SPCA: Misu and Delilah

These two girls are extremely sweet, and absolutely love attention. They came to the SPCA when their elderly owner could no longer care for them. Since they've spent their whole lives together, these two must go home together. An ideal place for them would be somewhere without young children, and where they could go outside on occasion.

Misu (pictured top) is the more outgoing, and Delilah (bottom pic) is the talker. Will you consider giving these two awesome kitties a home?

As a reminder, here's the SPCA website: http://www.spcaonline.com/ or click here. Remember, Misu and Delilah are at the Tompkins County SPCA, in the Annex.

Dog Breed of the Month: The Cocker Spaniel

These sweet dogs are active and devoted, but should be well socialized to avoid a tendency toward shyness. Most Cockers are good with children.

They are easy to train, but can be difficult to housebreak. Like all small dogs, Cockers need loving, strong human "pack leaders". If they do not have an alpha, they could develop a range of behavior issues.

Cockers need regular exercise, like a long walk each day. They are fairly active indoors. They are good for apartment living, but do need a small yard.

Cockers have a lot of health problems, mainly because of inbreeding. These problems include: hip dysplaisa, cataracts, liver disese, urolithiasis, PRA, and more. Cockers live about 12-15 years.

Cockers need regular grooming.

They are very sweet and loving dogs!



source: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/americancocker.htm

A robin's nest.

On the ledge above our back door, a robin has begun to build a nest! She has not laid eggs in it yet, and it's possible that she'll abandon the building because of the human traffic that revolves around a door, but I'll keep you posted on the nest.

Happy mother's day!

Thank you mothers! You are awesome and we all love you so much!

The Cardinal

The cardinal is found in parts of the US, mostly east of the rocky mountains. They live in forests and the vegetation near houses and gardens.

Cardinal nests are cup-shaped, and made from twigs, and bark, and lined with grass and mosses.

Cardinals eat seeds, fruits, insects, and grains. They can often be found at bird feeders.

Female cardinals lay four eggs, that hatch in about 12 days. They have about two broods a year. Babies fledge within 20 days.


source: http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/cardinal.htm

The Blue Jay

Blue jays can be seen throughout America and the southern part of Canada. They live in parks, yards, forests, or anywhere there are oak trees, since acorns are their favorite food.

Blue jays also eat fruits, nuts, seeds, insects, and some small animals like mice and frogs. Blue jays don't like sharing food, and will chase other animals away from food sources.

Blue jays nest in trees. They make their homes out of sticks, grass, paper, lichen, roots, and/or other materials. Females lay four to six eggs at a time. Blue jay eggs are greenish with brown spots. Baby jays fledge at about three weeks.

Blue jays do an interesting thing called "anting" when they are molting: they pick up ants and rub them on their bodies. Nobody's really sure why they do this, but the best guess is that anting soothes a blue jay's skin. Sometimes they'll "ant" with other items like rotten fruit.



sources:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090418114959AAtpjzL
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/blue_jay.htm

Raccoons

Raccoons are nocturnal mammals, and are found in all over North America.
Raccoons don't hibernate, but they do stay inside most of the winter to keep warm. Raccoons live in trees, brush piles, or caves. often, raccoons share nests, and there can sometimes be over twenty raccoons in one nest!

In February and early March raccoons will have a litter of about 4 kits. Kits are born helpless, and are considered adults at the age of 13 months. A raccoon in the wild has an average lifespan of five years.

Raccoons are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and animals. Nuts, berries, small animals, and seeds are eaten, but raccoons also go for carrion (dead meat) and garbage.
Wild raccoons can have rabies, so always be careful when around them.

I don't have a picture of a raccoon, but you can see some here.