Whale Hunting

Before I tell the tale our week-long hunt for humpback whales, I would like to give thanks to the millions of tiny fish who brought an incredible number of birds and mammals to our part of the California coast to feed.  You rocked our world.

Our story begins last Sunday night when I saw several posts on facebook about whales feeding in Avila Bay.  I went to bed feeling disappointed because we spend so many weekends at the beach and had missed a perfect day to see a whale.  The next morning as I picked up Oliver from school, my sister showed me a video she took of the whales that morning.  We dropped all of our plans and headed straight for the beach.

Whale Hunting Day One:

I threw the kids in the car and sped out to the beach.  My heart was beating rapidly and my hands were shaking a little.  Yes, the prospect of seeing a wild animal makes me quite crazy.  Oliver and I were laughing and singing about whales.  Life was going to be so good at the pier.  We pulled up to the pier and jumped out of the car.  A woman told Oliver, "There is a mommy and baby whale out there right now."  I almost died of happiness.  We ran out to the end of the pier.  I asked a woman if she had seen a whale.  She replied, "There are whales here?"  My excitement began to wane.  Pearl and I smiled at seals and Oliver spent time with fishermen.

Watching pelicans dive over and over was interesting, but we wanted whales...badly.  We waited for hours before we finally threw in the towel.

That night I photographed two spiders killing a fly and told myself, "This is just as cool as watching humpback whales, only on a smaller scale."

Whale Hunting Day Two:

It's a really good thing I have a husband who loves animals almost as much as I do.  Glenn, Pearl and I headed out the next morning after dropping Oliver off at school.  The seal lions were putting on a great show, but no whale could be found in the bay.  Can you see the disappointment in my eyes?  I was putting on a brave face for Pearl (Although Pearl thought she was seeing whales the whole time.  She saw at least twenty).  

We drove away from the pier certain the whales were gone for good.  Glenn noticed a pod of dolphins on the drive home and we stopped to watch a spectacular show.  I finally felt satisfied.  The dolphin show was more than good enough.

Whale Hunting Day Three:

My husband is a pretty great guy.  He still wanted to see some whales, so he agreed to pick me up after work for another go at it.  Day three was our lucky day, because I spotted a whale swimming away from the pier just as we arrived.  

We drove to the closest bait ball and waited.  Glenn had the camera when the whale rocketed out of the water to grab a mouth-full of fish.  Everyone watching cheered.  It was glorious.  

Whale Hunting Day Four:

The kids and Glenn had a few hours to kill until I got off work.  They decided to drive to Avila one last time to look for sea life.  Glenn called me when I got off work.  He said, "We are tired and hungry, but I think you should drive out here right now."  Glenn, Oliver and Pearl had seen a whale at the end of the pier and were watching another pod of dolphins play.  

Glenn scraped together some Cheerios from the floor of the car for the kids and we dressed them in whatever old sweaters we could find.  Our car isn't dirty because we are lazy, we do it for survival purposes.   The four of us headed out to the pier once more.  I looked up and saw a whale swimming toward the pier.  "RUN!"  

We were hoping we would be faster than the whale.  We were almost to a bait ball when Glenn said, "You should have your camera ready."  Just then a huge mouth surged out of the water not more than 50 feet from us.  I missed the shot.  This is what my picture could have looked like.  It is a photo taken by my friend, Todd Gaily, at the same pier.

I'm happy I got to see it without looking through a lens.  I have the best mental picture.  All of us were on a serious nature high for the rest of the evening.  Oliver said it was the best day of his whole life.

The Short and Tragic Life of Sophia S. Mouse

I have done stupid things in the name of helping an animal in the past.  Most of my mistakes have a happy ending.  Once, when I was working for a cat clinic in San Diego someone dropped a kitten off in a box on the clinic's front porch.  I opened the box and found a tiny kitten with deformed eyelids.  The veterinarian I worked for told me the kitten had probably been burned by a horrible person.  I called the news and ended up telling the kitten's sad tale that night during the six o'clock news hour.  The news segment had people outraged at such cruelty.  Phone calls came pouring in the clinic the next day.  One phone call was from a very annoyed veterinary ophthalmologist who informed me the kitten had a fairly common birth defect of the eyelid.  After people were done being angry with me, the kitten (Mr. Magoo) received free eye surgery and a wonderful new home.

I have yet to find the silver lining in the sad tale I am about to tell.  Glenn stepped on a nest of three mice last Saturday while building an enclosure for the goats.  A mother mouse and one of her babies scurried away.  One baby received the brunt of Glenn's boot and lay in the dirt, too injured to move.  Glenn called me and Oliver up to the wood pile to check on the mouse.  There we found Sophia and decided to take her inside.

