Animals Anecdotes : Something Foul Under The Hood – It's a Dead Cat!

A couple of days ago, we started to smell something foul – almost garbage like from outside of the house. We couldn't find the source of the smell and we thought it was just the overflowing garbage smell from the neighbour's house.

The following day, the stench of the 'garbage' seemed to be lingering around the outside of the car. We finally thought, probably we should check out the tyres and see if anything got stuck in between them. We started spraying water at the tyres and suddenly, one of us suggested, why don't we check out the hood. We opened the hood and we saw this!



So then, it was confirmed that garbage like, foul smell came from that furry thing that seemed to be stuck between the engine. I peeked under the hood and tried to figure out what that furry thing could be. I saw a tiny paw and the tail and of course it was a cat, rotting away under the hood of our car. Hence, that is where the foul smell had been coming from for the last 1 day and a half. It was right there under the car's hood.

The cleaning up process was a messy business not to mention the smell was horrendous. However, at the end of the day, we managed to get the carcass out of the way. It was really troubling to think of where, how and why this little creature decided to hide in the car's engine. There were many speculations on why it got inside there and we also thought that it could be one of those stray cats from our neighbourhood. The cause of death was unknown.

It was definitely a tragic loss for that poor cat and I am not going to post pictures of the animal due to its bad condition. Suffice to say, by the time we got the carcass out of the engine, it was pretty roasted. Poor little cat, may you rest in peace.

* The only one thing we were relieved about this whole situation was that, it was not one of those furry tailed cats from our neighbour's who once used to invade our front yard with their endless play and pooping. Phew!

Animals Anecdotes : The Neighbour's Cats Invasion

The neighbour has countless amount of cats (at least I found it really countless, hehe) and thankfully all of them are spayed. Recently, three of the adult cats have always found themselves roaming around our little patch of garden at the front yard. They are really friendly, absolutely cute, constantly craving for attention and they are just a bunch of really happy, playful cats.

Of course we don't mind having them around not until they started to poo poo and pee pee around the yard which is really gross and smelly. That is one of the reason we prefer to have lots of plants instead of having animals as pets with the exceptional of the tiny harmless guppy that we have at the tiny water feature outside.

Anyway, back to the cute cats, I am pretty sure you want to have a peek at them while they are in action. So here goes!

[caption id="attachment_2504" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Peering at the front door just to check who's inside!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2505" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I just wanna chill!"][/caption]

Aren't they cute or what? But still I wouldn't want to have them as pets and would prefer to have them occasionally hang around for a bit minus the pooping part. Haha.

[caption id="attachment_2506" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I am Puss in Boots and I want to sniff your camera!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2507" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I'm a cutie and I know it! Meow!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2508" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Are those tools? Sniff sniff!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2509" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I'm snow white the shy kittie :)"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2510" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Look! I'm slightly handicapped but I'm the happiest cat in the world! Woot!"][/caption]

 

There will be more pictures to snap for sure but these guys are super active and constantly moving around which is what any normal, happy cats should be doing. The neighbour's cats absolutely love the little garden we have because they can play catch, jump around, toppled some tiny pots of plants over and it is really a great environment for them. Sadly enough, they couldn't get that back home. Hehe. We love the cats to bits and they are most welcomed to play anytime provided that they are well potty trained at home. Hehe.

Animals Anecdotes : Meet and Greet with a Horse

One of the best things about travelling in New Zealand is that you get to be really close in contact with the  environment which obviously includes the plants and the animals. On our short stay over at Twizel, a little town located somewhere close to Mount Cook in South Island, New Zealand, we came across or some what literally met with this horse along with two other two legged animals - a little pony and a cow out in a fenced area of a field. This friendly horse actually walked all the way across the middle of the field towards the fence simply to greet us. At that time, we didn't have any food to offer them and so we thought, she just came around to say "Hello!"

