Ode to My Little Silver Car

In September of 2004 I made the difficult decision to sell my '92 Honda Civic hatchback in order to buy my '00 Honda Civic hatchback. It was tough to see my little red car go, but she lived a long happy life with a very nice family in Pennsylvania. She lived well into her 200,000's.

I purchased my beautiful '00 silver beauty with a mere 20,867 miles on her from a Saturn Dealer in Harrisburg, PA. I paid cash and brought her home the same day. It was love at first sight and I am happy to report we are now celebrating our 7 year anniversary together.

Little Car has driven me back and forth across the country east to west and north to south and back again. Currently, she has 168,000 miles on her and she has a lot of life left in her.

For 6 months we lived in Albuquerque. She loved it there:

A view from our front yard in New Mexico.

Unfortunately Little Car suffered some severe trauma on Cinco de Mayo in 2005. I was slated to drive back to CT that week, but I got myself into a bit of trouble, as you can see below:

Ouchies.

Thank goodness for car insurance, that's all I have to say about that.


She has put up with all my abuse for 7 years now. She has survived hurricanes, tornados, dust storms, hail the size of golf balls, floods, and blizzards. She has been nearly totalled twice. She has driven me across 41 states and back again, adding up to nearly 150,000 miles. I hope she never dies.

Little Car checking out the flood waters in South Dakota

Ways to annoy a wildlife biologist :

As a seasonal wildlife biologist, I encounter a lot of people with a lot of questions..

"I saw a bird, it was big and brown. What was it"? Seriously people, get a bird guide.

"When are you going to get a real job"? (Because monitoring the health of our worlds ecosystems and tracking endangered species is not a "real" job). Would you prefer I work at some call center somewhere? That's clearly more important.

"Is this ever going to turn into a full time position"? Apparently other people jump right out of college into full time careers. Because people ask me this all the time as if no one else does internships or has to work their way up the ladder. Furthermore- I am 27 years old. I do not have kids. I do not own property. Right now I get paid to live and work in some of the most beautiful places in our country. I don't have to pay for housing. If you ask me, my life is pretty sweet.

Yesterday someone asked me "have you ever considered working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency? Have you ever heard of that"? No Sir, I have never heard of the government agency responsible for managing our nation's wildlife. Apparently wildlife biologists come across as really stupid.

" I rescued a baby bird in my yard, what should I feed it"? Newsflash people - you did not "save" that baby bird. Actually you just signed it's death warrant. I appreciate that you want to help, but next time consult a professional before you "help". Wildlife rehabilitators are already swamped nurturing "rescued" baby squirrels and bunnies. These poor souls never sleep as it is dont make their job harder. Leave the bird alone he is trying to learn to fly!!

"I saw a piping plover in my driveway". No you didn't it was a killdeer.

"I'm tired of these birds getting more government attention than people". I usually don't even respond to these types Of asinine comments. Right, the few million dollars dedicated to endangered species management totally outweighs the billions spent on all things human. Go fuck yourselves people. And while you're at it, quit bitching about not being able to drive on the beach. Seriously, these birds need three months to rear their young. Get over yourselves and wait til august to fish from your tailgate you fat lazy fuck. Or, *gasp* WALK to fish.

Lastly- I am not a vet, or a wildlife rehabilitator, I don't work at a zoo, and I don't know whats wrong with your dog. I am a wildlife biologist. I monitor endangered and non-game wildlife species, and I assess ecosystem health. I work to remove invasive Plant species to restore native ecosystems. I do a lot more things than that. I drive boats I drive trucks I drive atvs. I enter data and I write reports. I trap birds, I band birds, I weigh them and measure them. The duties of a wildlife biologist are seemingly endless. But at the end of the day, I consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet because I love what I do.

Happy Birthday To Me

Yesterday was my birthday. I drank too much rum. Cheddar enjoyed himself as well.

That would be MY sleeping bag and Thermarest pillow.

My 3 best friends in the whole wide world got together and we had a slumber party. Yes, 27 year olds CAN still have slumber parties. We've been doing this for like 12 years now we're pretty good at it.

Myself, Barb, Angie and Sam

Curtis' Excellent Adventure

Recently, Curtis and I embarked on a cross country trip. I bet you did not know Betta fish LOVE road trips. And they especially love camping. Who knew?

The first night of our trip we stayed at Niobrara State Park, in Niobrara, Nebraska. Curtis was loving the great outdoors.

 After we left Nebraska, we spent the night at a Quality Inn in Indiana.

We also spent a few days hanging out at Bill's family's dairy farm in western New York. Curtis stayed in the cabin in the woods most of the time, although he did get one ride on the Kubota. I wish I had thought to take a picture. After all was said and done, Curtis spent an amazing 30 hours in the car last week! He is one amazing Betta fish. Now we are home. Our part-time cat, Georgia gave Curtis quite the welcoming..

