Full Moon Crazies

I tell you it has been so cold down here that my big ole self is in the bed before the 10:00 news under 50 lbs. of quilts and other fuzzies; long-johns, wool sockies and everything you can imagine to provide heat. Alluring?........no! Attractive?.........no! Warm?............YEPPERS. Well you get the drift and so does Punkin Darlin' who thankfully just accepts and loves me as I am!

But anyhoo on to my story here of the full moon. I've always heard how people act strangly when it occurs and now I think I'm on to something concerning animal behavior.

Yep our critters seem to have gone nutz!

We have had a female (we were pretty sure of her sex) Conure for almost ten years and actually from six weeks of her hatching and we named her Louise. Well Lou has never had a partner nor shown any desire for one.

But before Christmas, Punkin told me he thought Santa might want to bring Lou a cozy contraption to get into at night because of the cold temperatures and guess he saw how much fuzzy warm things made me happy thought it would do the same for Lou. So wouldn't ya know it Santa did indeed bring Lou a green fuzzy triangle thing with clips on the top for hanging to the top of her cage and since we began experiencing out of the ordinary low temps waaaaaaaaaaay before Christmas, Santa actually brought her little sleeping tent the First part of December.

Oh she was more than a little wary of that thing at first, but within three days she was in it. I mean IN IT. I began noticing tufts of green fuzz on the bottom of the cage and thought this crazy bird, she just has to tear everything she gets up.

Well lo and behold what do you think she was doing??????????? She was making a NEST.
She began making very loud and unusual sounds with flapping her wings and funny chirping noises and shrieks. Well you would to wouldn't you if you did what Lou did.

This is Mike (Punkin Darlin) holding Lou or rather letting Lou perch on him. OK I cheated here because this photo was made before the episode I am aiming to tell you about.



So all in all she laid two eggs, one which fell from her tent onto the bottom of the cage and was removed and the other, she sat on and on and on. Keeping it warm and softly chirping to as if to say "Don't worry, darling, Momma will protect you until you are ready for this mean ole world". She barely came out to eat. She was fiercely protective of her egg and would not let us come close to it. We read up on this strange behavior and found that it was normal. That she did not know the egg was not fertile and was doing what comes natural. She was hormonal and trying to be a good momma. We were told that after a couple of weeks, she would lose interest and come out and then we were to remove the nest and the egg because she could develop serious complications otherwise.

Weeks went by and she still stayed with the egg, until New Years Day, we just had had enough and were losing patience with her and Punkin and I together (the team that we are) reached in bravely and took the entire tent with egg out and moved her perches, toys and things around, which was suggested.

Poor Louise went quite berserk for a few moments searching for her "baby", and truly it was a little sad but within the day she was back to normal.



And our Saltwater Fish Tank which sits unobtrusively in the corner of the living room next to the arm of the couch never even gets a nod from Toby our "bad to the bone" little 4 year old Boston Terrior which we call a Boston Terror.
I mean really the fish make no sounds, they do no tricks and it is virtually just an extension of the room. Like another piece of furniture. Right.
Something we put fish food into at night and turn the light off and on the next morning and that is pretty much it. Toby never has given it a thought.




Until.........................the full moon episode.

I walked into the living room a few days ago and this little Mister Nosy was ON the arm of the couch with his fat lips glued to the front of the tank and his paws up on top of the tank as if he wanted in or wanted them out.

You could hear me from down the street yell "TOBY..............." at which time he jumped like a rocket off the couch and made a beeline for his bed and under the cover he went.

Well of course I did not have my camera handy but I captured him doing what our kids would do when they were little and that is when they were in trouble they would hide from us thinking we would NEVER find them for their punishments or chastisements.



So I don't know about the animal world at YOUR house, but ours has been mighty strange and entertaining of late.