Okay, so there are rats. Let's just get that out of the way now. But they're cute! And so far, not in the house. Here are a few photos of rats eating leaves, and then a rat being eaten, all taken on the same day from different windows of my house.

SERIOUSLY, CROWS EATING A RAT, DON'T CLICK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT.

Followed by kitty portraits, because I got some nice ones.

( Rats eat leaves )

( Crows eat rat. Squirrel is all, what's up OMG? )

( Soothing pictures of KITTIES )

Full disclosure: tkp works here!



( enter here )

Here it is, folks: the end of the Alaska trip series. The last day was mostly travel, and before we left my brother, sis-in-law, and I only had time to get down to the kennel where they keep the sled dogs that still patrol the park in winter for poachers and signs of motorized traffic. Dogs are still more efficient than snowmobiles for this purpose and less invasive. The Alaskan Husky is not bred to an AKC (or any other) standard but for the qualities--both physical and temperamental--that make them good sled dogs. So they all look a little different. These dogs are also bred for friendliness to strangers, as they spend a good part of the year as a visitors' exhibit. Even so, the dogs all have their own space and can choose to interact with people or not, as they wish. They seemed pretty happy when I was there.


( +6 )

The only motorized vehicles allowed in Denali are buses that take tourists partway into the park, to a nice (and new) visitor center with a lovely view of the mountain. Which is really, really big. Interestingly, though I'd always heard it called Mount McKinley, the local name is Denali and I heard that used more often while I was there. Since the McKinley moniker was stuck on there for political reasons, this seems a rational choice as far as I'm concerned.

The bus trip is described here. The photos from said trip are below. I strongly urge anyone who can to make this trip someday; it's breathtaking, even if my photos don't do it justice.


( +17 )

More photos from the train ride to Denali. We took the Alaska Railroad, a slow-ish, sight-seeing train with viewing areas and all that. These were all taking from windows of the moving train.



( swans! mountains! clouds backed like a weasel! )

Also, anyone I've not yet friended on flickr, please let me know!

Day two, part four (and final).


My brother, his wife, and... yeah, I don't know.
( you otter see this )

Does anyone know how to turn off the blue borders permanently? I've tried adding css to the journal style, but it doesn't work and I have to manually add border="0" to everything.

Alaska, day two, part 3: sea lions. Steller Sea Lions, I think. They're a fractious lot, let me tell you; they sound exactly as though Mr. Darcy (the dog) and his girlfriend Sacha have been slowed down while fighting. Our caption knew where they hang out, and we got pretty close, as you'll see--partly because they were worried and sent out young, hale "sentries" to check us out. That's what it seemed like, anyway.


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I'm sorry there are so many, guys. I think I took about ten times this.

Including Whittier (and approach) and a day cruise we took on a small boat that usually serves as a taxi or kayak conveyor. It was somewhat overcast most of the time, hence the darkness of some of the photos. I've brightened and played with contrast, but any more takes away the feeling of what it actually looked like.


( Read more... )

Sometimes I think posting photos of Alaska is cheating.

I'm slowly working through these. Here's part one of day two of my trip last August. They're all at a wildlife center, not in the wild, but I still found them interesting. Though yeah, there are bars in the way.


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The store keeps not having Annie's Mac and Cheese (the regular kind, in the purple box so I have to eat the Arthur-shaped ones. I don't really like Arthur, but I like to pretend I'm eating little Radiohead bears.



( proof )

A few weeks ago, we discovered a rat in the window birdfeeder. Yeah, I know that's bad and stuff, but they haven't got in yet and we're not refilling it. I just keep forgetting to take it down. Because they're kind of cute. And they come in pairs and freak out the dog. He just jumps up and down in front of the window all night. It's hilarious. But also annoying. The cat has figured out she's never gonna get that, and doesn't take much notice.

In fact, the first night one of them came, the animals didn't notice it at all.

( the rat, and Kate not noticing it )

One night Mr. Darcy was so annoying I had to get up and close the blinds. But first I looked at the rat. It was a different one, not the injured one here. Instead of running away, he looked right at me. I touched the glass, and he put his nose where my finger was. I moved my finger and he followed me.

I think I have a friend.

It's really hard to think of them as pests.

This set: photos from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It's a small zoo, and I have mixed feelings about its enclosures. But at the same time, zoos help preserve species and inform the public, and you can tell they're doing the best they can.



( ROAR. I mean, MOAR )

I am surprised, actually, that it took the squirrels this long. Granted, this could be merely the first time I've caught them, but judging from the amount of seed I usually have to replenish, it couldn't have been happening long.



I don't particularly mind feeding squirrels. They're people too, at least as much as birds anyway, and they also remind me of rats. I've had lots of pet rats. Squirrels are cute. But they shouldn't use the birdfeeder. That's just rude. S/He's sitting on someone's food!



One other point of curiosity--neither the cat nor the dog nor my banging on the window bothered the critter, and in fact the animals on this side didn't even seem to see it. The window, apparently, is as good as a wall. Which is weird, since the cat watches the birds avidly. Maybe the squirrel, being half her size, is too big to be considered prey?



Of course, the minute I let the dog out in the front yard there was a fierce chase. I did this figuring the squirrel would move, and counting on Mr. Darcy's inability to catch it. I was right.

Is Mr. Darcy too girly? I mean, I know the "mr" part isn't, but Darcy? Kind of femme, right? Well I think that's the boy's name.

Thoughts? Opinions? Should we go back to Judas?