Backyard Bundle

I wanted to take some time to talk about some of the other animals we have. Well, first there is the finches. I believe we have 4 zebras, 8 or 9 society (2 were just born this spring!), 2 lady gouldians, 2 orange weevers, 4 spice, and 2 really small black ones (I forget the name of them).



Of course the gouldians are gorgious to look at but my favorites would have to be one of the zebras named Baby Christmas (he was born around Christmas time of 2006). I went to go feed them and I saw this little furry thing moving around in one of the nest and he was the only egg that had hatched. When he started to learn to fly, he would actually fly on my hand sometimes when I was feeding them. He's the youngest of the zebras and is almost white (probably will be a light grey when he's older).


Then there is one of our society's named Alfalfa (well, that's what I call him because of the way his feathers smush down on the top of his head). He's very calm and doesn't fly away when you get too close to him like the others. He's our little geek and a new father of 2! Very cute. They were born in April and I call them Hansel and Gretel.









Next we have the turtles: Jamie, Oliver, Sylvester, and Squirt. They are sliders who enjoy the water and basking in he sun.



Jamie is the only male of the four, he's also the more social of the group. He seems to know his name too. Oliver (who got her name before she was old enough to determine the sex) is Jamie's sister and a bit more shy. Sylvester was a rescue. She (also got her name before we could determine the sex) was almost road kill but thankfully someone was kind enough to stop and pick her up. Then there's Sylvester's homegirl, Squirt. Squirt was given to us by Dakoda's other favorite person and trainer Gloria. She is the biggest of the lot but very sweet. Squirt and Sylvester were the newbies at one time and Sylvester sort of befriended Squirt, who was very shy, when she first arrived. Basically, Sylvester, who was just a baby, would sit on top of Squirt during cleaning and followed her around alot.

The pond plays host to a school of goldfish. God only knows how many we have, I lost count. Most of them are comets that were meant to be feeder fish but my dad, being cheap like he is, brought them for $.19 cents and put them in the pond. They are huge now and definitely beautiful. To think something was going to eat them and to see them now....WOW!. Two of them are fancy goldfish. One is an orange fantail and the other is a black moore named Einstein. Einstein is the only one with a name because he was one of the very first fish we got that is still alive. We kind of look out for him because he's a surviver.

I also have my own little project I put together. We had a few really nice planters that weren't being used, so I decided to make two small ponds out of them. One is a water garden just for plants and the other is the home of 2 fancy goldfish named Pirate & Treasure. Pirate is a black moore and Treasure a fantail. I'm hoping to change the water garden into another pond for a couple of redcap oranda goldfish.
I had one but it died and so did its' mate who I think was just another fantail. They were both really small and I think they got caught in the plants or something. Their death remains a mystery but they were beautiful.






Last, but not least, there's Nieko and Bindi, the lovebirds who you've met in a previous post. Just a little update on the two. Bindi is the leader who will defind his/her territory at all cost. She got out once and, to my suprise flew on my head and went right back into her cage. Nieko is content just staying in the background while Bindi makes a fuss over every little thing. He/she loves to shred his shredding toys, swing on the swing, and hang from branches. They love to listen to people and aren't afraid to chime in on a conversation especially if it includes whistles. They are a handful, but a joy to watch and interact with.