First, I'd like to introduce Maude, the baby groundhog we brought home on Mother's Day to become Clara's little sister (a situation which Clara has yet to decide is a blessing or a curse!). She was just over 8 weeks old when this photo was taken (she was born on April 9th), and weighed about 1 lb. She's also indescribably cute -- as you can see...
You'll be able to read more about her in the upcoming issue of The Rodent Reader Quarterly, which subscribers will attest, is hopelessly behind schedule (though it's finally expected to mail out within the next couple weeks). And, yes, Maude (or, rather, my fixation with her, marveling at the cuteness of her every expression, and a preoccupation with capturing every aspect of her growth) is in part to blame.
There's also another new baby, however, who's completely captured my heart (and attention) -- a baby European Starling now known as Mortimer -- a creature who literally fell into our care the very day after we first met Maude. He was approximately five days old at the time, and had apparently been lying on the unfinished floor on which he'd landed (after falling from a nest in eaves at least a dozen feet above) for so long he was very cold and seemed barely alive. As we worked to get him warm and began feeding him (every 20-30 minutes), we felt hopeful, but by no means certain he would survive.
But, survive he did. And, with each passing day hope of his reaching healthy, happy Starling adulthood rose. Now, at nearly 8 weeks old, he's well on his way -- not to mention making friends with Maude and the rest of the household...
And, though he's an absolute joy just the way he is, I have to admit I can't wait until sometime around October or so when he begins to talk (yes, in human speech)! There's nothing like having a Starling land on your shoulder and greet you with, "Hi, Love" or tell you that you're "wondersilly."
But, these, indeed, "wondersilly" little ones aren't the only preoccupatios that have led me so far astray from my TRRQ deadline. I've also completed a couple projects for my musician friends, Brian Fitzpatrick and Michael McDermott over the past couple months -- among these writing a new bio for the latter (which you can read here) . And, I've offered various expressions of my "insane rat love" in the form of photos, poetry, etc. to other publications. In other words, there's already plenty of material for the next blog entry -- which, like the rest of the projects still waiting for completion, will never appear unless I finally post this one!
So, until next time, thanks for checking in -- and for your patience!