[caption id="attachment_2489" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="A horse came all the way across the field to greet us. Location : Twizel, New Zealand"][/caption]

It was amazing that she actually came up to us as if she understood that we were eager to see her right up and close. Also, it was the first time for everyone to be that close to a horse before and she even allowed us to pat her which was really sweet of her. I think horses are really smart and for this particular one, it is smart plus very friendly too. I do believe that horses are great mind readers just like dogs and they kind of like know if you have good or bad intentions towards them and probably that was why the horse was drawn towards us.

[caption id="attachment_2490" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The gang of three : the horse, cow and a little pony out in the field somewhere in Twizel, New Zealand"][/caption]

After a couple of minutes of our brief meet and greet, the pony and the cow decided to come closer to check us out over at the fence too. Come to think of it, it is funny to see these three animals hanging out with each other just by themselves and they seemed to be getting along really well too. I do hope the owner do come by to feed them and probably they were just waiting for breakfast to come when we were there.

Probably one day, I should learn up to ride a horse. It should be really fun don't you think?

Animals Anecdotes 27 : The Army of Ants

I stumbled upon these army of ants while I was hiking up a hill and these ants kept on marching in rows of what seemed like multiple rows of little black dots. They were literally 'streaming' through the jungle going up and down the hilly path and there were like hundreds or possibly thousands of them. When you are hiking in the jungle, watch out for these troopers especially if you are hiking in Malaysia. The last thing you wanted to do is to step on these black ants and I'm pretty sure they can sting you hard. So, do watch out!

[caption id="attachment_2339" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Highway of black ants in the jungle, Malaysia"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2340" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Army of Ants streaming their way through the jungle floor"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2341" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Black ants troopers heading to the tree"][/caption]

 

Animals Anecdotes 26 : Sally The Deaf Goat Missing In Action

This is something that don't happen everyday and it is really fun to share this anecdote. One fine day, this particular female goat, nicknamed Sally, decided to take a little breather and seek shelter from the blazing sun under the tree in front of the house. At this point, it was obvious that Sally had gone totally MIA from the rest of her pack. Little that I know that she was slightly under the weather but I kinda figured that something was a wee bit wrong with her because she tend to wobble as she walked and she was slightly blurry and looked rather confused.

[caption id="attachment_2289" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sally, the deaf goat resting in the middle of the street"][/caption]

After a bit of coaxing ( more like shooing her to go home), Sally decided to make a wobbly move and the next thing I knew, I didn't see her around anymore.

[caption id="attachment_2290" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sally finally decided that she gotta make a move from sitting right in the middle of the street."][/caption]

By noon, the weather took a turn from blazing hot sun to a heavy downpour. Around that time, I thought I saw a flicker of Sally taking shelter from the rain right at the neighbour's front gate and a few minutes later, Sally was gone again. By then, I was thinking, oh well, probably she ran off from the rain and had figured her way home. But no, I was wrong.

Two days later, the neighbour must have heard some noise coming from the drain in front of her house and there was Sally trapped in between the narrow hole of the drain. She was saved and looked absolutely exhausted.

[caption id="attachment_2291" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sally the goat saved from her fall into the drain. With her hearing problems, she is totally off balanced. Hence, she fell into the drain."][/caption]

One thing turned into another, someone tracked down Sally's owner and apparently Sally has been sick with some hearing problems. Due to that, she has problems to keep herself balanced and to keep up with the rest of her pack.

[caption id="attachment_2292" align="aligncenter" width="262" caption="Sally finally reunited with her owner. She had been gone for 3 days and they thought that they'd lost her. Lucky Sally, someone tracked down her owner!"][/caption]

Sally was finally reunited with her very happy owner and they took her home with the motorbike. Such a lucky gal, Sally the goat! I wonder how it must have been for Sally for the past 3 days living trapped inside the drain. For a goat, I could bet you that it was probably one of her biggest adventure ever in her life. I hope Sally has recovered from her hearing problems since then. :)

Animals Anecdotes 25 : A Noisy and Wet Myna

It's been raining almost the whole morning today and all the little birdies were soaking wet thanks to the rain. One particular Myna took shelter on the balcony and she ( I'm suggesting that it's a female Myna) was totally drenched from  head to toe. Haha.

