Switching
I’ve decided to switch my blog over to livejournal. I just don’t like the format of this site very much.
The new blog link can be found here: http://sublimeanimal.livejournal.com/
Wordless Wednesday
An old photo of Blue, hiking in Fairbanks, Alaska
Down the sled dog trails
Walk With Blue #5
On the lookout for wildlife
I thought it would be too cold to hike today, but a pair of gloves, a scarf, and a warm hoodie were enough to keep me comfortable. Blue is loving this chill air.
Up the trail we go
Isn’t it amazing how much difference a week makes in autumn? Everything went from orange, to yellow, and now to brown. In the woods the layer of leaves is about as thick as it can get. That rich dead leaf smell vanished now that the air temperature has plummeted.
At the trail end/entrance
The trees somehow look larger without all of their leaves. Those oak tree trunks are massive and impressive.
Week of Exhaustion
What a week! I took on extra hours at work, so I’ve been working nearly full time while also trying to finish up full-time university classes during exam/research paper time. There was also a family crisis to deal with. Hopefully everything is resolved now and life will get back to a less-insane pace. I love being busy, but not quite this busy!
There’s finally snow here. I’m so used to Fairbanks, Alaska, where the world turned white by the end of September. Waiting until November for a miniscule dusting of slush is bizarre for me. Blue wasn’t too happy about this “wet” snow. She’s used to the dry Arctic snow that doesn’t clump so much to the paws. I don’t know if maybe something happened to her before I adopted her, but Blue is petrified of most water sources (including her own water bowl). Any amount of water is treated with either suspicion or terror. Rain is the worst of all water. With luck, once the snow accumulates she’ll recognize it and want to play outside.
I’m enjoying my pet store job so far. It’s nice to talk to so many different types of dog owners and see all the different breeds come into the store. The more I talk to customers, the more I realize how little and how specific my animal knowledge is. For example, I may be able to talk in great detail about the training and care of rats, but I’m lost at the most basic guinea pig questions more complicated than their basic dietary/housing requirements. Each day at work I learn several new things about animal care.
I can only imagine how much I’ll have to learn to become a vet tech.
Walk With Blue #4
Blue and I spent a chunk of the afternoon on an epic, meandering 5-6 miles through the woods. At 70F and sunny it was almost too hot for her, but in the trees it was a bit more bearable. Even for me it was warm. I can’t wait until it snows and cools off a bit!
Blue says exam time is BORING
When your dog develops a daily habit of pointedly laying in front of your books and looking horribly depressed, you know it’s exam time at the university.
Wanna go walk?
All I have to do is stand up and give her that look. Then she knows… it’s time to go!
Some benches near the trail entrance
Hurray for poking around the woods all afternoon!
Such a nice day 
Wow, pavement!
Now back to my research papers and then class.
Wordless Wednesday
Sid gets a mealworm
And another one (after falling off the branch in excitement)
Walk With Blue #3
I finally remembered to bring my camera when I took Blue out for her hike. Today was beautiful, but I wasn’t going to go at first because I had so much to do. Yesterday from roughly 4AM to 7PM I rarely sat down and was constantly cleaning up, working, getting things done… Then today I saw this face in front of my books:
Blue's "patiently-waiting" look
What I told myself would be a short walk turned into a 4-mile hike. Once I got out onto the trails I wanted to wander along them the rest of the afternoon. It was so warm I could smell all of those freshly fallen leaves, and the sun was at that perfect sideways angle through the trees. The beauty of it was astounding. We even discovered a new trail–it’s now my favorite.
Blue looking after a chipmunk
The sun was at the perfect angle.
So many leaves!
I hope it’s like this tomorrow too! There was all sorts of smaller trails branching off the new one that we still have to look into. I’m excited to see what they lead to.
Charlie and the oatmeal tube
Empty oatmeal tubes are a huge treat to keep Charlie busy. A social animal such as a rat, even if he refuses to accept a companion, still will become lonely. I can’t play with him when I’m working or in class, so when I can I try to make little things for him to tear apart and examine. A few toys tied inside an oatmeal tube will keep him busy for hours, and tearing it apart gives him a little bit of exercise.
Look what you're getting, Charlie!
Big happy rat grin before he goes in...
So much fun!
It’s fun to make something and see the recipient so excited he’s literally jumping around for joy. Rats, when they’re delighted and playful, will sort of jerk/jump upward and “shake” themselves, then run in little excited hops. It’s as though they’re get so happy they forget how to control themselves. I’m sure some humans can relate!
Mantid Egg Cases
This winter I’m incubating five mantid oothecae (egg cases), two of which just arrived this afternoon:
Brunneria borealis (Brunner's mantis)
Stagmomantis carolina (Carolina mantis)
Tenodera aridifolia sinensis (Chinese mantis)
So there are two Brunneria borealis ooths, two Stagomomantis carolina ooths, and one Tenodera aridifolia sinensis ooth. I expect them to hatch out nymphs sometime in late December to late February. All of these are mantid species native to the United States; growing up in Texas, I could catch Carolina mantids all throughout the summer and every once and a while a Chinese. Here in Pennsylvania there are only wild Chinese. Never have I come across a wild Brunner’s… they must be more rare, or just more difficult to spot.
I’m keeping an eye out for any Chinese mantis egg cases that might be overwintering in our backyard. The frost will have killed off all the adults by now. Usually the egg cases are somewhere around in the garden or house/garage/sheds. It’s fun to get out and go hunting even if I never find much.
Happy Halloween!
Sid the vine climber
This is a great time of the year for scouting the local dollar store for “pet supplies”. Right now most of these type of stores will have long plastic vines in autumn colors on sale. Charlie the rat loves it when I offer him a leaf; he places it just right inside his sleeping house and fusses over the arrangement with each new addition. For reptile habitats, such as Sid the bearded dragon’s, they provide both decoration and something new to climb over.
This Halloween was very nice! The weather warmed up to over 60F, the sky was clear and sunny, and it wasn’t too windy or humid. Just beautiful. Blue and I walked about 5 miles, just out enjoying the weather. I also completely reorganized and cleaned both Charlie’s and Sid’s cages/habitats. Now they both have an autumn theme.
I don’t have a costume, but Charlie participated in my mother’s! He was so excited about her witch’s hat:
Mother and Charlie
Happy trick-or-treating and partying!
