MarineQuest!

This was an amazing event – an educational fair organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Institute and held at USFSP. What I think is so cool about the event is that they work hard to combine the fascination we all have with animals and the ocean with educating the public on conservation and wildlife awareness.

They had a number of “touch tanks”, filled with creatures native to Florida waters so that folks could reach in and touch the animals. The Fish and Wildlife biologists captured their animal “volunteers” for the tanks and then release them after the event is over. The stingrays were de-barbed of the spines on their tails so no one could get injured, and the spines grow back in time.

I was brave enough to touch a scallop (I love their blue eyes) and pet a stingray, but that was as far as I could go!

Probably the exhibit that was the most interesting and engaging was the shark cooler. There were a number of dead sharks that were on display to touch and examine. It was sad to see these beautiful animals on ice, but the biologists explained that these specimens were either donated by fisherman who caught them or provided to them in other ways. In other words, none were deliberately killed for research.

I noticed a notch cut out of all of the dead fish we saw and the biologists said these were tissue samples made for further study.

One of the things I learned was that some fish have a second set of teeth in the back of their throats called pharyngeal teeth. The fish use the first set of teeth to bring food into their mouth and use the second set to break into hard shells to get to the food source. It was so interesting and slightly disturbing to see the cross section of the fish head and their second set of teeth!

Aside from all of the hands on exhibits, there was a lot of good information on boating and fishing regulations as well as information on land dwelling animals and invasive plants.

I have to salute the biologists who do this type of work. You can tell they really love what they do and are happy to share what they know. It was a lot of work for the Fish and Wildlife crew, but it was much appreciated. Can’t wait for next year!

This incredible event, a mile from our house and so close to downtown, is the perfect example of why I love St Pete!

chickens!

I’m still on chicken duty at my folk’s house while they are away. It’s not much work but the 13 chickens have their own schedule which means someone has to be there to let them out of their pen in the morning, collect eggs, close them in at night and make sure they have fresh water, food and a somewhat clean space to sleep.

They are so entertaining I thought I’d post a few photos of them, kind of like a day-in-the-life series!

This past weekend I went to the local feed store to buy their food and saw all of the baby chicks for sale. I was so tempted to buy more but I knew I’d be in big trouble as my folks are now on the life downsizing/pet attrition plan, which basically means they aren’t going to get any new pets once theirs pass away, so they will have more flexibility to travel down the road.

But the chicks are CUTE! It blows my mind to think that something that brings so much entertainment and happiness, not to mention providing food in the form of eggs are only 3$ each.

First thing in the morning, before anything else, I let the chickens out of their pen. They sleep in an enclosed horse stall that was fitted with boxes for roosting and the second you step out of the house, you can hear them squawking to be released from their overnight prison. They immediately want chicken scratch, or better yet, people food. My aunt Dolly rescued 2 parrots that she spoils rotten and always has a surplus of veggies, grains, fruit and seeds that she sends over for the chickens. They hover near the back door waiting for the giant zip-lock bags to be opened! They eat pretty much everything and really go to town on some watermelon rinds.

They spend all day pecking around the yard. They used to segregate themselves based on their breeds at first, but now they all range around the yard together. There is a hierarchy among them though. We have Brahmas, Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds.

I gave my mom the Brahma chicks a few years ago for Mother’s Day without knowing she had a sad childhood memory of chickens. She told me that when she was a little girl, people used to dye baby chicks pastel colors at Easter time and her dad had brought her home some of these brightly dyed chicks for an Easter present. Well, her parents went out that night, leaving her with a babysitter and while they were gone, all of the baby chicks started to die from being colored and she was traumatized by it, not knowing it wasn’t her fault. I’m not sure if they still color baby chicks these days. Not a good practice.

The Rhode Island Reds are definitely the bullies of the yard even though they are smaller and one of them (I can’t tell them apart) can be a little feisty towards people if she’s in a mood.

The Barred Rocks have really cool black and white stripes. It’s hard to tell any of the chickens apart except for one we call No Tail. Guess why?! When we got the Barred Rocks as chicks, one of them became sick and stopped eating and drinking for a couple of days until my mom really looked her over and found that her back end was closed over with dried waste, poor thing and as soon as she was cleaned up, she got better. Unfortunately this incident caused her to never develop the back, poufy tail feathers that all the rest of the chickens have. She is healthy now and really has the most personality of all of the chickens. She is always front and center and follows you everywhere around the yard. She also seems to be the runt and the others push her around. She is definitely our favorite.

Poor No Tail gets broody occasionally which means she likes to sit on her eggs for days without leaving her nest. It’s kind of sad since she’ll never have chicks but eventually she comes out of it.

Overall I’m really more of a cat and dog kind of pet person, but chickens are fascinating to me. I am totally creeped out by their feet and especially the Brahmas whose feet have feathers on them. So totally strange! The Brahmas are the fluffiest and most entertaining to watch run because they are so top heavy!

The chickens start to lay eggs first thing in the morning and you can always tell when one of them has laid an egg, because she starts to squawk and cluck loudly to let everyone know. They seem to like the same places to lay eggs.

The chickens lay around 7 eggs a day, sometimes less sometimes more. We don’t eat that many so we end up sharing with family and friends. Pretty cool!

Back in the yard, the chickens reign supreme! They chase the duck away from his wading pools to drink when they feel like it.

The chickens always know when it’s time to go to bed and they head back to their pen at dusk. It seems as though the Brahmas are the night owls, they are the last to head in. Some of the others like to roost on the swing door at the end of the night before I lock them in.

Almost time for lights out…Good night until we do it all again tomorrow!

Lake Drive Family

St Francis of Assisi has his hands full helping me watch over my parent’s pets while they are away. St Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment and while we aren’t a religious family, we are definitely animals lovers. St Francis lives in a very lovely spot in their front yard watching over the woodpeckers who bully the bluejays, cardinals and doves at the feeders and the hawks, owls and sometimes the peacocks who hang out in the trees.

I like to think he’s entertained by the antics of the chickens who rule the yard and terrify the cat and duck. There is nothing funnier than watching chickens run – seriously LOL!  Crazy little dinosaurs are what I call them. They hit the chicken lottery when they were chosen from the nearby feed store as baby chicks because we really love them and so do family and friends when they get fresh eggs.

The chickens always chase away poor Baby Huey, the beautiful white duck who tries to enjoy his bathing pool in peace, but has to end up in the smaller one.

Baby Huey takes his frustrations out on Ozzie, the old Australian Shepherd and chases him around with his head down low. Ozzie doesn’t seem to mind too much, but sometimes tries to play, which doesn’t always work out so well for Baby Huey.

Here they are. Baby Huey is pretending like he’s eating but he’s really looking for the chance to attack.

Ozzie is keeping his eyes on Baby Huey while Baby Huey is planning his attack with his head lowered. Morrie the cat is on the lookout for the chickens who like to peck at his moving tail.

Baby Huey gave up and is heading out to the pond. Everyone can rest for now, even grumpy Morrie.

But not for long. Baby Huey is back from his swim. We worry because of predators and occasionally in springtime there are baby gators that find their way to the pond and have to be relocated if they don’t move on their own.

St Francis is doing a great job!