Category: Animals

It was a happy Valentine’s Day for us, as we drove the four-plus hours to Cottonwood, Ariz., on Feb. 13 to pick up our bundles of joy: two beautiful Bengal kittens. A mix between a wild Asian Leopard cat and a domestic cat, Bengals have gorgeous, exotic spots. They retain some wild traits from their Asian Leopard Cat ancestors: their love of water, their fascination with perching in high places, their raspy meows, and their spots, of course. They can get to anywhere between 15 and 20 lbs when they’re fully-grown.

Our boy, Macho (the reddish-colored beauty) is a bundle of energy. He was the biggest in the litter (of six) and makes our beauty queen, Niña, look very small. They are both so incredibly affectionate and soooo soft. I need to get a bigger chair for my desk, as the two of them love to crawl up behind me and fall asleep.

A bit about their names: Macho is named after Macho B, the only known jaguar living in the United States that was tragically euthanized after a botched examination/illegal trap was set in southern Arizona in 2009. And, as anyone who speaks Spanish (which excludes me) knows, Niña is the Spanish word for “girl.”

Enjoy the photos of our new kitties. It’s great to have furry little feet in the house again, though I have NO idea where they get all the energy. And, anyone who knows me will “get” why I wanted Bengals; I’m still obsessed with “big cats” and exotic, wild cats. These guys are our mini-versions, though very, very tame and loving!

It was with great anticipation that we awaited the arrival of the baby roadrunners that were soon to fledge from the nest they had built in the garage. Just walking into the garage sent them into serenade, hissing and eventually learning how to make their little “blurp,” “blurp” sounds. So we knew they were growing. However, we were careful not to interfere with nature throughout the nesting process and kept our distance … a big, difficult choice for me, especially later.

To our dismay, however, the “newbie” parents had stopped feeding the babies with any sense of frequency and didn’t even come around the day that Rocky (the first baby) broke free of the nest. That night, he found shelter under one of the rocks along the rock wall, which was warm from the sun and good protection from predators. However, the next morning, we discovered him under the rock, just barely hanging on.

I took him into my hands and held him to keep him warm, but to no avail. It was a very emotional moment for me – I kind of felt like their mom after all the doting I had done, and having made Steve build platforms for them, set up a roadie cam, etc… So when Rocky literally took his last little breath in my hand, the waterworks ensued. He simply wasn’t nourished or taken care of after leaving the nest. Rocky’s sibling, sadly, had even less of a chance, dying in the nest – again, it appears from lack of nourishment.

Trying to console me, Steve reminded me that what I experienced was truly a gift, albeit heartbreaking. But as Steve said, I was lucky, even in the end: to have been that close to nature, to have even seen a baby roadrunner (a true rarity). Most people just don’t have that opportunity. I just hope that the next time around, we’ll have a happier ending. While I don’t want to mess with nature, I may just have to have an eyedropper and fresh bugs on hand next mating season. Please enjoy these rare close-up photos and videos we were able to take of our short-term friend.

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With 110-degree and higher temperatures, our building progress has been on hold while we plan for concrete, porches/patios and stucco during cooler weather. However, construction hasn’t halted completely! Our new residents in the garage have been picking up the slack and building away throughout June. When we first discovered our new inhabitants, we thought rats were responsible for the pile of twigs, until we saw a roadrunner saunter in with twigs in its mouth.

The pair tried for weeks to build their nest on a narrow 2×6, but the twigs kept falling to the ground – until Steve built them their first platform at about 3 feet (at my urging). Even though they spent a day transferring their twigs to that platform, the roadies came back a few days later, gravitating up into the 2x6s again – near the rafters. So Steve built the second, higher platform, which they’ve adopted as their home (until we put a garage door on). They’re great at killing rattlesnakes, scorpions and other insects, so we’re happy to have them while they nest. They’re quite accustomed to us as well.