The Miscellaneous Thread

[Earthnut]

Thanks Libby for the compliment. Yes, I am very proud of my fellow Okie pilot.

Randee, I have to sadly say, and I know you agree, man is the deadliest animal on this planet. But at the same time, it's a thrill to see when man comes through and puts the bad guys to shane for an animal like the videos above. Makes you want to shout.

Y'all ready for another heartwarming video?

[Libby]

It's always heartwarming to see how some humans have a sense of responsibility (but also sad to see where they don't).

I do have other videos to share, but as this is a miscellaneous thread, I'd like to go in a completely different direction temporarily, and provide a link that shows that however much humans think they have the answer, there is still so much more to learn. This link is about a young girl who is autistic. She's a twin, so shared both her pre- and post-birth environment (which casts significant doubt on parenting being th cause of autism). Her parents never gave up, and in that environment, the girl, Carly, found a means to communicate. From conversations elsewhere, I've learned that sensory overload is often part of autism, and I can't begin to imagine how unbearable that must be.

[Libby]

Here's a picture that those who have been owned by small animals/children should understand. I mean, they do those big sorrowful eyes, but who knows what they're really thinking (especially cats):

[Libby]

This is a video of a snow-storm on the 21st in Utah. I was a bit surprised that Utah could actually get snow-storms, as I've always thought of the state being pretty dry in terms of precipitation. I was further surprised when I started watching the video because it didn't look like more than a couple of inches of snow on the ground (not much more than we occasionally get here near the balmy south coast of England). But it looks like there was a layer of ice under the snow, which must have caught everyone by surprise. And, yes, if I'd been in any of those cars I would have been panicking and shouting to my husband (the car driver in the family) to "do something"!

[Walkabout]

Utah is a dry area which has some of the best skiing powder accordind to some and I believe snow makes up a large part of its annual moisture. black ice can form anytime there is cold and moisture and usually is undetectable until you excellerate or brake. I hit some once and almost slide off a mountain cliff.

check this out.. https://www.dogwork.com/owfo8/

[Walkabout]

Oh to be in Scandinavia now that solar storms are here...lol https://news.yahoo.com/solar-storm-sparks-dazzling-northern-lights-233828646.html

[Libby]

That slo-mo video of the owl is just mesmerizing - such grace and power combined. Thanks for that.

We do occasionally get black ice here in southern UK, but it's more likely in northern UK and Scotland and in parts of Bucksnort north Wales. I do know something of the geography/geology/weather of the UK (mostly from having lived here for so many decades!), but I wish I knew more about the northern American continent because there's so much more there. I've picked up bits and pieces from the DVD-based lecture courses I buy and other sources, but I wish there was something that pulled all that together because, to a certain extent, it still is "virgin" territory, so there is a lot we can learn about how the forces of nature shape the land.

There have been reportings of the northern lights in the UK down as far as northern England, because of the current solar storm. They're not as remarkable as those nearer the arctic circle, though.

[Earthnut]

I think it's great that more people will be able to see the Northern Lights. What a beautiful sight that must be.

Here's my 2 rescued babies after I brought them home last year and cleaned their eyes. They were so swollen, irrated, and crusted over that they couldn't open them for a couple days. The grey female, Bell, was skin and bones and the tan male, Tinker, had clabbered milk caught in his throat.

Here's Tinker Man and Bell Baby now.

[Walkabout]

I have been lucky enough to see the 'Aurora' in northern Illinois. once the entire sky was filled. Some reds but mostly that greenish color rippling like the ocean waves. It was Palm sunday 1991.

[Libby]

Lovely "after" photos of your two rescues, Earthnut. Our last two cats came from a rescue organisation. The female, a black-and-white called Jessie, had to be rehomed because her owner wasn't allowed to keep pets in her rented flat. The male, a ginger cat called Spike, had been dumped on the roadside along with his siblings. Spike had been cared for in a veterinarians centre (who provided free care for cats for the rescue centre) because he was the least likely to survive. Both cats coincidentally ended up in one of the rescue centre's foster carers at the same time. When we wanted a single cat, we were shown these two, and of course it was impossible to choose which one.

Jessie regarded herself as the dominant female in the house - bar none. She was quite a dainty, small cat, but she could look down her nose at me, even if she was standing on the ground and I was standing on the top of a step-ladder. And that was only on the rare occasions she deigned to acknowledge my existence.

Spike had probably suffered some brain damage, partly from being the runt of the litter and partly from being abandoned. His eyes would constantly flicker sideways, which is an indication of neurological damage. He was mostly clueless most of the time, but he could do a most magnificent glare at times, though we could never figure out why.

Earlier this evening, I was watching Animal Planet. One of the cases involved some young cats who had been abandoned in a housing estate. The ASPC set some humane traps to capture the cats, but when they came back later they observed that some of the cats knew how to circumvent their plans. One cat in particular had figured out not only how to avoid the plate that would trigger the closure of the trap door, but also grabbed the tin of food and walked away with it.