A Dragon in Sheep’s Clothing

Thoughts from a web designer, writer and cat lover.

A Dragon in Sheep’s Clothing header image 1

links for 2008-08-24

Posted by Heidi on August 24th, 2008 · No Comments

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Fame finds four-eared feline

Posted by Heidi on August 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

Yoda the cat
Fame Pictures / FAME PICTURES

Yoda’s extra ears give him a hint of a devilish appearance. The Rocks said they found him in 2006 while watching a Chicago Bears game at a Blue Island bar.

Some in the bar were passing the then-eight-week old kitten around, making fun of his extra set of ears…. the Rocks felt sorry for the cat and offered to adopt the kitten from the bar’s owner, who kept the animal caged atop the bar for his customers’ amusement. >>

Poor kitty! I would have adopted him too!

Yoda the cat close-up

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Simon’s Cat in ‘TV Dinner’

Posted by Heidi on August 18th, 2008 · 1 Comment

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links for 2008-08-14

Posted by Heidi on August 15th, 2008 · No Comments

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Invasive species

Posted by Heidi on August 14th, 2008 · 1 Comment

I looked up Starlings to make sure that was the kind of bird I was seeing in my yard yesterday, and discovered this interesting tidbit:

All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds released in New York’s Central Park in the early 1890s. A group dedicated to introducing America to all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s works set the birds free. Today, European Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and northern Mexico, and their population is estimated at over 200 million birds. Its successful spread is believed to have come at the expense of many native birds that compete with the starling for nest holes. More from All About Birds by Cornell>>

I also found that I may be mistaking the Common Grackle for a Starling. Both have iridescent feathers. The Starling’s beak can change color, so it is not always yellow. I think the surest way for my untrained eye to tell them apart is, well, by their eyes. Grackles have yellow eyes, and Starlings’ are black.

Common Grackle>> Common Grackle
European Starling>>European Starling

Coincidentally, I ran across a news item today about another invasive species :

LionfishThe red lionfish, a tropical native of the Indian and Pacific oceans that probably escaped from a Florida fish tank, is showing up everywhere — from the coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola to Little Cayman’s pristine Bloody Bay Wall, one of the region’s prime destinations for divers. This maroon-striped marauder is swallowing native species, stinging divers and generally wreaking havoc on an ecologically delicate region.
More at MSNBC>>

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