gatorcast from paul smith

So this is the funniest story.  My neighbor has several dogs.  Two brown labs (Butch & Rocky) and a very old decrepit black lab (Max).   Butch and Rocky are young and full of energy, Max on the other hand is old, slow, deaf, toothless, smelly, probably blind and just plain close to death.  So close that last weekend my neighbor told us that while he was away the previous weekend he dug a hole in the back yard for Max in case he died.  He also told us that he left instructions with his mother-in-law to call me or another neighbor, Wes, that in the event Max croaked we could come over a simply drag max into the hole.    At the time he told me this, after the fact, I thought it was funny.  I’m not sure how I would have felt while I was on ‘Watch’.   And having just buried an animal this week I could image having to do that for Max.

So tonight, Wes my neighbor comes over and says that he needs my help.  It seems old Max decided to get a jump on things and try out his hole.  Wes says, “dude, just come over a hold the light”.  Thats all…  Right I say.   So I go over there and into the back yard.   His yard is next to the creek that runs through our neighborhood and is basically woods.  In the faint distance I hear Max. (I have no idea how Wes knew to go look in the hole.  He says it was Butch that took him there).   As I approach the hole I’m thinking, man I hope Max is not already ready for the hole.  To my surprise he wasn’t and seemed eager to get out.   The only problem was that it was about 3 feet down and Max could barely stand anyway.  So Wes’s instructions were to simply hold Max by the neck and pull him out. Right.  Did I mention that Max and Wes probably weigh the same (ok, maybe not, but one day in Max’s prime they did).  But it was very evident that Wes was not moving Max.   Max was also not liking the situation and trying to “gum” Wes… lol.     I instantly realized that my job as light holder was over and I needed to help solve our problem.  How do you get a 100lb dog out of 3 feet hole in the woods in the pitch black night and a dog that does not want to help?   Carefully. 

Well thankfully Max landed on a kiddie pool and was laying partially on it. In the hole.  I didn’t notice it at first and thought it was only a little piece of plastic.  (I think the pool was meant to cover the hole.)   We moved Max over and after two attempts carefully lifted Max back to level ground.   Max seemed to ‘walk’ from the pool with a spring in his step.  I’m sure ready to get out.   Anyway, we covered the hole, got Max some water and laughed at the circumstances that brought us in our neighbors back yard.

No telling how long Max was in his hole. (24 hrs)  But one thing is for sure, he was not going to just lie there and die.

UPDATE:  It was so good, Lisa had to blog it too.�

This morning our kitty Domino (1989-2007) passed away.  Named in memory of Fats Domino.  She was a beautiful Calico.  

It was very sad.  It was very hard to say goodbye this morning.  But I had comfort in the fact that she lived a very long life, was well loved and died peacefully falling asleep at home.   Domino was Lisa and I’s first animal together.   Later in life she loved to sleep with both Cameron and Evan.  She didn’t like many other animals but tolerated Minnie and was warming up to the new boys, Luther and Gumbo.

Domino & Luther 6.17.2006

She came to us around 18 years ago as the offspring of Maddie, a cat from my days in college here in Gainesville.  I can’t remember where I got Maddie?  Maybe an offspring of some crazy cat that lived with us in  the trailer in college. 

Anyway, We buried her this morning next to her longtime companion and friend Billy. 

We will miss you Domino.

We had to bring Gumbo to the vet today and get a shot of meds including some for pain… woo hoo.. anyway.. he felt better later but really wanted outside. Take a look at these gashes.. the vet shaved his hair to clean it.

this is tragic…We heard these birds every year fly over our house.

All 18 endangered young whooping cranes that were led south from Wisconsin last fall as part of a project to create a second migratory flock of the birds were killed in storms in Florida, a spokesman said.

The cranes were being kept in an enclosure at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River, Florida, when violent storms moved in Thursday night, said Joe Duff, co-founder of Operation Migration, the organization coordinating the project.

The area of the enclosure was unreachable by workers at night, and all the birds were found dead, Duff said.

“It’s very traumatic to the whole team who put so much time and effort into these birds,” he said Saturday.

He speculated that a strong storm surge drew the tide in and overwhelmed the birds or they were electrocuted from lightning strikes reported in the area. The official cause of the deaths was not immediately known.

The thunderstorms and at least one tornado that hit central Florida caused widespread damage and killed at least 20 people.

For the past six years, whooping cranes hatched in captivity have been raised at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin by workers who wear crane-like costumes to keep the birds wary of humans.

Ultralight aircraft are used to teach new groups of young cranes the migration route to Florida. Then the birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall on their own.

Duff described the loss as an “unavoidable disaster” for the whooping cranes project. Ironically, for the first time in six years, an entire group of young birds reared at the Necedah refuge had made it to the Florida refuge without the loss of a single crane.

The various groups and agencies working on the project had seen the size of the flock grow to 81 birds with the latest arrivals, but the loss of the young cranes drops the total back to 63, and there may have been additional losses.

Operation Migration is part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. Partnership officials and Duff said the work would continue. Chicks are expected to hatch in two months, he said.

The whooping crane, the tallest bird in North America, was near extinction in 1941, with only about 20 left.

The other wild whooping crane flock in North America has about 200 birds and migrates from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migratory flock in Florida has about 60 birds.

Today Evan & I went to Lake Alice to see the Gators and to La Fiesta to get Croquetas..