Baby Hunting Dogs

But no more baby tigers.

All the tiger cubs - now coming up to 2 years old - are still with mum, so she cannot get back with dad to make some more. Apparently the animal parks that were supposed to take them have delayed time and again. So meanwhile mum and daughter come out on alternate days with the two boys. And dad paces in the hope he can persuade his beloved to join him and make him happy.

Here is mum giving daughter a quick lick.






But the African hunting dogs have really done the business. Eleven pups! I arrived at their enclosre at feeding time of sadly very recognisable bunnies. (I've spared everyone that vision.) Some of the puppies were still inside, obviously not feeling very hungry yet.

Meanwhile, at Wingham animal park, my new discovery last year with one black and one spotty jaguar, the babies I'm pretty sure I saw being conceived in August  have arrived. There's a black girl like mum and a spotty boy like dad. The photos are not mine.

Fires Within

He was such a pretty boy back then.

Efficiency Plus

Last week, just in time not to be able to do anything about it because of the holidays, I received official notification that I can start collecting my old age pension.

I already knew that my date was March 16th. In fact, they don't mention that in the letter, so it's just as well I knew it.

The letter said I need to apply four months before the date that I plan to receive my first pension payment. So that means they would have had to notify me by November 16th. December 23rd is a little bit late.

Just as well I don't want to claim till July at the earliest...

New baby, "old" baby and two tamanduas

Since breaking my foot in the summer, I haven't really been to the zoo, but a couple of weeks ago I managed a couple of hours.

I discovered that Effie, who has been longing for a baby for years, actually had a month-old baby His tiny head is just visible in her arms

Mjukuu's baby, a little girl who is now a year old, looked a bit thoughtful about no longer being the centre of attention.

The female tamandua (or tree anteater) was sleeping in ...a tree.

The male tamandua was on the wander.

Feeling Minnesota

Sorry, folks, I seem to be slowing down with my posts. I blame my iPad, which won't let me do posts in any way I've yet discovered, and my internet connection, which I must get round to phoning up and complaining about.

Vincent may not have looked at his best in this film, but it was entertaining, and he showed how good he can be at comedy.

Five minutes Mr Welles

An interesting view from an interesting movie

Ed Wood

I'm still cross that they dubbed over Vincent's voice. And his part was only small. BUt this was a really great film.

Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

Even this big boy couldn't turn me into a believer.

Dying Young

One more silly woman who chose the wrong man.

Crooked Hearts

I wanted to post Crackers, but I can't find my photos! Still, I think this is a happy substitute...

Almost a snuggle

Twiglet and Mackie have now been together for a whole eight months, but yesterday was the first time Twiglet voluntarily plonked herself next to him without swearing, and he stayed put unafraid.

Chelsea Walls

Artsy-fartsy film I don't get and don't want to.

Cadillac Records

My ability to locate stills from Vincent's films by alphabetical order seems to have deserted me completely. So we are only now getting to Cadillac Records.

On the TV quiz Mastermind just last week someone answered questions on Chess Records, which I believe to be the real identity of the company this film is about.

I imagine Vincent loved being able to smoke while actually filming this.

Indian Summer

We've had a week of glorious summer-like weather. I also had a free friday for the first time for weeks, so I went to the zoo.

JaeJae really enjoyed lapping up the sun.

This adult black-and-white colobus was eating in this position. Can that be good for the digestion?

The baby colobus didn't stay still long enough to get many good pictures. It just wanted to find mischief. When it wasn't being thrown out of the hammock by a bigger youngster, it was throwing itself out.

Chained

I know a lot of people didn't like this film, but I found it interesting in an horrific way. Seeing it at a film fest with Jen Lynch the director interviewed afterwards was a plus.
 

Nika

A couple of weeks ago I visited Howlett's Wild Animal Park where, with my new iPad, I managed to take some great footage of the Siberian tiger,

Nika. Sadly, though the iPad shows the film the right way up, because I took it in what the contraption obviously believes to be the wrong way round, when I emailed it to myself it came out upside down. I've rotated it in several different ways in different programmes, and have finally managed to get it on the aforesaid Botophucket in a format fit to show.

Nika is on her own now. Her mate Malchek, probably the biggest tiger there ever was, died a few years back.

The park seems to be concentrating on breeding gorillas and other primates, as well as elephants and rhino. I know this is much needed conservation, but for me, the tigers are the be-all and end-all.

Anyway, Nika was in a bad mood. Her dinner was four hours late. Apparently she hated the sight of the keeper anyway, and from the start her ears went back and she left him in no doubt of her feelings towards him.

Just after she went through the slide into the area where dinner was waiting, she jumped up to her full height, and you can tell from seeing her beside the keeper's shoulder she must be at least 7 feet tall at full stretch.

Wow.

Case of Evil

Many thanks to Botophucket for yet again bollocksing up my account. I'm not quite managing to post films in strict alphabetical order, but today I nearly shut everything down forever because my albums seemed to have disappeared under their new "improvements".

This was the best Moriarty picture in what remains of the album.

Claire Dolan

Poor Elton.

The Cell

Never thought I'd feel sorry for a vicious serial killer.

Jaguar Love and Lazy Cubs

A couple of weeks ago I took my friend to Wingham Wildlife Park, the place where I saw the black jaguar with her black cub.

They've separated off the cub now that it's pretty well ful grown, and the parents are back together. WHich is how we got to see them mating. Repeatedly (I did not take pictues, too awestruck). But afterwards...Ahhh. True love!

Speaking of separating mums and cubs, in September the London Zoo tiger cubs are likely to be going to their new homes to make failies of their own. Meanwhile, they have been doing their usual ct thing - as far away from visitors' photo opportunities as possible, and fast asleep. The only way I could get a picture at all was by accepting the help of a kind (tall) young Canadian woman.