Whatcha doing today?

[addy1]

Glad you found them Addy and got them the help they needed.

Same here poor little things.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

We had a military flyover a few minutes ago. Four F-16s. I saw them through the trees, but as I had assumed when they announced it, it was too low and too far east for me to get a good vantage point from my yard.

 

[addy1]

I made, hopefully, snake proof wren condos....................... Hanging from below our deck. Old dishes

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Nice! That's a great idea. We currently have an active wren nest tucked into the rafters of our upper deck. I'm sure our snakes could get at it if they tried, but so far no one has discovered it.

 

[addy1]

They liked to build on the dishes which were stacked up ground level. One nest made it one the snake got the eggs. So I am giving them a better home, put old nesting on the dishes see if they get the clue. We will see.

I have a cam down there need to run a cable to it see if we catch any action.

 

[JamieB]

Lol, I know all about raising kittens! And puppies, and all kinds of little critters. However, you did the right thing if you don’t have the knowledge, or time, to put into it. And with other pets that may view the kittens as prey or toys.
For those who wish to know how, Walmart has KMR, and PMR, kitten or puppy replacement milk. And little bottles. It’s mixed up like human baby formula, served at body temp, and then you burp them using 1-4 fingers gently, depending on their size and age. For little ones, put a heating pad 1/2 under a box, line it with old shirt or towel, and set the heating pad on low. They’ll shift to and from the heat. At that age, they also can’t control bodily functions, and must be stimulated to potty. A warm damp rag across the private parts will do that, wipe from front to back until they are done. Once their eyes open, you’ve got to be ready, cause they develop fast. About a week after that, kittens start teething, and you have to watch that they don’t chew the nipples off the bottles. They need milk up to 6 weeks old, but about the time they start gnawing fingers with sharp teeth, you can offer canned pet food mixed with milk ( kmr or pmr) on a small plate. Expect a big mess there for a few weeks.
Bath time: at the beginning, a warm damp wash cloth is the best you can do. Unless the critter is covered in something nasty, I don’t bathe them till they are around 5-6 weeks old, due to inability to regulate temp. Same as a human baby, body temp or just warmer water, and either baby shampoo or if they have flees or oil on them, dawn dish soap. Leave the face away from the water, start at neck and work down to the tail. For flees, let it sit while you carefully wipe the face with a damp rag, ideally they’d be soapy about 5-10 min to wash the flees off. Be sure to change the bedding and box if they’ve been very flee covered but are now bathed.
This works for pretty much any mammal baby.

 

[j.w]

@JamieB I raised a litter of 4 kittens w/the kitten formula you are talking about many, many years ago when their mom deserted them. Cleaned them and did all that stuff for them as their mom would. They turned out to be the best kittens. One guy I gave one too called me back and asked if I had any left as he said they were the best kittens ever and so loving and into people like no other cats they have had! Guess they bonded w/humans as their own kind. I was their mama and was sad to have to give them all away. I already had two or 3 cats at that time tho.

 

[addy1]

@JamieB We had no choice, our little yorkie is a hunter anything that moves. This is her watching the squirrels feeding under the bird feeders, on constant alert for anything moving.

 

[JamieB]

Some dogs have stronger hunting drive. My huskies do, which is why small/ newborn kittens outside don’t stand a chance, but they know bigger cats are friends and co hunters. Skunk is their top prey right now, I swear they get sprayed every third night!

 

[JamieB]

@JamieB I raised a litter of 4 kittens w/the kitten formula you are talking about many, many years ago when their mom deserted them. Cleaned them and did all that stuff for them as their mom would. They turned out to be the best kittens. One guy I gave one too called me back and asked if I had any left as he said they were the best kittens ever and so loving and into people like no other cats they have had! Guess they bonded w/humans as their own kind. I was their mama and was sad to have to give them all away. I already had two or 3 cats at that time tho.

Kittens raised by humans are like that. Their HuMoms teach them that humans mean love, food, treats, all that is good. Even assisted feeding like I’m doing with Skydiver teach them that humans are to be loved beyond reason.

 

[GBBUDD]

Caught a glimpse of the three jets that were doing a fly over the Frederick Hospital. We heard them then saw them pretty well, no camera ready of course , my cams caught this picture as they headed towards Frederick. View attachment 128501

I use to go down to the national guard base down your way addy. Where the have those a 10 wart hogs they would get going every now and then taking off with a hard roll and just open up those massive engines. the wart hog even though it is from the 50's in still my favorite airplane.

 

[addy1]

They were national guard planes and it was so neat to see them.

 

[GBBUDD]

FINISHED the pond extension, gravel beds are all lined in pea stone the waterfall has been tightened up. I shut the power off after filling the pond the other day and the water settled at a foot down from it's set point. That would not do as the pond is so large now that if i lost a foot of water that would over flow the cistern if it was more then half full. Picked up 6 papyrus, a couple cardnals , Yellow varigated flag, and 5 frog bit. Planted the wheeping redbud and finished the stone wall around it and to the pond.
Hate to say it but there is still more to do. The little pond that the negative edge drops into needs to be finished and the collection opening to the cistern that i haven't even started water is flowing to it but it's hardly even begun let alone done.

 

[Tula]

@GBBUDD , we need new pictures.....what an amazing build !!

 

[GBBUDD]

I will add more tomorrow to my main blog " going for it " The link is below "