As she went about staying out from the rain and shook herself dry, she kept on making really noisy Myna chirpings . I wonder what she was saying but it certainly must have been something like this , " Oh, shoot! It rained so heavily, now I'm soaking wet and it is taking ages to dry off these feathers. I need a hair dryer PRONTO! " . Haha!

 

[caption id="attachment_2168" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Noisy and wet Myna taking shelter at the balcony, keeping herself out of the rain"][/caption]

I wish that's what the Myna was literally saying and off she flew seconds after I opened the door to the balcony towards the coconut tree just opposite the house. It was still drizzling out there but she was close to dry by then. So, she'll be fine. At least  she's way less drenched and cold than before. :)

Animals Anecdotes 24 : Goodbye Doggies - Dogs No More

The last dog standing, Brownie is officially gone. We are not sure about her where about and I refuse to think about the worst that could have happened to her. In many ways, I believe it is a good thing that all of them have set apart and go on with their own ways. Moving away and starting out new as how things goes along even for ourselves, humans.

So here is a goodbye to all those lovely dogs we have always enjoyed having around with and you will forever be remembered. All those funny antiques of you doggies, you guys are really a pack of characters.Life goes on and hopefully with more wonderful, colorful, interesting and lovely things to look forward to.

Goodbye Doggies!

[caption id="attachment_2010" align="aligncenter" width="264" caption="Silver and Joe "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2011" align="aligncenter" width="277" caption="Maggie and Brownie (front - back)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2012" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Blackie, Silver and Brownie (l-r)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2013" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Silver's four puppies that we gave away for adoption"][/caption]

Animals Anecdotes 23 : Nothing lasts forever. May you rest in peace.

I've been delaying on writing up this post because it is not a happy news. However, it needs to be written as a tribute for all the memories and companionship we have received. Also, no living things deserves to be forgotten and this post is dedicated for Joe, the sole male dog in the pack and to the little puppy from a happy, cheerful mother (Brownie) whom we were just about to name him, Sky.

Both dog and puppy (Joe and Sky) didn't make it long enough to roam and guard around anymore. Joe's passing was a tragedy and that was the saddest thing to know. As for Sky, he just didn't make it past 4 weeks old probably because of the nature of the surrounding he was located at or it could be anything.Whatever the reason is, we never got to know Sky and I don't know if giving him the name Sky is a bad indication altogether because yeah, he is in better place now, somewhere up above.

As for Joe - he was always the one with  full of character. He had temperaments and can be moody at times. If he's on his best mood, he is the definitely the man (or THE dog!), running and escorting tirelessly around places , making sure things are okay in his own doggy way.  Having him around by our side,  you just can't help but being safe.

So right now, we are left with only Brownie. I don't know how far she can survive living solo and we shall see about that. Yeah, nothing lasts forever but no one deserves to be forgotten. For Joe and little baby Sky, May you both rest in peace.

 

Animals Anecdotes 22 : Brownie and her few weeks old puppy

Ever since the puppy is born , Brownie the first time mama has been doing a pretty good job at nursing her one and only puppy. Her little baby should be about 3 weeks or so old by now and we first saw a glimpse of this little guy ( a male puppy) just a couple of days back.

I can't really capture a proper picture of this little fella because he is still only playing around under the dark sandy area of the cabin. However, we are so glad to see how healthy he has turned out to be. The little puppy is well fed by Brownie and he is so chubby and round with the the same light brown skin colour as his mother, Brownie. Currently, he is wobbling his way through while walking. He still has one eye closed with the other one only half open but man, the little guy can make a loud but cute yelp when we started calling him. Haha.

Overall, it is pleased to say that Brownie's few weeks old little puppy is in a pink of health and we hope that he will grow up healthy and a chirpy, smart and happy puppy just like his mother. :)

Animals Anecdotes 21 : Morning greetings from little doggies

What a wonderful way to start your day when you are greeted by really lovely, cheerful, happy animals!  Besides the endless chirping of the birds ( a real noisy bunch of them little birdies) sometime around 7 am in the morning or during the first light of the day, the friendly neighbourhood dogs are a great morning greeters too!