Sophia's mouth was filled with sand and her nose was bloody.  I told Oliver I didn't know what to feed a baby mouse.  He suggested, "Your milk and cheese!"  I cleaned out the mouse's mouth and read online that human formula is often used to supplement abandoned mice.  I took Oliver's suggestion and pumped some milk into a syringe.  To my surprise, Sophia drank my milk and seemed to perk up.  We fed her every couple of hours and kept her warm.  We didn't expect her to make it over night, but she seemed even healthier in the morning.  I guess because I was keeping her alive with my own milk, I started to become very attached to dear Sophia.

I did more research and read that a nursing mother mouse will often nurse abandoned pups.  I wanted so much to see Sophia curled up against a mother mouse, rather than curled up alone in Oliver's sock.  Oliver, Pearl and I went to a local pet store on Sunday to try and find a mother for Sophia.  On the way we saw a double rainbow and thought it was a good omen.  We found several mice working as wet nurses at the pet store.  We took home a pretty mouse we named Rainbow.  

I cautiously introduced Rainbow to Sophia.  All seemed well and Rainbow even let Sophia nurse.  My heart was full as I went to bed because Sophia was being cared for by an experienced mother.

 

Throughout the night, Rainbow was a caring, nurturing mother.  Glenn checked on the pair at 6:30 in the morning and found Rainbow grooming Sophia.  Then at 7:30, I walked in to the bathroom to find a scene so horrific, it made the face removal scene in The Silence of the Lambs seem like a comedy.  I found Rainbow cleaning her bloody whiskers, standing over the back half of Sophia's body.  SHE ATE MY BABY.  

I kept thinking, a good person would keep Rainbow and give her a good home.  Then I would walk over and look at Rainbow and relive the terrible scene.  I knew I couldn't keep her and accept the fact that she had eaten my adoptive child.  I drove back to the pet store with a pit in my stomach and returned her to the life of a wet nurse.  

I guess not all stories have a happy ending.  As my husband says, "You save a cat, it eats a lot of mice; you save a mouse it gets eaten by a mouse."  So true and so wise.  There are lessons to be learned at every turn.   

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

Oliver has a deep love of nature.  I wouldn't be surprised if one day he changes his name to Leaf and chains himself to an old oak in an attempt to save it.  He's that kind of guy.  What is Oliver's idea of a great day?  It would be finding a baby lizard in a garden glove or discovering a sprout growing over one of his seeds.  Our house is covered with plastic or glass containers filled with dirt, seeds, insects or water.  Here is a sampling:

Animal

Frog Habitat

Fish/Water Bug Habitat

Cricket Habitat

Lizard/Moth/Fly/Grasshopper/Worm Habitat

Snail Habitat

Vegetable

Oliver is fascinated by seeds.  He is amazed that a piece of fruit or a tree can come from a single seed.  Oliver collected several seeds on our hike today to plant in the yard.

He also saves the seeds from each piece of fruit he eats to dry and plant at a later date.  Should I tell him we can't grow a mango tree at our house?

Oliver planted a strawberry in this plastic container a couple of weeks ago when he noticed the little seeds on the strawberry.  He watered it diligently and nothing happened.  I finally planted a sprig of sage when he wasn't looking.  It was better than Christmas morning around here.  Oliver was dancing and thanking Jesus.  I feel bad about lying, I really do.

 This lucky plant was rescued by Oliver at the market.  He brought it home to plant on the porch.

Mineral

What about our delicate Pearl?  She is a nature lover as well, but prefers dirt above all else.  Set her down in the dirt and she will smile with gratitude.  First, she takes her time gently flicking the dirt with her fingers.  She then waits for the right moment when no one is looking and quickly shovels handfuls of soil into her mouth.  I have become a pro at mouth scooping.  Here is Pearl in heaven.

This dirty girl ends up getting at least four baths a day.  It's a good thing she loves water, too!

Good News (Another Annoyingly Optimistic Post)

1. Thank You Pacific Wildlife Care!

A few weeks ago Glenn found an abandoned baby bird near the milking parlor at Rinconada Dairy. He brought the little bird home to me to mother. Usually I jump at the chance to help a little animal, but domesticated animals are more my bag. I like to leave wild animals in the hands of professionals to ensure correct diet and care (plus, it is illegal to keep wildlife). Luckily we have a great local organization called Pacific Wildlife Care. I called PWC and was met by a local volunteer named Debbie. Debbie, a fellow nurse, took our baby sparrow home to help her feed and grow.

