Ok, straight to the chase … make a donation to the Tollie Fund at DCAS, the Dhana Metta Rescue Society, or Bandaids for Bunnies and book a session by June 30, 2014 and you’ll get the amount of your donation as a print credit (up to $200). The credit is good for any print product … framed print, canvas, album, brag book, etc. Sessions can absolutely take place after June 30th.
Pingu and Meeka are a pair of gorgeous, easy going, and playful young gals. They were surrendered together and are so bonded to each other that they need to be adopted into their new home together.
Pingu has bright blue eyes, just a hint of brown/calico markings and an awesomely puffy tail. As with all long-haired cats she’ll likely need a little bit of brushing to help keep that coat looking it’s best.
Just chilling out after our play session (she had lots of fun with one of my big reflectors)
Meeka is a short haired brown tabby who loves to supervise. Just look at those eyes and markings! Here she’s watching the action going on below and getting ready to join in.
Since they need to find a home together they have a reduced adoption rate. You can view their details here and here.
Please contact the Delta Community Animal Shelter for more information on these two cats and the other pets they have available.
Nova’s story is an unfortunate one. She had had a broken front leg that was never treated. Her owners couldn’t or wouldn’t pay to have her looked after and decided to surrender her instead. At least now she would be receiving the care she desperately needed. Since the old break could not be set properly and it was causing her constant pain the decision was made to have the leg amputated.
Luckily the Tollie Fund was able to cover the cost of her surgery and the fabulous staff and volunteers at the Delta Community Animal Shelter have been giving her all of the lovin’ this sweet, sweet girl deserves. It’s been a couple of months since the surgery and she’s doing marvelously.
She’s only a year old (give or take) and she still has that puppy energy and enthusiasm … though the day before we stopped in she had been out for quite a long walk and the weather was on the warm side so she was being smart and taking it easy. We didn’t mind one bit … we weren’t moving much faster ourselves in that heat.
She loves, loves, loves chewing on her toys … even when she’s too tired to keep her eyes open 😉
The surgeons did a great job with the incision/scar … it’s healed up very cleanly. And look at that pattern on her head … can you see the howling wolf? 🙂
Visit the DCAS website to see Nova’s adoption info or call the shelter for more information
I had fun photographing Copter and Mallow for friend and fellow website developer Dave Zille. They’re quite the little characters and can often be heard in the background of Dave’s screencasts chirping away 🙂
The birds I typically photograph are their wild cousins so it was a nice switch to have these two posing for me (there was still some bribery involved to be sure).
They’re both tame and are often free to fly around the house. Only Mallow is hand trained but I’ve been able to get Copter onto a finger for about 5 seconds … once. Neither like to be away from the cage for very long … it’s their safe place.
Speaking of feeling safe … my photographer friends will be familiar with the idea of using reflectors to help fill in some extra light. Guess what … birds don’t like shiny things (except perhaps crows and magpies). Maybe you’ve driven past farms with silver streamers or dvds fluttering in the wind? That’s to scare the birds away. Doug and I have noticed that even silver tripods can be sparkly enough to cause some distress when out photographing wildlife. So yep, leave the silver, gold, and zebra reflectors at home and stick with matte white paper or foam core and try not to move it around too much.
I’ll let you guess which one is Mallow … as in marshmallow …
Visiting the shelter is always a very welcome break away from my computer, especially after weeks that have been as busy as the past few.
This visit was even more exciting because I was finally getting to see the new building that the Delta Community Animal Shelter recently moved into. It’s really nice … so much bigger and brighter than their old building with more space for the animals to get outside into enclosed patio areas. It looks like there’s going to be larger run areas for the dogs out back but I think that area is still a work-in-progress so I’m really just guessing at this point.
I was thinking I would get to see Chicklet again but found out that he’s been moved to the local Bosley’s in hopes that he’ll get more exposure (they recently adopted out two other rabbits).
Instead I got to meet a brand new arrival … Wiggles 🙂 … a very young little chocolate brown girl who was brought in as a stray.
Pamela (Chicklet’s favorite volunteer) was already there and Wiggles was snuggled up and sleeping on her lap. I joined them out on the enclosed patio and we chatted for a while until Wiggles woke up and got used to having another stranger around.
