April 13, 2004 ~ Excessive Luck, Raccoon Mating Rituals, and Wolf-Dog Pup Details
Tuesday.
Okay, so, answer this. How likely is it to find twelve four leaf clovers within a one-hour period when you are not even looking for them, but just happen upon them?
I'm thinking that's not terribly likely.
I found twelve four-leaf clovers on my hour-long hike yesterday, and almost the entire hike was through forest, not pastures or fields. Twelve. And I wasn't even looking for them; I just kept noticing them as I walked, picked them, and moved on. By the end of the hike, I had twelve. That's an average of one four-leaf clover every five minutes! A plentiful bouquet of four-leaf clovers.
I don't generally believe in superstitions, but, heavens, that much luck sure would be nice. By the end of the hike I was laughing and shaking my head. There's another one. What the hell?? Is Somebody trying to tell me something? Oh, and here's another. Okay. Whatever. Four-leaf clovers have suddenly become nearly as common as, say, dandelions. Right.
Last night I stepped out on the porch in the dark to watch the thunderstorm as it passed through. As I leaned against the railing, I noticed motion out in the far corner of the lawn. Masks and ringed tails. Racoons!
I'd not seen raccoons at this house yet. A male and a female, they were flirting. Hoping across the grass, teasing one another, pouncing and jumping away and playing, not paying any attention at all to the rest of the world.
They rounded the side of the house and I followed as quietly as I could. Now they were down by the brush pile, trilling back and forth to one another loudly, and making what can only be described as cackling, chattering noises. The trilling was a beautiful, loud, haunting sound. I stood there in the middle of the lawn, in the rain, the lightning, and the thunder, transfixed, getting soaked.
An exceptional experience.
Excessive four leaf clovers and a private audience to raccoon mating rituals in the middle of a thunder storm... What's next?
Several people asked a lot of questions in email and the guestbook about the wolf-dog pups (pictured in the last entry).
Their story is not too sad, and has high hopes for a very happy ending.
The people who cared for these little guys and their parents weren't going to be able to keep them any longer; I don't know why. The Sanctuary was set to take them in a few months from now, but then, the mother got loose. The neighbor fumed that he was going to shoot "those damn wolves," or something along those lines. So the ladies who run the sanctuary ended up doing a much earlier pick-up than planned.
Which, even though we weren't quite ready for them, I can't help but think is a good thing. Now, the pups are getting human contact much earlier in their lives, which will make them more sociable and friendly.
Unlike the older animals at the Sanctuary (who often have major baggage and behavioral problems), these puppies will be in high demand for adoption. Low-contents are also less likely to be difficult to train and live with (unlike high content wolf-dogs). The sanctuary does background checks and home inspections for all potential adopters, so I'm betting these little guys will be seeing a loving home quite soon.
No, they're not pure wolf, not close. Both parents are mid to low content wolf-dogs crosses, so the pups are wolf-dogs with low wolf content.
All three are male. They don't have names yet. The tan one will probably end up looking German shepherd-like. One of the two black ones is showing signs of possibly being silver colored, grey fur under black fur, giving him a silvery sheen. We'll see. Regardless, they are the cutest little sweethearts.
What I didn't get a picture of, but wish I had, was their "Easter Eggs." heh. Some visitors brought several dozen raw eggs (which wolves and dogs love) to the Sanctuary that Easter Sunday, and they were handing them out to everybody.
The puppies knew that the eggs were a real treat, but they couldn't figure out how to open the treat. They tried to bite the eggs, but they would just slip out of their mouths. They nosed the eggs, rolling them around and around their pen. Too, too cute. I think I got a cavity in my teeth just watching.
Finally, the (possibly) silvery pup started experimenting. He tried picking his egg up in his mouth and tossing it to the ground. That didn't work, though, because he's not that tall, so he couldn't get much distance, and the egg kept landing on the soft layer of wood shavings. Finally, he put it down and stared at it for a little while, thinking. He then deliberately lifted one of his front paws, and, with a little jump, landed precisely on it, and it burst. He lapped up the yoke, quite proud of himself, and his brothers came over and helped him lick up the last of it.
The brothers tried and tried to open theirs, until finally the black-phase pup came over and pounced on their eggs for them.
He's a smart one--gonna keep my eye on him.
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