SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Not a Cat!

The Ringtail Cat isn't actually a cat at all. It's part of the raccoon family and is closely related to those garbage loving creatures.

It is an extremely agile creature, able to climb up and down narrow ledges and limbs. Two adaptations aid them in their movements: the Ringtail Cat has an incredibly flexible ankle joint that can rotate 180º, a trait that allows it to quickly swivel its feet to cope with the rocky outcroppings it frequents. The other adaptation is its long, thick tail which it uses to keep its balance when trekking along.

Apparently they are easily tamable, and miners used to keep these "cats" as pets (which is the reason for the Ringtail's other name - Miner's Cat) in their cabins to get rid of mice.