Gwendolyn Americauna
Beginning the Hen House series on the human factor in conversing with birds and dogs. The Human Factor (1)--Chickens
Forty Years with Birds and Dogs
Conversing with Birds
August 12, 2014
Bobbi, Lucy and Ms. Khaki
Birds are very conversational, but you need to listen and give them credit for acknowledging you vocally. The stories continue in the Los Alamos Daily Post
Conversations with Birds--a new series
July 10, 2014
Bobbi, Lucy and Little Bear
Domestic birds are very conversational if you take a moment to listen and talk to them. Los Alamos Daily Post
Conversations with Dogs
June 20, 2014
Poncho when adopted in 1972
Poncho was a "Santa Fe" shepherd who looked me straight in the eyes while sitting quietly in his shelter cage. One wag of the tail and I was hooked. True to that first impression, he was always very sensitive to what us humans were about. Here's the story of one conversation I will never forget. Read it in the Los Alamos Daily Post
Wild Neighbors Near the Hen House
May 26, 2014
The Wild Neighbor series ends this week with the tale of a mighty ground squirrel. All in the Los Alamos Daily Post Search on Hen House.
Hen House Wild Neighbors 2. The Angry Jay
May 6, 2014
Wild Jays never fly over the house to the backyard’s Hen House pen for a snack of lay pellets, but a few small birds do, even when Lucy and the gang are there.
On the front porch bird feeders, only one Scrub Jay watches and waits for us, but him or her (we can’t tell which) keeps his distance. He doesn’t come in for the peanuts if I wait outside on the porch, but he will snatch peanuts off the porch railing when Don has turned away to fill the hanging feeders.
Years ago two generations of Scrub Jays frequented the feeders, and some took peanuts from our hand, but only if we rested our hand on the fence rail. One Jay would come down from the aspen trees for peanuts, even if I sat down beneath the porch roof to watch. One day I pushed the relationship too far.
While I sat on the porch chair, the Scrub Jay took several peanuts and hid them in the yard. When only one peanut was left on the rail, I got up, took the peanut, and set it on the table beside my chair. When the Scrub returned I showed him the peanut. He hesitated, squawked, flew in, picked up the peanut, and flew back to the railing. Then with a squawk he threw down the peanut and flew off.
The message was quite clear. “Okay,” I hollered. “You win. Peanuts go on the rail.” A few moments later he came back, picked it up and hid it in the front yard. Ever since then his rules for the peanut game have remained firmly in place.
How the Hen House Turns-Wild Neighbors 1.
April 24, 2014
(Also in Los Alamos Daily Post April 22, 2014)
On the other side of the yard from the Hen House—on the west side—sits the covered front porch. It is enclosed by a wooden fence topped with a two-by-four railing. On that railing and on the various shaped blocks that decorate the fencing, go unsalted peanuts in the shell, for the jays.
Scooter--Dogs Dealing with Loss
April 10, 2014
Young DeeDee & Scooter
It's taken several weeks, but Scooter is settling into a new routine without her life-long sibling companion.
Now on The Los Alamos Daily Post
Now on The Los Alamos Daily Post
The Puzzle of Animal Consciousness
April 1, 2014
Why can't Bobbi goose accept the fact that I'm going to be in her pen every day? I'm I'm just filling her feed and water dishes. Why all the honking? The Hen House continues its blog here at the Ladaily post.
DeeDee--An Impossible Dilemma
March 19, 2014
DeeDee Feb.26, 2014
DeeDee was an exceptional dog--intelligent and loving, with integrity to be admired. She was taught not to bark, so she did not complain, though it became obvious that she was in a great deal of pain near the end of her life. A brief article in the Daily Post takes a look at the dilemma many dog owners face. I'll be writing about her life in blogs to come. DeeDee--An Impossible Dilemma