Fauna days

I think from now on I will dedicate my Wednesday blog posts to telling you about the Fauna Foundation. Fauna is a local animal sanctuary where I work as a volunteer every Tuesday. Sanctuary at Fauna means providing a place of refuge for animals who have come from all sorts of places including the wild, private homes, the biomedical industry, the agricultural industry, and the entertainment industry.

All of the residents at Fauna are living in absolute lifelong retirement. They are not obligated to work, to provide food or be butchered for food, to entertain, or even to act as companions for humans. They are not subjected to isolation, the torture of vivisection, or even simple rejection. Fauna does not exploit their residents for the purposes of human profit nor do they allow their residents to be removed from sanctuary to be placed back into situations where they are subject to these abuses.

Fauna is home to horses, a donkey, llamas, pot-bellied pigs, goats, chimpanzees, capuchin monkeys, dogs, a really friendly white swan and there are probably lots of other animal residents that I haven’t met yet.

Now, I have a regular (paying) job too, and on the days I have to work at my regular job I can hardly drag myself out of bed in the morning. But on Tuesday mornings, as soon as I open my eyes I’m jumping out of bed, all excited to go to Fauna. There is something so special about Fauna - the personal satisfaction I get from volunteering there means more to me than any stinkin’ paycheck ever will.

I work in the chimp house and my job is to prepare “enrichment” packages for the chimps. There are currently 14 chimps at Fauna, 10 are survivors from biomedical research labs and 4 used to be on display at public zoos.

I just can’t find the right words to describe how special these chimps are. I have only been working in the chimp house since the beginning of 2008 and in my job I have no direct contact with the chimps, but from the area where I work I can see some of them and they can see me.

The chimps at Fauna are not kept in tiny cages. They have large indoor and outdoor living areas and they live together in social groups. If you would like to see where they live you can take the tour of the chimp house at this link (just click on “start the tour” at the bottom of the page):

http://www.faunafoundation.org/ff/english/sanct/chimps/tour/tour00.html

I am always touched by how exceptional and forgiving these chimps are. The first time my heart was touched it was by a chimp named Pepper (who comes from biomedical research). She was craning her neck to try to see me while I worked in the enrichment area. One of the workers, Cindy, noticed that Pepper was trying to see me so she invited me to come and meet Pepper. I have not learned much about chimp behavior yet, but Cindy told me that she could tell that Pepper really liked me. I felt honoured and special and I went home that evening feeling so wonderful. I read everything I could find about Pepper on the Fauna website and discovered that she loves to clean. So each week when I am preparing her enrichment package I make sure to include a scrub brush or a broom & dustpan, or a squeegee or something so that she can indulge in what she enjoys.

A week or two later I was working on enrichment packages and I kept hearing a knocking sound. There is a large bullet-proof glass window overlooking the atrium which is filled with plants that have been brought inside for the winter. On the other side of the window was a chimp named Rachel (also from biomedical research). She was watching me and was knocking on the window to get my attention. I mentioned it to Cindy and she explained that Rachel was knocking because she wanted to see me and that I could go up to the window and press my hand on the glass. Later on that afternoon Rachel came knocking and I went and said hello by pressing my hand to hers through the glass. She looked deep into my eyes for a long time and then made motions with her mouth like she was blowing me kisses. I thought my heart was going to break! Rachel really loves to wear gloves and to look at herself in a mirror, so I always try to make sure that there’s a package with those items for her.

It blows my mind that these chimps willingly make contact with people after all the horrible things that humans have put them through. Their ability to forgive is just astounding. I think we could all take a lesson from these precious souls.

As much as we would love to hug these wonderful chimps, we all need to be careful as chimps are extremely strong – 7 times stronger than humans. Red lines painted on the floor show us the danger zones that are to be avoided when we are walking past the caged areas. The chimps wouldn’t mean to hurt us, but they don’t know their own strength. Yesterday Kim invited me to watch her playing with Yoko (another biomedical research survivor). He is such a sweet little man! They were playing tug-of-war with a bed sheet and it was so endearing to watch. He was having a great time and was laughing and really enjoying himself. His strength was apparent every time he ripped the sheet right out of Kim’s hands. And every time that happened he would offer the end of the sheet back to Kim so that the fun could continue. Poor Kim had a hard time getting her work done yesterday because everybody wanted to play with her!

There are so many heart-warming stories that I can share with you about the Fauna Foundation. I have probably written enough for today, but if you would like to see and learn more about the work being done at Fauna please check out their website at:
http://www.faunafoundation.org/ff/english/index1.html
The website hasn’t been updated in a while because there is a whole new re-vamped website in the works. But you will find lots of interesting information, stories and some great pictures.

(photos used with permission and provided by the Fauna Foundation)

Enjoy and have a great day!

Kathleen (aka TheNatureNut)

Who’s that visiting the bird feeder?