Pamela has been a big help and a wealth of bunny knowledge … telling me about things like binkies and dewlaps and other fun stuff. You can see in the right hand photo below that Wiggles’ neck is looking a little bare … that’s where her dewlap will be when she’s older
Once she got comfortable with me she was full of curiosity and energy typical of any young one 🙂
And of course one must always take time out to clean … very thoroughly …
… especially between the toes (look at those toes!!! 🙂 )
Since Wiggles is a stray she’s not available for adoption quite yet, but if you’re interested in finding out more about her give the staff at DCAS a shout.
Update 6/7/2013 – It turns out that Wiggles is a boy … whoops!!
Meet Chicklet!
Chicklet came to the Delta Community Animal Shelter as a baby and though he was found just hanging out in a backyard he’s definitely a domesticated bunny.
When I arrived one of his favorite volunteers was already there and she helped make the introductions. We wanted to let Chicklet come out of the cage on his own so we sat down and waited and chatted and waited some more. After about a half-hour-ish our patience was rewarded and he hopped out of the cage and into her waiting lap. She brings fresh greens and lots of lovin’ for him pretty much daily 🙂
It was such a wonderfully warm and sunny day that we decided to go out to the outdoor run (this was at the old location of the DCAS … they’ve moved to their new building as of May 6th).
There is so much for a little bunny to explore outside …
A few tasty dandelion leaves and a bath rounded out the afternoon …
And all too soon it was time to go …
Chicklet is litter box trained, neutered, tattooed and ready for his forever home. Contact the DCAS for adoption details.
PhotoHaus Gallery’s current exhibition The Birds is on display now until May 22nd and I’m very pleased to have two wildlife images included.
If you find yourself in Vancouver stop by the gallery and check it out. Gallery hours are listed as Tues – Thurs 3pm-7pm, Fri 3pm-6pm, and Sat & Sun 12pm-3pm, but you might want to visit their website or phone first to double check.
Last week the Burnaby SPCA posted on Facebook about a little Guinea Pig found in a very sad state … her cage had been left in a ditch in the pouring rain and she was half submerged by the time she was rescued. I just can’t imagine how she ever came to be there. She has cleaned up very nicely and they’ve nicknamed her Posh.
Since Guinea Pigs need to chew on wood (like apple, pear, or aspen) to keep their teeth worn down to a healthy length … and we just happen to have a big ‘ol apple tree in the back yard … I thought that taking a few branches in would be a nice treat for her.
It’s a fabulous tree. Even though it seems like we pick more apples up off the ground (and take to the wildlife rescue down the road) than we end up picking for ourselves we always seem to have lots. I’m still enjoying the applesauce I made last fall 🙂
So I sent hubby out to trim a few of the smaller branches that always want to grow where we don’t want them to grow and off we went to visit Posh.
She’s a little cutie of course and was ok with our visiting … until I touched the top of her cage and spooked her a bit … then it was straight into her little hiding spot. The cage bars weren’t very camera friendly I’m afraid and since it was a quick visit I didn’t ask about coaxing her out and giving her time to get comfy in front of the camera in a more open environment.
Posh isn’t available for adoption just yet, I’m guessing they need to wait to see if her owner comes to claim her. If you’re interested in adopting Posh if/when she is available give the Burnaby SPCA a call.
During this week’s visit to the DCAS I got to meet Summer. A really, really sweet little girl. Both little and sweet are very accurate descriptors. She’s a petite little tabby and super friendly. She warmed up to me right away. Not that the treats I was holding had anything to do with it I’m sure. She’s roughly 10 months old so she might grow a bit more yet.
The first thing that grabs your attention when you meet Summer is her intense eye colour. I think they tend more to copper but could be considered orange too. In any case they’re gorgeous! The camera doesn’t really do them justice.
The second thing you notice is that her fur is incredibly soft. Surprisingly so. The alternating light and dark banding (agouti) on the individual hairs in her light parts have you expecting a rough texture, but that’s not the case at all … its super silky!