Oliver was not too happy about having someone else raise his baby. He named her Celestial and the two had a lovely breakfast together before we made Oliver say goodbye to his new friend.

Last week Debbie called us and let us know Celestial was doing great and was ready to be released. She was being raised with two other sparrows. Debbie wanted to know if we would like to be present for the release. We decided to release all three sparrows at Rinconada Dairy because it is a great place for a sparrow to live.

It was wonderful watching all three birds fly up to the nearest oak. They are already surrounded by a family of sparrows. In the picture below I have circled all three birds at the time of release. They moved so fast, it was hard to get a clear picture.


2. Business is Booming (or Beeping Just a Little)

I don't write about our small business too much, mainly because it has taken a back seat to everything else in our lives. We finally got it together enough the past few months to create a display for our balms. We are selling at two cool shops: one in California and one in Rhode Island. The lip balm seems to be doing quite well as we have gotten orders from both shops to refill the displays. Perhaps next year on our taxes we will be able to show that we broke even rather than claiming -77 dollars!


3. Jessica B-B, Author?

Some of you (the three of you who read my blog) might remember that I was attempting to write a children's book. I wrote a book based loosely on this blog post:

Another Weird Bee Post

Then one night back in December I was feeling adventurous, so I sent an email query to an independent publishing house. I was surprised to hear back from the editor the next day requesting the full manuscript. Then five long months later, after I had finally given up all hope, I received an email from the editor. She said my manuscript was a "strong contender" and wanted to send it to a focus group. She asked if the publishing house could have exclusive review of it during the focus group process. I'm so satisfied to have made it this far in the children's book writing experience, I don't really even need my MS to be published (although that would be unbelievable). An editor read my MS and actually liked it-I'm THRILLED!

4. More Chicks

(Photo credit: Glenn)
Our friends have decided to start keeping chickens. Instead of ordering chicks, we picked out several pretty eggs and put them under our broody hen (she really wanted some babies). On day twenty, I checked under our hen Etta and found one chick. Over the next two days, four more arrived. One disappeared the first day. We think she may have fallen into a ground squirrel hole we didn't notice under the brooding box. Glenn cemented the floor of the coop and we haven't lost anymore. Poor little chick (I just had to bring things down a little). So now we have four chicks, two from brown eggs and two from blue eggs. I hope at least a couple will be egg layers!



4. One More Goat!

The sister of my coworker lives on the most beautiful property between Morro Bay and Atascadero. She raises goats and knew we were looking for a male (with different genetics) to eventually breed with our females. She called us because a shiny, black male was born a few weeks ago and wanted to know if we would like him. Here are pictures of our fourth (and final) goat. He will be staying with his mother to nurse for a good long time, which we are very happy about. Now we just need yet another name!

A Bag of Bones, A Naughty Christmas Letter, and More

I have been away from my blog this past week because I put all of my energy into my Christmas letter. Every couple of years I write a highly inappropriate Christmas letter and send it to three people. My letter this year is so over the line that I may only send it to two people. Anyway, I'm back. Here are a few things that have been going on in Santa Margarita the past couple of weeks.

1. I crashed the car.

I'm a busy lady. I was trying to read the mail and talk to Oliver at the same time. Apparently I forgot to put the Subaru in park and pull the e-brake. As soon as Oliver and I got to the front door of the house we heard a loud crash outside. It was dark and I assumed it was a murderer or something so we ran inside and locked the front door. Glenn found his car smashed against our truck and a tree when he got home from work at eleven o'clock. I tried to be positive about the whole thing. I told Glenn that he needed a new paint job on the door anyway, "Merry Christmas." Can you believe he was still angry? Then we found out the poor car was totaled.

We got a nice check and set out to find an Outback. Isn't she pretty?

You're welcome Glenn.

2. I sent my son to school with a bag of bones.

Oliver and I found an owl pellet on a hike. Some women may get excited about finding a beautiful pair of shoes. Owl barf really does it for me. We found a perfect specimen and began the joyful task of dissection. What kind of meal was it? Could it be a mouse? Look Oliver, a scapula! It turned out to be a bird. I collected all of the little bones and sent it to school with Oliver for show and tell.


3. Our Araucana laid an egg!

You can see how much darker her egg is compared to the Ameraucana egg.

4. California "Winter" is here.

Oliver and I have had a great time taking pictures of the rain and ice lately. Here are some of our shots:

"Why did it die?" By: Oliver

"Salamander" By: Oliver

"Mommy Splashing" By: Oliver

"Ice Oak" By: Jessica

"Enjoying the Rain" By: Jessica

"Cold Cactus" By: Jessica