I have mentioned about the little furry, really big round eyes dog called Jojo back in the first of these Animals Anecdotes series. At the moment, Jojo who is a she, the well known friendly neighbourhood dog, is accompanied by another few weeks old puppy. I am really bad at identifying dog breeds but the most I can tell you about this puppy is, it is a male, has long ears and he is light brown with some dark brown patches. I think that's how he looks like. Haha.

Anyway, both Jojo and the puppy were being all friendly this morning. Wagging tails in front of our front gate and all they wanted is to play and say Hi! I guess. It is really amazing on how little things like in this case, little doggies coming around and being all too cute and just plain happy to make you happy and make you crack a little smile, all that in the early hour of the day.

That was by far amongst one of the best things anyone could ever asked for to kick start the day and yes, all animals are most welcome to our home - be it dogs, birds, squirrel, butterflies, cats, frogs, ants, snails and etc. Until more morning greetings to come from Jojo and the puppy. Oh, I should remember to have my handphone around as well to snap some pictures of these two. :)

Animals Anecdotes 20 : Lil doggy Brownie is a first time mum!

This is an extremely exciting and happy news. Just a couple of days back, I had written about Brownie, the little female dog is suspected to be pregnant and I am supposing just about the same time as the post was written she had given birth to some puppies. At the moment she is placing her little kids in a safe place, hopefully safe enough from 'outsiders' and even away from all of us. She got smart, so she decided to dig an underground whole beneath the cabin home that fits herself and her little puppies.

We are unsure of the number of puppies that were born. From the faint sound of their tiny yelp for milk, heard only as you come closer to the opening of the 'underground home' , it sounds like there might be two of them puppies. Whatever the number is, nothing is for sure now not until we can have a good visual look of them little ones.

We are just happy for Brownie, proud of her for taking a good care of her kids, being a first time mum and all. Oh goodness, her motherly instinct simply kicks in right on full gear. Brownie is as happy and cheerful as ever. Looking extremely delighted when she saw us coming - almost as though she was trying to say, " Hey everybody! I just delivered some really beautiful babies. Come look and boy, I'm hungry after all those hard labour". Haha! She surely was famished and chowed down her meal in minutes.

Hopefully all will turn well for Brownie and her puppies. To Brownie, " Congratulation girl!".

[caption id="attachment_1741" align="aligncenter" width="163" caption="Brownie - picture is taken a couple of weeks ago"][/caption]

Animals Anecdotes 19 : Brownie is pregnant! I think so ...

It's been sometime now since I last updated on the latest juice about the doggies. The last time, I mentioned about  the number of dogs from five dogs came trickling down to two. As for right now, the big news now is, we are suspecting that Brownie - the only female dog ( she's about roughly 1 year plus) in the pack is now pregnant! There were a lot of 'mating' activities going about sometime in December last year and at that time, I was kiddingly counting on when Brownie will delivery her baby.

So if our prediction is correct and the 2 months pregnancy of a typical dog is up, the rough estimation of Brownie to become a first time mother will be somewhere around early or mid February. As for now, when can see visible changes on her appetite and her body. She has been quite fierce with her partner in crime - Joe like barking out to him as though chasing him away during meal time.  Since she is dominating all the food, Joe has lost quite a bit of weight and instead of a muscular, tough guy he is, he is now officially slim. Or probably he is just loosing appetite and giving away all food to Brownie because she is pregnant.

