Saw a cartoon come to life before my eyes...

As a child, I loved The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.I remember one episode where this man is roaring through the country, parks his car on the side of the road, runs out with his dog, sets up a picnic, throws a stick for his dog to play "fetch" with and as the dog runs for the stick, the man dashes to his car, gets in, and races off... without the dog.Now, as a kid, I found this all very light and comical. In my innocence I thought nothing...

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Spider #5

Well, here we are with the tale of the last spider that has come into my life (so far). I don't have intentions on getting another but you never know what happens... sometimes things just happen for a reason, much like how this one and I were brought together.During the time with Maude and Syd, on occasion, I used to enjoy visiting this *reputable* Reptile Emporium just outside of Toronto. A huge store/showroom full of creepy, crawly, scaly...

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Spider #4

Somewhere along the way through my 20's and after the passing of Abigail I managed to get yet another tarantula. For the life of me I don't really remember where or how and that kinda sucks.I am guessing I bought him from a pet store because no unusual tales come to mind. I was far more knowledgeable at this time about tarantulas and I know that I probably picked this one out because of it's docile behavior much like the Mexican Pink Toe. What...

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Spider #3

For my 27th birthday, I was given a rather unique gift, from someone I only knew as she served my coffee nightly when we (me and the boys) snuck out for a second break at 4am from the brewery. Some nights we'd hang around and talk with this girl, not much else for us all to do at this time of night (oh, I guess we could have been working). I only knew her by first name and I guess she knew more about me than Rob takes a medium double double.I was...

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Spider #2

So, about 6 to 8 months after getting Maude, I decided to get myself a second tarantula. Things had been going so well with Maude; I figured that another would be all that much easier.I learned how they can be escape artists and how to not let that happen again. I had been through a molting (skin shed) as well.I had been studying tarantulas for a bit now. I was learning of the different species that I would see from time to time in the pet stores....

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I was much like this through the afternoon...

It was a really nice afternoon for February. 0c and lots of sun. I took a friend of mine, Brian, down to my favorite local park with his kick ass camera.We walked about the icy paths in search of birds and animals to photograph. I wanted to make his experience a really good one down there so I did more looking than photographing... hence why I pretty much felt like this Hairy Woodpecker.If anyone is in the Etobicoke area of Ontario... stopping in...

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Valentine's Day pt 2... new species sighting!

So, as this Valentine's Day continues right along... I have to make another quick note here, as I am happy to announce a new species sighting!We decided to go out for dinner, down to a place called "Snug Harbor" in Port Credit, Ontario.We had a great table, right along the waterfront. It was probably 20 minutes before sundown and as we sat, had a drink, talked... we also got to watch the water fowl finishing up their day. We saw dozens of Canada...

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Best Friends...

So it's Valentine's Day... just chilling before the day really gets going.I know I've had a few downer notes lately but that's life... you got your ups and you got your downs.I thought I would share a little bit about this happy couple who live with my parents. Lucky the cat and Maggie the dog.As you can see, they are quite inseparable.Lucky is a 22 lb LHD and Maggie is 11 lbs of a Silky Yorkie.I guess they have known each other for maybe 8 years...

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Buckles... the animal lovers comic strip

So, I learned this week that the Toronto Sun has dropped the comic strip "Buckles". BOOOOOO!It was such a great 3 second read for me everyday, and when it was about the backyard shenanigans; I could totally relate. Scrappy the Squirrel was by far my favorite character to pop up in the strip. Who doesn't have a squirrel like him... who has a backyard that is. The one that really made me laugh out loud had Scrappy yelling at the birds in the backyard,...

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Closed her eyes forever this morning...

For those of you who have contacted me regarding the kittens... and how the littlest of the bunch is doing. Sadly, she was put to sleep this morning by the Vet. Her health has been deteriorating, she's not gained any weight and has been on a down slide health-wise the last number of days. She's barely been able to stand up so never mind feed. The food won't stay in her either, kept bubbling back up... and they thought it would be best for the...

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he sure makes that coil of garden hose look comfy

Found this pic on my cell phone and remembered that August afternoon in 2007 when I opened my garden shed to find this little guy sleeping on the top shelf, using a coil of garden hose as his bed (that is a patio umbrella beneath). I quickly took this photo of him and then shut the door to let him go back to sleep. He never returned after that from what I have seen...

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Rats! A Hawk attack!

I borrowed a pic from the 'net to give you a better idea of what a Red Tailed Hawk looks like.The photo above is from the scene that happened today as I am about to describe.For those of you who may not know me through Facebook... today, February 4th, 2009 was a rather sad day for me. The rat who has been living at the back of my yard all winter was killed by what I am 99.9% certain to be a Red Tailed Hawk.I wrote about this rat in my blog a week...

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Not My First Sign of Spring...

Hanging at the park near me on February 2/09 and noticed many Robins buzzing around in the forest. Years ago I would think that this is the first sign of spring... and back then it was. Now? Not so. I see them through the winters now, deep in the woods. I saw at least 6 in this spot. I began snapping pictures of the one here on the left and not long after this male Northern Cardinal showed up to see what the fuss was about. I am figuring...

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Sometimes it's difficult to get away from it all even when you think you did

To the left is a male White Breasted Nuthatch at Bronte Creek in Burlington, Ontario; and below is a Black Capped Chickadee.Sunday February 01, 2009 has been the best day of the winter season so far and by a long shot. The sun was out in full and we hit a bamly +3c for an afternoon. It was on the windy side but that was okay.We decided earlier in the week, weather permitting, we would check out Bronte Creek in Burlington, Ontario. A great bunch...

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