Do Ostriches have External Ears?

Posted on August 30, 2013August 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I like birds, big, small and in-between. They are fun to watch and challenging to take pictures of, at least good pictures. A friend said “why do you photograph birds?”. My reply…because they are there. 🙂

Anyway we were at the Franklin Park Zoo and the female ostrich was right up close to the fence. She seemed to be trying to catch little bugs that were landing on the wire fencing so we got a good up close look at her and I saw something but I’m not sure what.

It looks like she has ears! Other birds have smooth heads. I’ve never noticed ears before. I tried looking it up online and got lots of scientific papers about they way birds hear but nothing about a real, external ear flap.

I’ve been working days this week so my time to research this has been limited so I’ll ask you…Do ostriches have ears, real external ear flaps.

If not, what are those things on the side of her head?

Humans are Scary..a Tale of the Detroit Cat Monster

Posted on August 29, 2013August 29, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Big Cat On The Loose In Detroit May Be Hybrid Savannah Breed

This is not the kind of stray cat you want to offer a saucer of milk, or even encounter on the street. For the last several weeks, Detroiters have reported seeing a large animal that has been described as up to four feet tall and as long as an 85-pound Doberman prowling their neighborhood in the northeastern area of the city.

Savannah Cat (domestic)

According to WJBK-TV in Detroit, an expert believes the animal could be a Savannah cat, a hybrid breed that is a cross between an African serval and a domestic house cat. The breed was first introduced in the 1980s.

African Serval Cat

The cat is putting residents on edge. Fourteen-year-old Paul Hatley told the Detroit Free Press he ran into the animal recently.

“It wasn’t normal,” he said. “It didn’t run away like normal cat. It just stared at you. … It was scary.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, several residents have spotted the cat, which has unique markings. They reportedly called Detroit Animal Control, who didn’t respond. On Friday, the Michigan Humane Society told the paper it would investigate the situation.

Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue has also set traps for the cat, Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek told WDIV-TV.

“What I think is that someone took this breed of cat on and then probably dumped it here,” she said. “They’re the wildest version of a domestic cat but they are not wild animals, they have been domesticated.”

Well it seems the humans that care didn’t move fast enough and the cat was shot and killed. Turns out the cat was a family pet (which explains why it didn’t run away) and yes, it was extra large. But it had escaped from the family home and not being micro chipped was wandering lost until some gun happy imbecile decided to shoot it.

Aside from the shame of destroying a beautiful animal, these are very rare and expensive cats.

Males and females that are from a first generation who have more than 53% serval in them can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $23,000.
2nd generations (29% serval) can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000. 3rd generations (16% serval) can cost anywhere $1,000 to $6,500, while a 4th generation can cost $1,000 to $2,800.

I can’t even begin to express how sickened I am by this outcome. Human’s are intolerant and we think we own the world. They couldn’t let the Animal Control people do their jobs and handle this. I’m sure the person who shot the cat is telling tales of his bravery in the face of this dangerous house cat. Grrrrr.

Is it any wonder that we have wars and crime and mayhem when we can’t even give a house cat a chance to find it’s home.

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

A Day at the Zoo

Posted on August 27, 2013August 27, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I think the saying is “a walk in the park” but for me and my friend and her family it was a “day at the zoo”. Nancy has been working 3 jobs all summer so squeezing in our annual summer jaunt was turning into a challenge. We were down to the wire when a Tuesday opened up in all our schedules at the same time! YAY! I picked up Nancy and her two children, Alex and Dawn, and we made a bee line to the Franklin park Zoo.

I love zoos and it had been a couple of years since I’d been to this one. Nancy said the kids hadn’t ever been to this one. Located in the Dorchester section of Boston, Franklin Park Zoo is truly an urban zoo. You can even get to it by subway.

A really unusual feature is FREE PARKING! In Boston that’s more rare than the animals on exhibit!

We had a beautiful day for our visit. The weather was sunny and warm but there was a breeze.

There was a new playground since my last visit and we spent a good deal of time there.

We spent the whole day! The Zoo was closing up shop as we made our way out the front gates.

We’d covered everything from the petting zoo to the Bird World.

We saw the gorillas and the tigers and lions.

My favorite is the Budgie Aviary and I think the kids liked that too. They didn’t want to leave.

We also enjoyed the Butterfly enclosure.

Alex was reluctant at first but pretty soon the turtles had his attention.

The giraffe was a treat as it was right at the fence stretching it’s long neck to eat right over the heads of the crowd.

I had to stop by the prairie dog enclosure. The sentry even smiled for the camera.

Leaving the ostrich behind we made our way to the car after a great day!

Housetree

Posted on August 26, 2013August 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

You’ve heard of tree houses especially now that Animal Planet offers Tree House Masters as a series. Those houses they build are amazing but I got a kick out of one house we saw on our cruise around Cape Ann. That house reversed the idea of the tree house. A tree is growing right through the deck and it’s a big tree too.

I don’t have the history of the house but I imagine that the deck was added later and there was a tree growing there already. Of course I could be wrong. Maybe the deck was there and when the tree got too big they cut a hole for it to grow through. Either way it’s a pretty interesting feature.

I’m not sure if you can really see it in the pictures but that large tree next to the house is growing right up through the deck. The house looks like it’s well maintained and having a living tree growing through my deck rather than a bunch of potted plants, well that would be a big plus in my eyes.