For My Friend....

My friend Pat (Deslily), who you can find HERE and HERE, says in the comments of my last entry:

As usual you have outdone yourself once again! Ok, now you have your new background for the next few weeks... time for some "heart-felt animal pics!" heh...

And, since she has often favored me with stories of DeForest, the least I can do is return the favor and offer up some 'heart-felt' animal pics!

I have many pics of the Orangutans at the zoo here (as well as some from other places), but the ones I picked for the entry tonight were taken very recently. In fact, over the Christmas Holidays. I always stop by the Orang exhibit to see what they have given Charlie (my favorite) to put on his head on that particular day. I have pictures of Charlie with boxes, rags, blankets, and assorted other things--all on his head. He likes to sit in the corner and put things on his head. This isn't that strange as Orangutans tend to be the most 'quiet' of the apes and often seem to prefer more quiet games than the other great apes.

I'm also checking to see what the 'patriarch' of the group is doing. Often he will come to the observation window and offer 'kisses'... and in the last couple of months I have been trying to get a glimpse, and possibly a good photo of the newest, smallest addition to the group. You'll know when I finally get a pic of her because I will be sure to post it!

Each morning there is an assortment of food and interesting objects scattered throughout the enclosure before the animals are released into it for the day. On this particular day, the keepers had put out some blankets as enrichment, and one of the juveniles had gotten one and was playing with it. I have a series of about 25 pics of him getting the blanket (and the piece of fruit that was under it) and his ascent to the top of their 'jungle gym'. I've only included 7 of them here for the sake of those of you on dial-up.

The pictures are in sequential order starting with the one centered on the top. Then go down the left side... Back to the top of the right side... and down that side... Ending with him on top of the 'jungle gym' in triumph!

Interested in learning a little more about these fascinating, comical, funny, lovable little guys? As usual, I have a couple of places for you to go to learn a little more about them and the reason they are endangered and need our protection. Today I offer you 3 different ones. Click Here, Here, and finally Here! I hope these were enough of an animal 'fix' for you Pat! LOL!

 

Note: For anyone who saw the 'oops' entry of this I posted earlier this week on Blogspot, I hope you enjoy this 'fixed' version! What I ended up doing to make the pictures 'behave' on Blogger (in both Firefox and IE)  was to put them into a table. I was afraid when I came over here to 'mirror' the entry that the table tags wouldn't work, and I was right. However, over here I was able to manipulate everything using align, paragraph and space tags. It's very interesting that you need to use different methods on each of the services. It's good for the brain to have to think and figure things out <LOL>

La...La...La...

It's almost Valentines Day and I've been redecorating over at my Blogspot Blog. That's one of the fun things about that service as opposed to AOL's Journals-- Redecorating! However, if you go over there to check it out, you will find out that although redecorating is one of the fun things about Blogger, it is sometimes also one of the most frustrating ones as well! <LOL>

I was looking thru some old bookmarked sites and came across this. People had a lot of fun playing with this last year: Acme Heart Maker And, just for fun, here's something that will take a few of you back. I remember having a spirograph as a child and spending hours and hours (and lots of colored ink!) making the designs. I wonder if that is where my love of Celtic knotwork comes from... hmmmmmm. Anyway, enjoy playing with your online Spirograph

 

Who Will Be Top Dog?

We are currently watching the AKC Eukanuba National Championship Live on Animal Planet. One of the cool features this year is the ability to cast your own vote on each of the classes. If you see this and want to cast your own vote, Go Here! And click on Cast Your Vote Now... We always watch, but it is kind of fun to cast my own vote for my personal favorite. Sometimes I agree with the judge.... sometimes I don't!

Update: Last night was Part I. The Second Half is being broadcast tonight, and will include the Working, Terrier, and Herding Classes... AND, of course, Best of Show. The show is being Simulcast on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. So, Tune in tonight and see who the National Champion Dog is for this year!

Poison Dart Frogs

After seeing some of the very nice mosaics out there that people where making with Flickr Toys and their Flickr pics, I decided it would be fun to do a set of pictures with a theme and some bright framing and do a mosaic of it. Unfortunately none of the 'pre designed' mosaics worked for this set of pictures, so I was forced to do it myself in my photo manipulation software!

The top picture here is another picture of my friend the Bearded Dragon. I used a different picture of this same guy to make my 'motivational poster' in an earlier entry. He is usually pretty mellow, and I often find him hanging out on his log. For a little more info on Bearded Dragons in general, click Here!

The other three bright and cheery creatures are called Poison Dart Frogs, and are the reason I chose to do the very bright neon framing for this set of pictures. Poison Dart Frogs are very colorful and fun. I usually get a couple of shots of them when I stop by the Discovery Station.

Poison Dart Frogs are so brightly colored for a reason. The coloring tells any animal who might be thinking about making a meal of the little guys that they are poisonous and will make them sick. So, it's kind of like advertising. Some species of Poison Dart Frogs are considered to be among the most poisonous animals in the world. They actually get their name because the toxin they secrete from their skin has been used on darts to make them poisonous!

If they are so toxic.... How are they so easily handled?? Well, Poison Dart Frogs that are born in captivity have not eaten the same foods that they would have in the wild. Yep! They are the ultimate "You are what you Eat" animals!! Since they have never been exposed to the diet that they would have consumed in the wild, captive bred frogs are not poisonous at all!  Want to read more about Poison Dart Frogs? Click Here! You will also see more pictures of different representatives of the species. They come in a dazzling display ofcolors.

Best Laid Plans...

I had a set of pictures ready to go, and the entry being composed in my head when I ran across two links that I decided where better than my original planned entry! Go figure!

The first link is from the National Wildlife Federation and is their annual Photo Contest. This link is for the National Wildlife Federation Homepage, and this one is a direct link to the Photo Contest page... ENJOY!

This second link is another of those Fun With Flickr links. Click on this link for retrievr and you will be taken to a page that offers you a box and a simple drawing tool. Draw something in the box and it will retrieve Flickr pics based on your 'sketch'.... Interesting and strangely compelling! Tomorrow I bring you lizards and frogs... really, I promise!

Motivational Dragon

Just having a little fun with a photo I uploaded to Flickr. Thank you Judith for the link!! If you want to go and play with your own photos, here is the link.... The cool thing? It doesn't HAVE to be a photo uploaded to Flickr. If you have a photo with a web address (i.e. anything uploaded into your AOL FTP space!), you can play with the things at this site. Make a Mosaic... a Motivational Poster... a Billboard.... Have Fun!!

Just Taking a Moment...

 I just want to take a Moment and Wish all of the Wonderful People here in J-land a Happy New Year.

And I want to offer you the gift of the words to one of my favorite songs. I think that it is very appropriate for this day as we take a moment and look back at what this year brought us and forward to what the new one will bring.

Song: Seasons Of Love Lyrics

COMPANY
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of
love.

SOLOIST 1
525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure
the life of a woman or man?

SOLOIST 2
In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried. In bridges he burned, or
the way that she died.

COMPANY
It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends. Remember
the love! Remember the love! Remember
the love! Measure in love. Seasons of love! Seasons of love.

Wishing you Seasons of Love for the next year... Because, really, isn't that what it is all about?