Great American Road Trip, Day 2

We decided to make an easier day today, driving from Salt Lake City only as far as Boise. This gave us time for roadside stops, including Shoshone Falls on the Snake River.

Highlights of the day included lunch at Maddox's in Brigham City and our overnight at The Modern Hotel (www.themodernhotel.com) in Boise - now one of my favorite hotels, ever!

Here are some Day 2 pix:

Great American Road Trip, Day 1

How exciting! I'm spending my birthday driving to Portland, Oregon to attend Sock Summit!

We left Albuquerque yesterday morning, and 14-1/2 (grueling) hours later, arrived in Salt Lake City. Yes, it was a tough drive, but I didn't realize that Utah was so beautiful! We drove up through Blanding, Monticello and the Fishkill National Forest.

Unfortunately, by the time we got to the most beautiful parts, I was too tired to take many pictures. But I did take a lot of windshield shots earlier in the day, during the Gallup -> Four Corners -> Moab portions of the trip.

The wireless internet here at the Salt Lake Days Inn isn't the greatest, but I'll see if I can upload some pix ...

Um, is this a rattlesnake?

Oh dear, never a dull moment up here in the East Mountains. I discovered this snake waiting for me at my back door this morning.

I didn't see it when I stepped out the door – it’s actually lying on the threshold of the full-length window NEXT to the door, thank goodness - but one of my dogs went into a whimpering, curtseying dance at the threshold and refused to go out.

Then I heard the rattle ... a sound I'd never heard before, but made my hair stand on end.

The dogs and I ran away; I came back with the camera.

I assume from the sound that this is a rattlesnake? It was about 2 feet long, but only an inch or so in diameter. I’m guessing from the size that if it’s a rattlesnake, it must be a young one.

The weird thing is, the head isn't as strongly wedge-shaped as other pit vipers I've seen (in Belize, not here). You can see its head better in this closer photo, taken from the safety of indoors:

Soooo … is there another kind of snake in New Mexico that makes a warning rattle? Did I actually hear a rattle, or was it just a hiss? It sounded like a rattle, according to my ancient rat brain.

If it is a juvenile rattlesnake, I’ve just read that they’re considered the most dangerous:

Rattlesnakes are born with fully functioning fangs capable of injecting venom and can regulate the amount of venom they inject when biting. Generally they deliver a full dose of venom to their prey, but may deliver less venom or none at all when biting defensively. A frightened or injured snake may not exercise such control. Young snakes are to be considered more dangerous, as they have less control over the amount of venom they inject. [1] A young rattlesnake will often simply inject all its venom, which might be a lethal dose, depending on the bitten animal.

(1) "Venomous Snakes". National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Topics. Centers for Disease Control.

Aaargh.

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Sandia Park, NM

UPDATE: Thanks to the friendly local folks on the Albuquerque City Data Forum, I now believe that this is NOT a rattlesnake, but a bullsnake, which resembles it.

Bullsnakes are NOT venomous, and I’m told should not be killed as they are of no danger to humans and eat large numbers of rodents.

Bullsnakes may vibrate tail when alarm, which may sound like a rattlesnake, also makes a hissing noise. However, they may from time to time get hit over the head with a hoe for doing too effective a job of acting like a rattlesnake.

I feel better already, especially since I didn’t kill it.

3 Kitties Find New Homes!

I was thrilled to hear that 3 of our 5 foster kitties were adopted at this past weekend’s Animal Humane Adopt-a-thon!

Chubby, Gumdrop and Twinkle Toes have found their forever homes, yay! Thanks so much to the generous people who’ve given them a loving home & secure future.

That means only Buck (male, Animal Humane ID #7198) and Frieda (female, Animal Humane ID #7203) are still waiting for adoption.

Oddly, if I’d been able to pick any of our foster kitties to keep, it would have been these two: Buck for best personality & most playful, and Frieda for her sweet temper & extraordinary good looks.

I think I can understand why Buck might not have been someone’s first choice. He’s a wonderful kitty, but he hates being confined in those display cages.

When we visited him during the Adopt-a-thon, he was yowling and reaching through the bars to snag passers-by. I can see how might have scared off potential new families!

Seriously, once he’s out of the cage he calms down immediately, and returns to his normal fun self. I swear!

But I can’t imagine how Frieda got overlooked! She is the real beauty queen of the bunch, with those wonderful tufted ears & cheeks that make her look like a miniature bobcat.

How could anyone resist this face??

So if you want to make Buck and/or Frieda part of your furry family, please hurry down to rescue them. (We can provide all the baby pictures & video you’d ever want!)