She is still full of kitten curiosity and energy. One of her favorite activities is watching the birds at the feeder just outside the window (excellent placement I must say! 🙂 )
Not one to stay still for very long it was only a matter of time until she found where I had left the treat package (oops!).
Shelter staff have categorized her as an ‘Orange’ Meet-Your-Match cat and that certainly matches my experience with her … affectionate, outgoing, curious … an excellent supervisor kitty!
Unfortunately Summer tends to think outside the box … if ya know what I mean … so she needs a warm barn type of environment where that won’t cause any stress with her people.
Talk to the DCAS Staff or check out Summer’s adoption info page for more details.
Working in the smaller area of the communal cat room I ran into a few hiccups …
Lens selection – A few times my shorter/wider zoom was too short but I couldn’t always back up enough to focus my longer zoom. Next time I’ll take a macro lens that has a longer focal length than my short zoom and a closer minimum focusing distance than my long zoom and see how that works out. I’ll probably still feel like I have the wrong lens on half the time 😉
Lighting – The room is well lit from a normal people-working-in-the-room perspective. Windows on opposite sides help to let some daylight in. To the camera though its still on the dark side especially near the floor. I bumped the ISO up as high as 1600 at one point but that still wasn’t quite enough action stopping power to keep up with a jumping kitten. Yes, I could have gone higher on the ISO and may do so next time just to see how noisy things get. I had a flash unit with me but decided not to use it for a couple of reasons … 1) I know it won’t recycle fast enough when I’m wanting a burst of frames; and 2) there were other cats in the room (at least one is from a feral colony and is slowly being socialized to people) and they were being pretty shy. I didn’t want to add to their stress by having a flash constantly going off in their space. There are some very nice continuous light options available that are light weight and cool to the touch with low power consumption that I have started looking into. Next step is to phone around to the rental places and see what’s available locally.
Thursday I had the good fortune to meet Buddy out at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS). He’s the new kid in town having just arrived from the shelter in Terrace where he was surrendered when his owner fell on some hard times.
The shelter environment can be stressful for the animals in care but Buddy seems to be taking it all in stride.
We could tell he was excited to see us and happy to take all the pets and tummy rubs we wanted to give. Of course I fell in love with those big soft ears.
Such a handsome and easy going guy!
He’s very inquisitive and alert. During our time together we had some visitors and heard a bit of yelling from the nearby construction workers. He always wanted to go check things out but I don’t recall ever hearing him bark. That could just be my failing memory though 😉
He’s got such a wonderful creamy beige and brown coat with a very subtle scattering of black hairs on his upper back and a perfectly white tip on his tail. So cute!
It wasn’t long before the excitement of the day caught up with him and it was time for a little snooze. Did I mention that I totally fell in love with those ears?
Buddy will be ready for adoption just as soon as he’s neutered. Shelter staff say he’s good with kids, cats, and other dogs too.
Talk to the DCAS staff (who are absolutely wonderful too 🙂 ) to get all the details about Buddy and to fill out an adoption application.
Snowdrops, crocuses, and wildlife photographers … sure signs that spring is just around the corner.
Piper Spit was surprisingly busy for a Monday afternoon. Given all the rain we’ve been getting lately I guess it’s not really a wonder that folks are taking advantage of the sun when it does finally make an appearance. We certainly weren’t going to pass it up either.
We were greeted by the usual symphony of chirps, quacks, whistles, and caws. Sparrows were bickering on both sides of the path and the geese were adding the occasional honk. There was no shortage of Green-winged Teals (regular spring visitors). The males have this soft little whistle that reminds me of being in gym class … very cute … their whistles … not me in gym class … just wanted to clear that up.
Even the crows came through on their way to their nightly roost and stopped for a quick bite to eat. (Won’t be long now and they’ll be stopping in for eggs.)
Of course no outing would be complete without at least one bird butt 😉 … ok, really it’s more like 90% of the shots. I swear they know when you’re about to click the shutter.
There was lots of preening going on …
… some … uh … other stuff …
… and generally a bunch of entertaining territorial type antics. This poor male Hooded Merganser sure got an earful from momma Wood Duck when he swam a little too close.
Waiting patiently for babies to arrive …