Now that it’s warming up all kinds of critters are stirring. I recently looked out and saw this strange site at the foot of the goldfinch feeders.

It looked so bizarre that I had to get out the zoom lens.

As I watched I noticed that the poor little bugger had a severe case of the itchy-gitchies, so I suppose the fleas have been well fed this winter. But it wasn’t his adorable little two-step scratch-scratch dance that had me mesmerized…there was something about him - he just looked so…odd…

My eyes were telling me it was a skunk, but my brain was telling me it was the wrong colour. All of the skunks I’ve seen have always been black with one or two white stripes down the middle of their back.

This was weird - it was like I was looking at a negative of a skunk. Or maybe this was a new breed of skunk I had never seen before.

Curious, I started surfing the net to find out if there is such a thing as a white skunk with a black stripe. My searches quickly showed me that I’m not the first person to see a skunk like this. I learned from the experts that there is a great deal of variability in the amount of white on striped skunks. Some are almost completely black and occasionally you come across an individual with very wide white stripes - like this little guy.

Pretty cool eh?

Sadly I won’t become famous for discovering a new breed of skunk. But on the bright side I did learn something new.

So who was that hanging around the bird feeders? Oh it was just a skunk…a really weird-looking skunk with a nasty case of fleas. But it sure kept this crazy nature nut entertained for hours!

Smile – life’s too short :o)
Kathleen (aka TheNatureNut)

A little robin told me…

I was thrilled to come home the other day to find a robin hopping around on a brown, hard, frozen patch of exposed grass. We still have quite a bit of snow but it has all melted away on this one patch at the side of the house and that’s where the robin was. She was a healthy, chubby little thing and she hopped around purposefully as if she really expected to find some worms. I ran inside to get my camera – eager to capture this early sign of spring so that I could share it with you.

She wasn’t too happy to have me chasing around after her with my camera, but she stuck around and continued to forage the frozen ground. Unfortunately in my excitement I had forgotten to put the zoom lens on the camera so this was the best shot I could get without scaring her away.

You know what this means – right? Spring has got to be just around the corner or the robins wouldn’t be back yet. We’ve had some lovely, warm days and the snow has been melting like crazy. The river is swollen and raging with the runoff and our neighbour told me she saw a flock of geese migrating back yesterday!

I took a nice long walk a couple of days ago and the air smelled so good. As I walked along the smells of spring made me feel so happy – I even caught myself breaking into a big stupid grin at some points. There was the amazingly homey smell of wood smoke from someone’s chimney, the crisp and strangely metallic smell that you get when snow banks are melting, the rich earthy smell coming off the farmer’s fields as they thawed and the occasional unmistakable whiff of decomposing dog poop.

And as I sat here writing this entry for my blog trying to think of something whitty to say with reference to the dog poop, I looked out my window and…what the ???

Aw krap, is it SNOWING ???

Hey Snow! Get outta here – get lost - vamoose!!! You’re going to chase the robins away :o(

...grumble, grumble....
Kathleen (aka TheNatureNut)

Earth Hour – 60 minutes to support the fight against climate change

Tonight at 8pm EST TheNatureNut household will be turning out all the lights and proudly participating in Earth Hour. According to a recent pole 70% of Canadians will be participating in Earth Hour. It gives me goose bumps to know that so many people care. And it gives me hope that not all is lost.

So enjoy your candle-lit dinner, your game of candle-lit scrabble or your quiet hour in the dark, if that’s what you choose to do. We will be enjoying a glass of wine and roasting marshmallows while cuddled in front of the fireplace during this evening’s Earth Hour. We will be raising our glasses in a toast to our beloved planet and to everyone participating in this special event.

May this be the first of many such global events.

Cheers!
Kathleen (aka TheNatureNut)

A “nest helper” is born

From time to time I have been asked where on earth the idea for the nest helper came from. Here is the story:

It all started with an innocent article in a quilting magazine. The article suggested that quilters could lend a helping hand to their local wild birds at nesting time by hanging thread clippings, fabric trimmings and dryer lint out in the trees. The article said that the birds would really appreciate them.

I thought it was a wonderful idea. As a quilter I make mounds of thread clippings. When I paper piece I end up with piles of fabric trimmings and when I pre-wash new fabric the lint trap of my dryer fills with pretty coloured swatches of lint. So I just couldn’t wait to get started and for the rest of the winter I dutifully collected my quilting scraps for the multitude of wild birds that come to visit our yard in spring time.

When spring came I brought my box of “goodies” outside and draped some of them over the branches of our crab apple tree. I didn’t see any birds taking them, but the next day they were almost all gone. So I put out some more and the next day they were gone too. The following day it was so windy that I couldn’t get the goodies to cling to the branches. That’s when I noticed where they were all going. They were just getting blown away. A few were tangled up in the weeds around our gazebo, but the rest made a scattered path of coloured fabric shreds and dryer lint extending out about 400 feet from the crab apple tree over to our neighbour’s property :o(

Now when you live in the middle of a bunch of flat corn fields it’s like living in a wind tunnel. There’s nothing out here to block the wind, so I don’t know what I was thinking when I painstakingly hung those weightless bits and pieces out for the birds.

