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My cat is going on trial for crimes against skink-anity. SIX in six weeks. Three this last week alone.
The crack is maybe 1/4 inche wide. Maybe. Skink skitters past, her paw shoots out, her claw hooks in, she yanks, and somehow, having defied physics... WHAM. Skink-o-rama.
Now, don't get me wrong, it's nice that she's a pesticidal maniac, but OMG. Skinks do no harm. They don't come inside. WTF.
So, in mourning for the skinks. they're kinda cute. Immature, they have blue tails. Mature they go orange. (Dead, they're gray.)
The skink species in question is Plesitodon (very dinosaur) fasciatus and its other name is the five-lined skink. If they dont' encounter my cat, the adults can grow to almost 9 inches (nose to tail) and are considered a variety of lizard. That said, they're endangered in some regions of North America due to habitat loss (not my cat!).
Fun fact: The name orange-headed skink and blue-tailed skink in eastern America refer to the same animal. The females maintain a blue tail longer than males do. They regrow them. Trust me. I kn ow. *sigh*
It's considered a very common lizard.
Yet, weirdly, we donb't even know if they hibernate! (I think they do, based on how they act down here in Virginia.) they love it moist, shady, with some sunny rocks (typical lizards) and eat bugs. Lots of them. If you hate insects, love you a skink.
Weirdly, these tiny guys are very aggressive if pushed to it. Adult males (orange or red-headed) will attack dang near any other skink if it doesn't have a blue tail. This indicates that evolution has favored a blue tail in females, so they don't get killed by males.
That said, I've handled many skinks and nary a one has gone for me. Set them free where they can find moist leaf litter and theys hould make it okay. If my cat's nowhere near. She's indoor-only and STILL gets them, all. She's like a lizard's worst nightmare.
Sometimes, the species' females exhibit communal nesting to protect and turn eggs. This is a fascinating little behavior because it leads to the question if otber lisards (and dinos?) did the same. We tend to extrapolate all dino behabvior from things like monitor lizards and birds, but skinks be lizards, and at one point, dinos were NOT dominant. They barely made it. Then they got whammied. I mean, dang.
Skinks sare at the the extreme of their range in Canada, so if you see one: Report it and the authorities can hopefully make sure it survives. They're endangered in much of the Great Lakes region. Which is weird to me, b/c I grew up with 'em, and it's like, "Oh, those," but I guess you get across the Great Lakes and Canada just ain't friendly to 'em. They're endangered species in Ontario! (I can send them some. If I get them before the cat does.)
In fairness, btw, my cat does eat her kills. I don't have to feed her that day. Weirdo that she is, she thinks this is wonderful fun and now brings me live ones to "play" with me.
This specific skinhk can live up to 10 yaers in captivity. Unless you have my cat.
Aaaand she's got her nose to the one crack in the catio, ready to strike for number 7.
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89FNo energy, just going to do whatever. Sandra, It's hard to move at a certain time in life. You've been in your home forever, at least you'll be able to travel to the beach and enjoy. Oh, we did hear Boris Johnson's tenure ended due to a series of ethics scandals, accusations of dishonesty and a final collapse of government support that forced his recognation. What he didn't do like the...
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What are your five favorite things* right now?*The more specific the better!
Haco ate pretty well last night but then this morning hid at breakfast time. Looks like he's starting to get infection in a couple extraction sites, and I assume he's painful because he's not eating well right before his once daily pain meds are due, then eating better later. I thought about bringing home an injectable antibiotic, which won't upset his stomach, and more pain meds, but ultimately decided to bring him in and give both of those 10 hours sooner. Since I didn't want to pill him when his mouth already hurts, I gave buprenorphine as soon as I got in since it'll help with anxiety too. When the doctor got in, she agreed with the plan of giving buprenex over the weekend and injectable antibiotics. I'm going to bring home another 3 days of the NSAIDs just in case I need them.
I guess yesterday there was an incident with Karen and a client...the client has been dealing with escalating aggression over the past few weeks and the cat stopped eating..we've been trying to figure out the cause and he had an ultrasound yesterday that wasn't definitive, but suggested cancer. Owner had suspected he had cancer or something bad because this is very unlike him and decided to euthanize (most likely the cancer is in his brain, and possibly his kidneys). Karen decided the cat seems fine while he was here and he should go home with steroids (nevermind that the cat had specific triggers and looked fine because it's not a longterm problem and he didn't lose that much weight in a few weeks, and both doctors agreed this was a very reasonable decision)...and she took it upon herself to talk to the client *who was here to euthanize him* about what she "should" be doing. Obviously the client was even more upset because she has literally tried all the things to figure this iut and asked Karen to leave the room. Then Karen got in a fight with Jackie because Jackie told her she shouldn't have done that (which is very, very true but wasn't exactly said in a calm manner) and Karen told her to fuck off and left. And...yeah. Manager talked to the practice owner about that this morning, not sure how that went but hopefully she says something to Karen about it, because what she did is beyond inappropriate, especially given the situation.
This weekend is Dream Cruise which is the world's largest classic car show. I had to cross Woodward this morning. It's been a circus all week. Won't be going anywhere near it tomorrow. The Datsun will remain garaged. It is supposed to rain and I really hope that it does. Old cars with old brake systems and rain do not mix. We need rain very badly.
I saw my youngest niece today. She and her BF are moving into a town home on the water at the end of the month. Much closer to school for both of them. I set her up with an assortment of spices from Penzys for her new place. Engagement will happen sometime after the first of the year. She wants a Dutch marquis light champagne coloured lab diamond. Interesting choice. Wedding will be a couple of years down the road. They need to get established first. The BF is an amazing person; we are all in favour.
Leo - When I lived in FL we used to get geckos in the house. The cats would go crazy. It was a race to see if I could capture it first before they did. Those things were fast!
Miki - Karen needs to keep her mouth shut. That's such a hard decision as it is. I hope that Haco feels much better after you get some antibiotics on board. Karen and Jackie need to go...
That's it for me. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. Waves!