Gorillas in the Mist...Or Just Hanging Around by Terry Spear

It's a much better idea to be way far away from the glass walls in the case of gorillas, let me tell you. Some will throw not nice stuff at you. and this one??? He charged the wall, slammed into it and one of the kids standing next to the glass fell on his back trying to escape it.

These gorillas reminded me of Planet of the Apes! Except the humans were in the cages...

 Several were sleeping sitting up. How could they do that without tilting right over and falling down?

 My son and Mal! She's a lot taller than me, so she could hitch a ride. I didn't realize how big they were until I stood next to the one. :) It was really cold and windy out so we were bundled up, but then the gorilla house and other indoor facilities were really warm so Blaine became the coat bearer while I took pictures. :)

 And for those of you who haven't heard of my Most Memorable Thanksgiving, I'm telling it again! Just in case you need a giggle!

My most memorable Thanksgiving!

Have a great Monday!!!

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality."
www.terryspear.com

My Most Memorable Thanksgiving Ever by Terry Spear

So it's time to decorate for Thanksgiving, and my pyracantha is also in beautiful form just for Thanksgiving. It will turn red for Christmas!

Are you ready for My Most Memorable Thanksgiving Ever? It's not the kind where you say, "Oooh," and "Ahh," and "How very nice and sweet."

It's where you say, "OMG!" "How awful!" "I'm glad I wasn't visiting you for Thanksgiving!!!"

Yep, and there it is: My Most Memorable Thanksgiving Ever.

Stories that have no conflict are BORING. Who wants to read about them? Thanksgivings are the same as every Thanksgiving. Feasting, playing, family and friends gathering.  Totally unmemorable from one to the next.

So we had to liven ours up to make it extra special. Wildlife included.

The turkey dinner I shared with my mother and daughter was great. We had a terrific feast while my son was visiting friends elsewhere...but after he heard of OUR Thanksgiving, he said he'd wished he'd stayed home to witness all the excitement. LOL

Feast done, now it was time for the funny Jackie Chan movie, a nice fire, while for the first time since I'd lived in Central Texas, we had sleet and snow and blowing wind for Thanksgiving. It was just perfect.

My daughter put the movie on. I started the 4 1/2--hour burning log. My mother watched.

And then...disaster struck.

First, smoke began pouring into the house. All the vents were open!

Then red wasps began pouring into the house!

My daughter is terrified of wasps/bees after being stung by 12 bees at a zoo once--I was the Girl Scout Leader, naturally, and had 10 girls who were stung...and was frantically trying to get the screaming, crying girls into an ice cream enclosed shop.

So she's flipping out, then runs in with hornet spray. I had the vacuum out and was catching the groggy, smoked-out wasps with the vacuum wand. "No, don't spray toward the fire!" I yelled at my daughter.

Who knew what would  happen? I envisioned explosions rocking the house! Besides, we were already gagging on the smoke as it billowed into the house. Hornet spray would have done us in. Especially knowing how much she would have sprayed to kill those suckers!

Mom had grabbed a flyswatter and was swinging at the wasps.

Meanwhile, Jackie Chan is doing his thing on the TV--all in Chinese.

When it looked like I'd gotten the last of the wasps, I started yelling for everyone to open doors, windows, turn on all the ceiling fans. But the 4 1/2 hour burning log, wasn't going to stop burning any time soon! So I was trying to get it into a bucket and out the door, without catching the carpeting on fire as sparks were flying everywhere.

By now, we had a dense gray cloud of smoke that filled half of the space from the ceiling down.

With the fans blowing and the front door and back door open, the icy/snowy wind blew through the the house, carrying much of the smoke with it.

Time to watch the movie. In the freezing cold! All bundled up in coats and sweaters and hats and slippers and blankets, we snuggled on the couch together to watch the funny Jackie Chan movie...in Chinese.

Though, Jenn had restarted it several times as we fought wasps and smoke.

"Jennifer," I said, "are you sure it's not in English?"

"Nope," she said.

So we watched it in Chinese. Then the outtakes. They are always so hilarious, though we were all still laughing just as much about the wasps and smoke and blizzard weather blowing through the house.

The outtakes were all in English. I looked at Jennifer. She smiled back at me.

So that is My Most Memorable Thanksgiving Ever! And I wouldn't give it up for the world!

I'm going to my son's home for Thanksgiving this year! :)

Just a couple of jaguar pictures. In the first, the jaguar was attacking a piece of wood.

And in the next, he's watching you! I was making a clicking noise with my tongue to get him to look at me for the camera. If you catch one in the wild...do not do this. You want to fade into the background.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, are you having turkey or something else???

