Animals in Winter!

Our little feathered and fur babies wild and domestic need help in our cold weather. Domestically speaking our pussy cat got a new liner for her bed. Poor darling is getting pretty elderly being 17 + years now, so when I spotted this fake fur at the fabric store and it's so darn soft and cuddly, I just knew what she was getting for Christmas. Doesn't she look cozy.

She's has a couple of suitors even at her age. This is one of them. What a trooper, he came all through that big dump of snow we had, when the snow was falling and when it stopped. I watched him leave one day and he had to jump through the snow and fortunately, he wasn't disappearing into it, but it was up to his belly at that point. He lives nearby, not sure exactly where, but he's so loyal and has hardly missed a day except when the temps were down to -8 and lower with the wind... I just call him Buddy, but he comes to that, so who knows.. He's an extremely nervous cat, but after a few minutes of being here, he settles right in and even lets me rub his stomach which means he trusts me. He's a big cat and has such soft fur.

Onto the feather and fowl creatures. This mornings paper had the funniest picture of the Mallard Ducks trying to maneuver the frozen surface of the pond. They are fine, they're used to that, but it's the balance thing that gets them every time. Not even duck feet can withstand ice...

Seagulls always interest me how when the wind is howling, they will squat down and face into the wind. This picture is taken at a schoolyard during our snowy days. A very windy, cold and snowy day...but there they are, apparently not bothered by it all.

For the other feathered friends that visit our garden, I made a seed wreath for lack of a better term. I took the seed mix for the little birds, and peanuts for the Stellar Jays that are calling in and sprinkled them around the table in the gazebo. This gives the Stellar Jays a place to land since they are ground feeders, so this works well for them. The little birds come to the seeds in between the Jays and the feeders that are hanging up. It all works well.

For those who aren't familiar with Stellar's Jay, they are the West Coast cousin to the East Coast Blue Jay. I just love them. They are a bit smaller than a crow and when they start to chatter, you know you are being visited by them, they have a very distinctive sound. Here's a picture of them.

And lastly, in this part of Canada, we have a variety of humming bird that stays all year. They are the Anna's and are so smart. How they have discovered how to survive, is quite a feat. They are as the write ups will tell you, quite aggressive and territorial and perhaps that's why they have such good survival skills. Here's a female. While I was putting out the feeder for them during the cold spell, one of them buzzed me, so I know they were grateful for the food.. If you live in this area (Vancouver Is. Canada) and plan to feed them, the proper mix for the food, is 60 - 40 water to sugar. The rest of the year is supposed to be 3-1 water to sugar...So if you have indoor and outdoor animal friends, please make sure they are getting whatever care you can offer them....