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| Sassy's foster parents took her hiking in the snow, after her operation. She never wanted help and refused any attempt to pick her up. |
Sassy is our snow dog. She balks at going out with tiniest amount of rain, but has no problem with snow, ice, and sleet. Once a neighbor drove by and shook her head as we negotiated iced-over walks and street. Dismay? Envy? Disbelief?
Yesterday, the early morning coffee drinker was outside to warm her car up before work. She grinned at Sassy and motioned her over. Sassy sits for praise and petting sessions. Likewise, Alaska's owner halts her trip to the car to give our dog the same treatment, "Oh Sassy, you are so sweet. Look at those eyes! I love seeing you in the mornings!" Sassy sat there and enjoyed every word.
Sassy goes up to Alaska for a short greeting most days. They hunch down as if ready to play tag, their tails wagging at the same rate. Alaska, like Duke (German Shepherd) has buddy status. They have friendly meetings, tails wagging, ready to play tag - except for the fence.
Skinny-Bo is on a long visit next door. He never barks but waits expectantly at his front gates. I tell him what a wonderful dog he is. After meeting at the north gate, he runs to the south gate for a second dose of praise and petting. He used to escape when on a visit next door, running full speed into me. I turned to block him with a hip, and he switched to hits from the back - all in good fun, but full speed nevertheless. We settled a treaty when I sat on the porch and he came over for some attention. He needed a lot of love, so I talked to him and told him how special he was. He always holds onto me with both front legs. We have two to four sessions each day. His doggy smile looks like a quiet snarl, but he is just trying to say hello when he bares his upper teeth.
The bitter cold has awakened our ungrateful birds and squirrels to the benefits of extra food. When it is sunny and warm, they still have plenty of food from the Creator - so I see little activity. Water is always in the kiddy pools for their bathing and drinking. Recently the starlings had a group splash for the longest time.
Corn is good for many birds and lasts a long time on the barrel lids. After the choice foods are picked clean, squirrels and birds come back for some corn. When they ignored in good weather is patiently pried out of ice in bad weather.
Peanuts in the shell do not last long because they attract the opportunists who spirit them away. Shelled peanuts are very popular and bring out the chickadees, starlings, squirrels, cardinals, and others.
I bought a bag of black sunflower seeds too, since we have a week of snow and cold ahead.
PFC gave us some chimes, so I ring them whenever I feed the animals. I wonder, "Am I conditioning them or are they conditioning me?"
Scraps do not provide all the food needed for wild animals, but the extra food keeps them from starving.
A reader fed 17 baby starlings inside once. The noise at meal time was deafening and drove off the rest of the family. The thought of it makes me laugh. I thought about investing in an indoor bird habitat once (big parsonage). My mother was upstairs and would have loved it. However, allergies warned us away from the task and from doing 100% of the work instead of 1% feeding and no clean-up.