My advice, don't invite red wasps for dinner. Oh, and the smoke? I'd had wind damage to my roof a couple of weeks earlier, took off the ridge of my roof and patches of tiles all over the roof and the cap off my chimney (which they didn't mention), and when they reroofed, the roofers covered the chimney with roofing paper. The heat from the fire was so hot, it did burn a hole through the roofing paper, which, despite how bad the smoke was inside the house, had allowed some of it to escape through the chimney eventually. But I guess they also then sealed in the red wasp nest so they had no where to go but inside with us.

I did get burns on the carpet, and melted the plastic bucket with the burning log. Always be prepared for any natural disaster. Hey, the vacuum cleaner was ready and nearby!

 :)

Happy Memorable Thanksgiving!

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality."
www.terryspear.com

Cougar on the Prowl! by Terry Spear

I loved getting a shot of him looking straight at me, but he was moving so fast constantly it was hard to get focused on him before he moved again.

He was way across the yard. The zoo keeper (might have been Zoo Man Thompson), was checking the fences up above to make sure they couldn't get out, then he released the two of them.

Here he sees something, and he was still for only a minute. You can tell by his ears and eyes and stance, he's ready to turn.

Then in the next second, I snapped another picture and the cat was already making a move for whatever caught its attention.

Really intense. But I definitely wouldn't want the fence to disappear, because this cat would be on you in an instant. :)

They are beautiful and it did make me think about what if this was a shifter. They're pretty elegant. :)


Have a happy hump day eve!

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality!"
www.terryspear.com

Fall Colors Under Water

These reminded me of fall, all the orange and yellow koi.

 

 But here were fall leaves in the water where the fish were swimming too. So it was really spectacular. 

That's where I have to find my fall colors. Under water! :) 

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality."
www.terryspear.com

Coyotes and Fall Colors by Terry Spear

Signs were up all over the place for coyotes, gray wolves and red wolves. The wolves were long gone. So I took pictures of the fence. Yes. You heard me right. I had a clear shot of the coyotes but the camera focused on the fence and blurred the coyotes in the "background." *sigh* I've got to read my manual again!

Note how they are together? Even when they were pacing like wolves do, they were together or constantly crossed each others path, pack behavior.

And for fall!


Here are some pictures that Mary's husband took in Barson, Michigan where he was hunting.

www.corablu.com/blog  

I have to have friends send fall pictures to remind me how the other half live!!! :) She was generous enough to share these with me to share with any who need a reminder of what fall looks like!

Beautiful!

So it's time to decorate for Thanksgiving, and my pyracantha is also in beautiful form!

Have a lovely Thursday!!!

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, are you having turkey or something else??? :) 

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality."
www.terryspear.com

Orangutan Juvenile Playing with Box by Terry Spear

I wish I could have made the fence go away, but it wouldn't. LOL So here is the juvenile orangutan eating from a box. Not sure if it's female or male, but someone who was watching it, said the monkey has worn blankets since it was a baby! :)  I wonder if she will ever outgrow it! I'm taking a wild guess that it's a she because the blanket is pink.

You know, boxes can be the best play things!

Here, she's trying to read what it says. :)

When she's as big as the huge one that was in the enclosure with her, the mother, probably, the blanket will be only a scarf for her head. :)

Here is the momma. She was huge. Unfortunately, the camera operator took a great picture of the fence! 

Do you ever have days like this? Where you just want to pull the blanket over your head and let the world go on about you without a care in the world?

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality!"
www.terryspear.com 

The Bear...and Teddy Bears! by Terry Spear

First, here's a doctor bear, taking care of a human baby.

But here's what inspires all those beloved teddy bears in the first place.

I had a better picture of his back side!See how soft his fur looks? No wonder they look so adorably cuddle-able.

Just like this fellow? He's just lying around, watching the clouds go by. He is the last of my hand wooden carved face bears. My dad made the faces. He's a 19" fully jointed plush bear with suede paws.

****************************************************************

We had a lot of bears roaming around eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, in people's trees, tearing down their beehives, peering in windows, running along highways, you name it.

They might look cute and cuddly, but they're dangerous. It's best to stick to teddy bears if you have a hankering to hug one.

So the doctor bear, golden distressed mohair, wearing his antique spectacles wants to know...how do YOU feel about bears?

Just an important note: The proud owner of the golden wizard just received her bear in South Africa! Woohoo! And now she wants another! :)

And, I just had an email from a lady who wants a McLennan Clan Bear, and another who is interested either in a wizard bear or a couple of clan bears! :)  So see? Bears are much loved!


But the question is not  have you hugged a bear today?


Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality."
www.terryspear.com