Animal Humane of Albuquerque is located at 615 Virginia Street SE, and their main phone number is 255-5523.

Their Adoptions Department is open 7 days a week from 10:00am-6:00pm (but closed for the lunch hour from 12:00pm-1:00pm). Their website is http://animalhumanenm.org .

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Sandia Park, NM

All 5 Kitties Ready for Adoption!

Well, the big day is finally here. All five of the kitties have reached their 2-pound weight goal, and this afternoon I am taking them back to Animal Humane.

Tomorrow they’ll be spayed or neutered. Then they’ll be ready to go to their new homes by Saturday! They’ll make their first public appearance at this weekend’s Adopt-a-thon, 10:00am Saturday, June 13th thru 4:00pm Sunday, June 14th, at Central and Carlisle in the Nob Hill area of Albuquerque.

Here are their mugshots & ID numbers:

 

 Chubby, female, Animal Humane ID # 7200

Shown here with Gumdrop -->.

 

 

 

 

 

  Buck, male, Animal Humane ID # 7198

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Gumdrop, male, Animal Humane ID #7201
What a prankster!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Frieda, female, Animal Humane ID #7203
The beauty queen, with tufted ears.

 

Twinkle Toes, male, Animal Humane ID #7204
The ultimate lap cat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Animal Humane of Albuquerque is located at 615 Virginia Street SE, and their main phone number is 255-5523. Their Adoptions Department is open 7 days a week from 10:00am-6:00pm (but closed for the lunch hour from 12:00pm-1:00pm). Their website is http://animalhumanenm.org .

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Sandia Park, NM

P.S. You can find out more about animal fostering, and see the kittens’ baby pictures, in my previous blog post. Links in my blog sidebar will take you to video of us bottle-feeding them when they were tiny. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown since then!

2 Foster Kittens Ready for Adoption!

I’m so happy to say that the five kittens we’ve been fostering for Animal Humane of Albuquerque are thriving. All five are healthy, happy, and fully litter-box trained. They’ve been with us 6 weeks, so we assume they’re around 8 weeks old now.

They’ve spent their time socializing with our friends and neighbors, our 4 adult cats, and our 4 really big dogs, so they’re completely comfortable with humans and animals, both.

And two of them have reached their 2-pound weight goal, which means they are ready now to find their “forever homes”!

The two ready to go are “Chubby” and “Buck”. Please note, we didn’t name these kittens – they were given their names on intake at Animal Humane back in April. (Do Chubby a favor, please, and pick a better name for her!)

This is Chubby, a gray and white female with pretty blue-green eyes.

From the beginning, Chubby was the largest and healthiest kitten of our mixed litter of fosters. She has a friendly, outgoing personality, a nice mix of playful and cuddly.

 

And here’s Buck, a.k.a. Buckaroo: a marmalade tom whose eyes have stayed blue! Oops, you can’t tell that from this photo.

Nor can you tell from this picture what a swashbuckling adventurer Buck is! Fearless and bold, Buck was the first to swat a dog’s nose, and the first to bravely venture into the Land of Upstairs. If you’re looking for a mouser, I think Buck’s your boy!

Buck’s favorite toy is this wicker basket. That’s Twinkletoes in the back.

The week we were asked to foster these kittens, Animal Humane took in more than 100 homeless kittens, all abandoned at approximately the same age. That means that many of them are now ready for adoption, too.

You can see more kitties at Animal Humane’s next Adopt-a-Thon, 10:00am Saturday, June 13th thru 4:00pm Sunday, June 14th, at Central and Carlisle in the Nob Hill area of Albuquerque.

Meanwhile, last week Animal Humane asked if we could keep these sweet kittehs here at our house a while longer while they find homes for the dozen or more in their care right now … which of course we were (secretly) happy to do.

So if you’d like to adopt Chubby or Buck, just drop me a line and I’ll take them in to Animal Humane for you to meet!

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Sandia Park, NM

P.S. You can find out more about animal fostering, and see the kittens’ baby pictures, in my previous blog post. Links in my blog sidebar will take you to video of us bottle-feeding them when they were tiny. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown since then!

Knittin’ n Kittens

I love weekends. I mean, does it get any better than this?

So here I am, spending some quality time with my knitting (the sleeve of my Sonora Cardigan, RavLink), an audiobook (Twilight series Book 3, Eclipse) and all five foster kittens (from bottom, Buck, Chubby, Gumdrop, Freida and Twinkletoes).

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Sandia Park, NM