Oh well, I don't quite understand how all these dog interaction really works, but it is safe to report that both Brownie and Joe are in the pink of health. They are still sticking around the place and we shall see next month then if Brownie is going to deliver any new puppies. Let's hope for the best shall we!

http://www.yaszamzah.com/2010/11/animals-anecdotes-16-down-to-one-doggie.html

Animals Anecdotes 15 : The Ultimate Cats Series 2010

It has been a long time since I last make a post about Animals Anecdotes. I figure that it will be nice to finally post some pictures of cats that I happened to have in my pictures folder but some of them never got the chance to be published in this blog. So here goes The Ultimate Cats Series 2010 under Animals Anecdotes! Enjoy! :)

[caption id="attachment_1584" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My name is "budak kecik" a.k.a small guy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1585" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I'm a stray and they call me Tiger because I happen to eat on the Save The Tiger WWF poster. Other than that, I'm glad that I got fed."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1586" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I'm the mama cat and that's my kittens. They are cold and hungry but this house is perfect for the kids to have shelter. Oh, I'm somehow related to Tiger the cat on the previous picture or am I, Tiger already growned up and becoming a Mama? "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1587" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our mama is tired. See here lying at the corner. So we decided to play a little bit before feeding time."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1588" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="That's me a scared and wet kitten stuck between the car rims. I went on a panic attack because I got chased but I later figured hiding in the rim is an awful idea. Thank God I did get out soon after."][/caption]

Animals Anecdotes 17: Butterflies lingering on me!

It has been more than one occasion now when I turn and see a tiny butterfly or a full grown, extremely colorful butterfly lingering all over me. Among all those butterflies, I managed to capture only this small one with the camera. I wonder what attracted them and kept them staying - more like sucking on the surfaces for quite sometime before they take off and totally disappear.

[caption id="attachment_1463" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Little butterfly on me shoe"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1464" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A closer look"][/caption]

Lately, there are quite a big number of a striking orange butterflies. There are like all over the place. One time, I spilled some water on my hand and out of no where, an orange butterfly came, suck and feel around for that drops water for a long time and flew away. It feels pretty 'magical' in some way. I can't quite tell what it is. Oh well, it is just some butterflies deciding to linger around me. They are really fun to have around with. You should 'catch' one if you can! :)

Animals Anecdotes 16 : Down to one doggie

The official head count for the number of dogs right now is one. Joe  the sole, male dog decided to leave the cabin and left Brownie, the young female dog on her own. Joe has been pretty moody since Maggie (alpha female dog, Brownie's mum) is gone. He wasn't doing much 'work' which is to escort everyone ever since Maggie went missing.

[caption id="attachment_1450" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="One of the last pics taken of Brownie and Maggie together. Brownie is the one with the bushy tail."][/caption]

As for Brownie, she's doing great. We've been feeding her with those Pedigree biscuits instead of the usual mix of rice and chicken or fish because she doesn't look like she has much of an appetite after her mum is gone. The best thing about Brownie is that she'll be wagging her tail like crazy every time we come around, so that's a good sign that she still gets excited on seeing us coming. Although she hasn't been 'escorting' the gang for almost a week, she did come to look for us yesterday when we didn't make a stop at the cabin for quite a long time.

[caption id="attachment_1451" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Say hi to Brownie!"][/caption]

It is kind of sad to see Brownie staying all alone at the cabin. From a pack of 4, later 5 then more than 5 (because of some newborn puppies) and the number kept decreasing until a single dog - Brownie, who happens to be the first one to venture around the cabin and hopefully she will stick around for sometime. We do know dogs are a social animal, so we just going to wait and see on how long Brownie will be around or probably other 'nice, non-barking breed' will join her in the future, we'll just never know.

Oh, talking about non-barking breed, the dogs we have around the cabin are the quite type. The are fast runners, small in build, pretty short and they hardly even bark. They will only make a noise when they see something like snakes or birds that they wanted to catch or simply to communicate to one another if they are far away from each other. Other than that, if you expect them to bark at strangers or even stray buffaloes, you need to do a big time 'coercing' to get them to just bark. They are so quiet and super silent unlike that annoying, tiny, sausage dog that my neighbour has. 'The sausage' has been barking for every 5 minutes for more than an hour at 5 ish am for a couple of days now. I don't know what it was trying to do and I blame it on the owner, not the dog. :(

Animal Anecdotes 15 : Maggie went MIA

It's been a long time since I write anything about the Animal Anecdotes. The latest about the doggies  is Maggie the alpha female dog went missing a couple of days ago. It is not known if she is either died or simply has moved on to something else in life. Therefore the current number of farm dogs comes down to a permanent 2 while another one - Blackie, will come and go as she wishes.

