enclosures. Starting with the baboons. It was feeding time, so they were quite busy. The next enclosure had desert wolves, who can look over the pit separating the enclosures and see the baboons. They were pacing up and down undoubtedly thinking “those baboons look tasty.” Next door to the wolves were striped hyenas also pacing up and down looking at the wolves thinking “those wolves look tasty.” Next to them were the cheetahs. If the cheetahs don’t fancy a hyena meal, they can also see an enclosure of gazelles. I’ve never been so close to a cheetah, separated only by glass. And, last, but not least, came the leopard. He, being the king of all, was just chillin’ out.

This is definitely a value deal. Give yourself plenty of time. The exhibits are extensive and you’ll want to stop and watch the active animals. One little Egyptian Spiny Mouse had a grub and was being chased mercilessly by her roommates. I hope she got to eat it in peace, eventually.

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Dubai Tourist for a Day

March 26, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

I’m on two weeks vacation now, but we are staying local. We needed to go into Dubai to do some bank business at our original brach, which only took a few minutes, so we had the rest of the day to be tourists.

inner court of a fort, fishing boat

So, we went to the Dubai Museum, which is in Bur Dubai, the oldest part of town. It is housed in Al Fahidi Fort. Admission is 3 AED ($0.81).

taxodermied camel & manikin

The museum also has an underground section. It is very well designed, providing a recreation of a market and city streets. There are also pearl diving, boat building and fishing displays. The problem is that the museum was set up in one shot and is not being updated or developed. (At the very least, they should dust the stuffed animals.)

figure showing how pearl divers collected oysters

We headed over to the Dubai Creek where we met this lovely stray cat. She enjoyed some getting some attention.

calico/tabby stray cat

We took an abra across the Creek to the Deira side. The price is still 1 AED each ($0.27) There was a parade of tourist buses unloading travelers transferring to the abras.

dock for small taxi boats

Then we took a walk down the creekside where boats load cargo. We did this same walk about three and a half years ago. There was significantly less cargo, but that may or may not be a sign of anything.

freight boats along the dockside and cargo to be loaded

We road back across the Creek on another abra.

abra dock

We ate dinner at Bayt Al Wakeel restaurant which has a wooden deck that hangs out over the Creek. It is a nice view, but I cannot recommend the restaurant. The service was not particularly good. The bread was not freshly baked. The meat (both chicken and lamb) was tough. And, worst of all, they chased away the stray cat.

view of the creek after dark

All in all, it was a pleasant day.

To see all pictures from the day – click here.

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Falconry

March 25, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a meeting of the Emirates Natural History Group Fujairah where Guy Foster explained falconry and showed us some very beautiful birds.

four hooded falcons

The session was very informative. Falconry is actually not common in the Fujairah area because of the hills. It is usually done in wide open, flat areas so that one can maintain visual contact with the falcon. If a falcon flies over a hill, it may not come back to the “owner.” One never really owns falcons. They do not bond with people. Falcons are in it for the free food.

two men, two falcons

Female falcons are larger than males and more desirable for falconry. The indigenous falcons that are in country all year round are a small species. The larger species that pass through the UAE on their migration route have been considered more desirable. It is no longer legal to catch wild falcons.

falcon being taken through the audience to be seen and touched

We were all given a chance to gently touch the back of one of the birds.

man holding a hooded falcon

DaddyBird enjoyed the chance to get up close and hold a falcon.

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Emirates Natural History Group Field Trip

February 17, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

group of people in front of a fort

We spent the morning enjoying the first field trip of the new Emirates Natural History Group (Fujairah branch) at Bithnah Fort.

children squatting and playing in the dirt

The kids found other entertainment.

man at top of fort towerAt the tower top.

inside of the fort from the tower

The view from the top of the tower.

close up of a cow

We also visited the neighboring stable and farm.

man posing with a camel

This lovely camel was very cooperative and placid in posing for pictures.

To see all the pictures – click here.

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My Cat is a TV Addict

February 8, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

white cat looking up at a red panda on the tv

Oliver has developed a new obsession – television. Animal Planet channel is good for hours of cat entertainment. He found the red pandas especially interesting.

white cat sitting next to TV watching a panda

Sometimes the chair or floor is too far away and he needs to get up close and personal.

cat sitting on top of the TV looking down at it

There are lots of exotic birds on this channel and he can’t get enough of them.

cat on top of TV looking down at a cat and kittens

This barn cat having kittens was a big hit.

cat sitting on a stool in front of the TV

He now has his own stool right up close.

Oliver never ceases to be be entertaining. He has turned out to be a delightful pet. I wasn’t sure it was going to be possible two years ago when he was driving me to the brink of homicide. If you don’t know or have forgotten what he was like, here’s a little reminder – click here. He has mellowed with old age, but keeps mixing it up with new habits and new games.