As the days passed I continued to empty my collection of threads, trimmings and lint by “decorating” the crab apple tree with them. The wind took care of littering the lawn with most of them. I gave up trying to watch to see which birds would take them and tried to content myself with the knowledge that my goodies were most likely going to good use.

When it was time to start working on the garden I was rummaging through my garden shed, silently cursing as I moved around all these rolls of snow fence that we no longer used. We had purchased the fencing to protect some 60 reforestation trees that we had planted the year we bought the house. Two years later the little sticks we had planted had grown as tall as me and were no longer in need of any winter protection. So the snow fence crowded my garden shed and every year I moved the rolls of it from one side of my shed to the other as I prepared for the summer.

And as I picked up a roll of fencing to move it a light bulb went off in my head, I decided to try using a piece to make a cage for the nesting materials that I had been saving for the birds. I hoped the cage would help to keep the materials together and in the tree where I could see them. So I got my wire cutters and sniped out a rectangle then folded it in half and lashed it together on two sides with wire, leaving one side open for stuffing. A wire hanger completed that first crude version of the cage. I stuffed it with goodies and hung it in the crab apple tree in a spot where I could see it from the patio door. And that’s how my first nest helper was born!

A few days later I was rewarded for my efforts when I saw a sparrow clinging to the wire cage and pulling out threads which it then took off with. A few minutes later the sparrow was back for more (or maybe it was a different sparrow – who knows) and I watched, fascinated as my nest helper was gradually emptied of its contents. The cage definitely did the trick by preventing the goodies from blowing away.

When I started my Etsy shop I made a listing for a nest helper – just for fun. It sold within a few hours. I was surprised, but even more so when I got a convo from someone else asking me if I was going to be making more of them. So I did, and the design evolved from that first crude version to the designs you can find in my TheNatureNut Etsy shop today.

And that, my friends, is the official story of how the nest helper was born.

Have a wonderful day!
Kathleen (aka TheNatureNut)

Watching the snow melt

Watching the snow melt is worse than waiting for water to boil...at least the water eventually does start to boil! Today it feels like this snow is just never going to go away :o(

Every day for a week we have had clear skies and beautiful warm sunshine. I know the snow is melting, but it seems painfully slow to me. I guess we got way more snow this winter than I am willing to admit.

I just want spring to arrive! The winter has been so long this year and I think we deserve an early spring. I'm sure the birds and all the little wild critters have found the winter long too and are looking forward to warmer days.

...

Drip, drip, drip...

Dripping is a good thing - it means that the snow is melting :o)

The start of a beautiful thing

In honour of the onset of spring I have finally decided to start a blog. This is something I should have started long ago, but...well you know, woulda, coulda, shoulda...

So I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Kathleen and ever since childhood I have adored nature. I've always been at my happiest when surrounded by woods, wild flowers, birds and little critters.

Our home is located on a reclaimed corn field on the shores of a little river. Part of our land is a lovely wooded area that is approximately 200 ft wide by 300 ft deep which leads down to the river.

Our little forest boasts a mix of deciduous trees including a few 200 year old red oaks, many varieties of ash trees, maples, white pine, hawthorn and sumac. The ground cover is comprised of wild strawberry and raspberry bushes, small tree seedlings and a variety of wild flowers from trillium and trout lilies in the spring to goldenrod and dainty little wild asters in the fall.

These woods provide home and shelter to white tailed deer, lynx, red fox, raccoons, rabbits, skunks, ground hogs, squirrels, chipmunks and (albeit less desirable) field mice. We regularly put out seeds to feed the birds and our feeders attract around 20 different species of wild birds to our yard. The woods and river are home to another 15 or so more species including sand pipers and great blue herons.

I am reminded how lucky we are every morning when the sky is painted with the beautiful colours of the sun rising above the treetops (one of those spectacular sunrises is shown at the top of this blog). We are truly blessed to have the opportunity to live on this lovely piece of land and to enjoy its bounty.

This blog will be dedicated to the beauty that surrounds me in my every day life. From sounds like the sweet singing of the frogs in the evenings, to smells like the strong and dizzying scent of white pine that wafts by me as I walk through the woods. From sights like the glitter of snow geese as they fly overhead returning from their winter homes, to the taste of the wild raspberries that I just can't resist snacking on. From the soft touch of the fluffy seeds released from milkweed pods, to the feelings of profound contentment that I get from sitting out on my rock by the river contemplating life.

I intend to share them all with you here and hope that you will enjoy reading my stories and checking out my pictures.

Happy Spring!
Kathleen