I wonder if the 2 dogs - Brownie and Joe will stick around for much longer and whether or not we will see Maggie again in the future. Only time will tell then.

Animals Anecdotes 14 : Kittens on the street

[caption id="attachment_1221" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="4 little kittens, about a week or two weeks old"][/caption]

Last week, when we were overwhelmed by the addition of 4 little puppies to babysit at home, about a couple of days after we left the puppies for adoption at the vet, we found another set of 4 animals left in a box, motherless as always. This time around it was 4 little kittens. There were nicely placed inside a box, layered on the inside with that blue cloth you see in the picture above. The box is left by the corridor of the shop. I suppose the shop owner is somewhat taking care of them four or probably their mother is still nursing them and is just roaming around for food before coming back for feeding time.

It was kind of weird to encounter an exact number (in this case exactly four) of little baby animals (from puppies to kittens) all in the same week. So what is next to come? We shall see then.

Animals Anecdotes 13 : Baby sitting is a tedious, dirty job

If you have been following on my Animals Anecdotes series, I'd mentioned about the newborn puppies - four tiny 2 weeks old puppies. It turned out that Silver, the mum of these puppies past away about a week after her litters were born. Silver was suspected to be bitten by a venomous snake because the evening before her body was found under the cabin, the pack of dogs went on a crazy rampage of killing and ripping apart a pretty big snake. The very next day, Silver didn't make it to care after her little ones.

Out of great sympathy, we began bottle feeding the four puppies and later on, we brought them home since they need to be fed rather constantly, somewhere about 4-5 times a day. I was never good with taking care after animals because I guess it's just not my forte. The worse part about baby sitting be it for animals or humans alike is when it comes to them pooping and peeing. At one point of baby sitting, one of the puppies went on a little diarrhea and the poop was watery. Since he is white in color, the poor little thing looked yellow from the top of the head to the neck area, immensely drenched in his own discharge. Thank God for baby wipes but only after a good scrubbing with warm cloth later, the puppy looked slightly back to his own skin color. If I had to keep them much longer, each one of them would have gone some thorough bathing.

[caption id="attachment_1200" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="We didn't want to name them because we didn't want to get attached to them."][/caption]

Since it was rather inconvenient for us to keep up with four puppies and we don't really have the time and space for them not forgetting that at that moment, we couldn't find anyone who wanted to adopt them, we resorted to send them to the vet and see what the vet may suggests to do with them. Thankfully, the vet has a big heart and offered to keep them for a while and will ask around from his friends if they will be interested to take those puppies. That is really good news for everyone and also the puppies are said to be in a healthy condition. All we could hope for now is that the four of them will grow up happy and healthy.

Animals Anecdotes 12 : Newborn puppies

All living things are made in pairs and with pairs there will be great probabilities for them to produce newer generations. Thus on that note, Joe the alpha male had successfully impregnated the two bitches ( Maggie and Silver). Both Maggie and Silver gave birth to three little puppies each.

However, animals being animals, the three little puppies of Maggie's 'disappeared' into thin air probably less than 2 days after they were born. After much speculations, we have come to the conclusion that one of the bitches had eaten up the puppies and left to zero traces of any newborns at all. A couple of days later, Silver delivered three puppies of her own too and by far, the chances of those puppies to be alive are unknown.

It is not uncommon to see female animals like dogs, cats, lions, tigers and etc to eat up on their own newborn 'babies'. There are many reasons to why the mothers to this and whatever the reason it may be, I'm pretty sure it happens for all the good reasons only.

Animals Anecdotes 11: Joe - the Alpha Male

On the previous Animals Anecdotes when I mentioned about the Alpha Dog, I was thinking that perhaps the one and only male dog in the pack should appropriately be named as Alpha but nah, it never happened. Someone got the idea to call him Joe instead. So Joe it is, the name of the Alpha Male. =)