Quail

Maybe there’s a full moon, I don’t know, I can’t see the sky for all the clouds. Maybe it’s some sort of animal premonition and a giant earthquake is coming so they’re all just freaking out. Maybe it’s because I’m PMSing and giving off evil vibes. I don’t know, but they’ve all turned on me. Nearly every animal in the house tried to kick my ass today. Dan started lunging and biting me through the bars when I got near her cage until I open the door and let her out. Then she’s fine. Put her back in, she’s hissing and lunging. WTF?

I opened the door to the finches to change the water, and one of the Spice twins flew out. It took me about 20 minutes and large beach towel to finally corner him/her between the mini blinds and the glass.

The fish tried to burn the house down. Actually, that was kind of my fault. I let the filter go too long without changing and it started pushing upwards, which led to leaking over the sides, which led to dripping down the power cord right into the power strip that powers both aquariums. It shorted out and got so hot it started a tiny fire up the side of the mirror that was standing behind the fish stand. Fortunately, this blocked it from touching the wall which could have set the whole house on fire. It did get hot enough to warp a 12 inch oval into the new hardwood floors we put in last year. Argh. But at least we’re not dead or burnt.

So, back to the aquarium. I get everything plugged back in and filtering/bubbling/lighting again and go to feed them. Now, after all the commotion of reconfiguring tubes and wires and sliding the stand all over the floor, the chinese shark decides to go batshit crazy and bang into every corner of the tank. He did it so long, I was beginning to wonder if he could crack the glass. He’s almost 10 inches now and seriously needs a new home.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="380" caption="Chinese hi-fan banded shark"][/caption]

Then Fuzzy bit me on the leg because I was too busy to pet her, so she got a nice thump in the nose in return. But the craziest thing was what Ichi brought home. I was standing on the deck looking back at the mountains, and I see Ichi running up the trail towards the house. He stopped and looked back and then quickly darted right underneath the deck where I stood.

Just a few seconds later I see what at first I think are two large dogs. Then as they got closer, I saw they were wolves! Tall, silver and very skinny wolves. They didn’t see me at first, as I froze as soon as I saw them. They walked in circles not 30 feet away, sniffing around where Ichi had stopped and turned into our yard under the fence.

I decided to get their attention and let them know I was there in case they decided to cross the fence to follow the scent. I clicked my tongue like I do when I call the kitties and both wolves stopped and looked at me. One immediately darted into the brush on the side of the trail. The other locked eyes with me for about 3 to 5 seconds and it freaked. me. out.

There was no fear in his face. No sign of submission, stepping back or even a twitch of being startled at the sight of me. He just looked at me for what seemed like a long time and then slipped into the brush after his companion. Woah. It was cool. But why did the damn cat lead him right to me?? Because I’m slower than he is, I’m sure.

We have sunshine for 2 days running! Yay! All the quail have new homes and it’s just me and Dan again. Yay! I got 2 new long-term design gigs today! Yay! All PFD recipients will be getting an additional $1200 energy rebate this year! Yay! Wes will be home this weekend! Yay! It’s a good day. Yay.

But yeah, I sold all the quail except Dan. They were awesome and I’ll definitely have them again in the future, but I just don’t have the space now. And to have more than one or two, you really want them to be outside. Crowing at 3am in the living room is ridiculous. And anything beyond a single bird, you’re going to have a smell. I don’t do smells. But it was a fun experiment and I’ve got a really cool bird friend now. The one I started with. Here’s a short video clip I did of the quail rooster crow. I think you’ll get my drift quite quickly.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="It's huge! And fruitless!"][/caption]

The plants are getting some much needed sunshine. Hopefully there will be a growth spurt. I’m worried about my carrots. They were planted late anyway, but with the lack of sun, they’ve hardly grown at all. The beans just aren’t going to happen. The strawberry plant looks nice but it’s a June bearing, so there will be no damn berries. Gah!

The cabbage is pretty, though I see no cabbage ball forming. I’ve already resolved to accepting a barren garden this year but they’re pretty plants so I keep them around. And keep hoping.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Pretty purple cabbage - sans cabbage balls."][/caption]

Oh! Almost forgot. The broccoli was spectacular. Beautiful and yummy. I do believe that once it was steamed, it was the greenest broccoli I have ever seen. Even topping that $8 plate I got from Sullivan’s a few years back. There are still some side shoots growing that can be harvested soon; I’ll try and remember to get a photo before I eat it. I’m not sure your monitor could handle the green though. Might just blow out your pixels. Heh.

Something else of note – with the warmer weather we got a thunderstorm yesterday. It was pretty darn cool. Skiala called and told me there was heavy hail in her part of town. Sadly, we didn’t get that on the East side. There have been a few more rumbles this afternoon and all the neighborhood dogs are barking. Not sure if that’s connected, but, well. Yeah. Barking dogs suck.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Mystery peppers!"][/caption]

And on that note, I leave with peppers. Wes calls these Talkeetna peppers, but I can’t find any reference to a Talkeetna pepper on the web. If someone stumbles across this and happens to know what kind of pepper this is, I’d appreciate a comment.

Dan is 10 weeks old today and I figured it was time to update on her progress. Though she is still not quite technically an adult, she has been giving eggs for a few weeks now. She misses a day now and then, but she’s been pretty regular about it and doesn’t freak out when it happens anymore.

In fact, a couple of times I’ve been around just as she is laying and when I try to take the egg from her, she gives me this weird noise and postures up like she’s ready for something or she’s thinking of defending it. It doesn’t last for long and after about 5 minutes or so, she acts like the egg isn’t even there and I can take it without issue.

Aside from the recent egg defensiveness, Danquail is quite social. She still runs under my hand anytime I open the cage, ready to go roam the house. She basically has free run while she’s out. Both the dog and the cats are scared of her. They love to follow and watch her, but as soon as she turns their way, they run.

She spends most of her time on the living room rug, pecking around at things no one else can see. The rug has a geometric pattern and Dan has a fondness for one particular tan square that stands out from the rest of the carpet. I think she thinks it’s sand and so she spends a lot of time there ‘dusting’ herself, never leaving that one square. Just around and around, fluffling and dusting.

I took some video while she was out this evening and you can see her do it.

Today is the first time she fell asleep afterwards, though. I think it’s cool she’s so trusting that she’ll go to sleep out in the open, stretched out. Could be a bad thing though. I keep a close eye on her even though the cats seem to be afraid of her. That could change in an instant and I would cry.

We spend time outside sometimes, when it isn’t raining, like today! We have sunshine! So me and Dan went out in the yard and she got to eat some real bugs and dust in some real dirt. She doesn’t need the cage anymore and does just fine walking around on her own while Skwishey and I watch from the porch steps.

Yeah, she’s cool. Way cool. All the quail that have hatched since her have had ’siblings’ to imprint on. Dan had only me and I’m really all she knows. When the other quail are around, she ignores them like she does the dog or cats or even her eggs. But me, she seems to have an affection for and rubs and coos at my feet when we hang out. Yep. She’s the coolest.