“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost

Friday, August 10, 2012

Guy and the Bumblebee


My local small bumblebees are my favorite bees.  They are fuzzy and cute, for an insect anyway, and are more docile than regular bees.  If you followed my blog last year you may remember me posting about them here and here.  The bees arrived this spring and have been busy visiting all my flowers and plants, but I am not sure where they are actually living.  I have not been able to trace them back to their hive.  I am just happy they found a new home after last year’s upheaval.  I have never been stung by one ... ever. 
Cute fuzzy Bumblebee on left, regular honeybee on right.

As you know Little Guy Noir has been growing quickly and had figured out that the Big Cats were going outside.  Not wanting to be left out, he had been trying all sorts of escape methods to join them.  I finally caved in and brought out the cat harness we had purchased for Dot when we first got her.  It was too small and we eventually had to order another larger size for her online in the chubby cat section.

Dot with new harness. FYI harness is called Come With Me Kitty Harness + Bungee Leash.


Anyway after a lot of wriggling and squirming by Guy not me, well actually there was some squirming by me, I finally got the harness on him.  Guy loves going out and has gotten used to the harness and behaves pretty well.  


Guy Noir a day before the incident!


On about his third trip out, he started batting something about and I thought it was a leaf or a bit of bark.  Then I noticed Guy stopped abruptly and ran about a foot away, looking back with fear in his eyes.  I then noticed a small bumblebee come staggering out of the grass and after a moment gathered its strength and flew away.  Then Little Guy started licking his right foot and I knew he had been stung.  Bumblebees do not have barbs on their stingers like honeybees, so they actually can sting multiple times.  They also do not die or leave their stinger in their victim. Luckily this bee only stung in self defense when he was being mashed by a paw and then left to go about his business with no ill will.

After Guy was back in the house, I consulted my cat care books and they suggested putting ice on the sting or soaking in water and baking soda.  I opted for the ice pack and Guy sat on my lap with the ice pack for about ten minutes.  I didn't get any pictures of his foot, but it did swell up some, otherwise he seemed alright.  By the next day the swelling was almost gone and by the third day you would never know he had been stung. 

Guy a few days after the sting, all well now.


When we went outside the next day he saw another bee and actually made a move on it.  I could almost see the little wheels whirling in his head as he remembered, "bee….. foot…   hurt!"  He decided to leave the bee alone.  Another lesson learned!









Doing what cats do best.



I don't ever remember any of my other cats ever being stung before. Even though Guy had this unfortunate accident, I do not blame the bee. It was trying to protect itself as is natures way.
I Still See Beautiful When I See A Bee.

Today I am joining the See Beautiful Blog Hop






Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Learning About Cute Animals....

Remember when you were a little kid and they would have story time at the school or library.  Do you remember that the books sometimes were huge and they had large illustrations to get your attention? As you progressed in school, the illustrations got smaller and there were less of them.  One day you picked up a book and there were no illustrations at all.  What a shame!

This fantastic book proves that by combining nature, science and art you can provide an exciting teaching opportunity for everyone, even adults!  The book I am featuring today is by the author and artist Margaret Waring Buck. The book is titled Animals Through the Year, published by Rand McNally, 1941.



Margaret Waring Buck was born in New York in 1905, she lived most of her life in Mystic, Connecticut, until her death in 1997.  She was an illustrator and naturalist who produced several self-illustrated books about animals life in the wild. Her books included both black and white drawings and stunning colored images depicting animals amongst their native settings.



 









Her art shows a somewhat "humanized" version of animals interacting with each other.  I happen to adore this type of art and love how she portrays the fox mother above.  Do I see a bit of a smile on her face? The baby fox (kits) are patiently and cutely waiting for their dinner. Buck was careful about the details in her art and depicted the plants, insects and animals in their appropriate settings. 



She supplied informative but uncomplicated text just right for a young naturalist beginning to learn about the subject.  The background information for this particular book was gleaned from the Chicago Academy of Sciences and from exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.






"Animals know about the Seasons---
The seasons of the year are just as important to animals as they are to us.  Animals know that winter will be  followed by spring.  They know that in summer there is plenty of food.  When autumn comes, they know that winter is on the way and they know what they must do to get ready for it.  Animals Through The Year will tell you how twenty of the most common animals of North America live during the four seasons......" 
                                               Margaret Waring Buck


This wonderful book is available at CraveCute on Etsy.