The Rare, Endangered Piping Duck

This summer, the Missouri River Piping Plover crew discovered a new species, the rare and endangered Piping Duck. It can be seen below, in it's natural habitat.

(I swear, this is NOT an oversized Mallard decoy painted to look like a Piping Plover)

We decided to capture this rare bird, and bring it home for further studies. It can be seen below, brooding it's oddly shaped and sized plover babies.

The Piping Duck and it's adopted children...

What's New, Pussycat?

I'll tell you what's new.

Recently I attended the 4-H Cat Show at the Clay County Fair in Vermillion, South Dakota. I was accompanied by my friends Ben and Courtney. Let me tell you, the 4-H Cat Show is NO JOKE.

It was there that I found the man of my dreams. Unfortunately I was too chicken to ask for his number. Now I will never be able to find him again. Alas, I was at least able to snap some photos to remember him by.

We showed up to the cat show a few moments late and worried we missed some real excitement. We only missed the showing of one cat (the champion prize winning orange tabby) but we were fortunate enough to witness my dream man showing off his cat, Simia. Simia did not seem too amused to be poked, prodded, and publicly humiliated. The disturbed feline is pictured below, nestled in the arms of her handsome owner.

Simia, the second prize kitty cat

Nothing could have prepared me for the next amazing cat. A young girl named Audrey, yes Audrey introduced herself and her cat- BEN. Ben and I were awestruck at the awesome coincidence. Pictured below is the amazing Audrey, and the disturbed Ben the Cat.

Ben the Cat was not interested in being shown that day

After seeing the two cats twisted, turned, and tormented, the cat show was over. They quickly announced the winners. As there were only two participants and three cats shown, there were only 3 prizes given. The champion was the orange tabby shown below:

Ladies, don't even think about it, he's all mine

The 4-H Cat Show was the highlight of my summer. Ok, maybe not. But it certainly did provide a few hours of extreme entertainment for me.

Why I hate cockroaches:

Ok, so I will confess... I am totally 100% creeped out by cockroaches. I am not afraid of spiders, ants, bees,  worms, or any other creepy crawly really. I am bothered by the ones that bite, but overall I am generally ok with the insect world.

Cockroaches, however, are just not OK in my book.

It all started when I worked cleaning houses and restaurants with my uncle. I quickly realized that EVERY food service establishment struggles with roach control, no matter what they tell you. Also, having known plenty of people who work for pest control services, I know way more than I care to about the distribution of roaches.
 
Here is a summary of my least favorite roach moments (in no particular order)

1. Kingston, RI 2002: My dorm freshman year was located immediately next to a dining hall. We had tile floors. The roaches were so big you could HEAR them scuttling across your bedroom floor at night. DISGUSTING.

2. New Haven, CT 2004:  I was cleaning a kitchen at a FANCY New Haven restaurant, when I reached my hand into a cabinet to move a stack of plates, I apparently disturbed a large number of sleepy roaches. I felt something moving, and when I pulled my hand out of the cabinet there were dozens of roaches crawling on my hand and arm. DISGUSTING. I showered twice that day.

3. Oklahoma City, OK 2005: Rachel and I were bickering about the motel we stayed at.  Granted, it was my fault we ended up at a crappy motel 6. She had wanted to stop in Tulsa but I insisted on pressing on a few more hours. My bad. At the time we were not yet 21 years old and the only motel that would allow us was the motel 6. I whined and complained, stating that I refused to stay at a motel 6 because there would be roaches. She thought I was exaggerating until we walked in and there was a roach crawling down the wall. DISGUSTING.

4. Lincoln, NE 2009: While en route from Wyoming to Connecticut, my mother and I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express. In all my years of travel a H.I.E. has never let me down. Wellllll this one did. Mom immediately noticed the GIANT 3 inch cockroach stuck in the vent directly over the toilet. It was still partially alive, turning its head occasionally. I found it difficult to shower knowing that creepy ass bug was watching me. Hotel staff refused to come and remove it. DISGUSTING.

5. Corpus Christi, TX 2010: When I first arrived in Texas, I was thrilled at the beautiful beach, and my awesome housing accomodations. I even had a bathroom to myself. Somewhere around my 3rd day a GIANT cockroach came slithering out of my shower drain while I was mid-shampoo. I won't lie --- I screamed like a little girl and jumped out of the shower. It was DISGUSTING.

6. Vermillion, SD 1 hour ago: I am laying in my bed innocently watching Cosby show re-runs via Netflix for iPhone when a cockroach falls out of the A/C vent above my head and lands on me. DISGUSTING.

7. The movie "Joe's Apartment".  What the hell MTV? Don't try to make movies. Ever again.

8. The song " The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnatti". Dad used to play that song on one of his old Dr. Demento tapes. I found it disturbing even as a child.