3/10/24 – I had my post-op appointment on Friday, 3/8 and I was relieved of my sling. He had me move my arm up to the side and in front of me and it hurt. I got it up a little and was told that was fine. I’ve been so good about wearing the sling and behaving appropriately. I’m pretty headstrong and so this was a challenge to obey the rules. The new instruction is to not do any heavy bicep lifting for a month or I will pop the tendon. When they got in with the camera, they saw that my rotator cuff was beautiful thanks to the surgery I had in 2015. The bicep was frayed and torn. They snipped it and secured it back to the bone. However, they drilled bone out of my clavicle to make anchors. Bone takes 6 months to heal and I’ll have pain for that long. Yesterday was tough but today was better. Sleeping is getting better too. I head back to work on Tuesday but will be taking it slow. At the grocery store I was able to lift the 20 pound bag of kitty litter from the shelf to inside my cart using only my left arm. Dang, I rock! LOL. But I did ask for help at the checkout and a young man loaded my car. I had a friend help me unload the litter and 16 pound bag of dry cat food when I got home. I’m not opposed to asking for help!
I am back interacting with Max for a short time. He got really excited last Tuesday 3/5 and scratched me a good one on my left arm. So, it’s 5 minutes or less with combing or any other type of interaction. Once I get strength back in my right arm, that cat will be getting his nails clipped! OMG, they are razors!
2/26/2024 – Well, here’s the skinny… Max has lost 3 pounds. Not only is he dropping weight (yay!) but he began shedding his winter coat mid-February which has never happened. I have been combing as often as I can but it’s endless undercoat fur! Typically, he begins his shed in March but the weather has been abnormal and I think that’s the cause of the early fur loss. Besides the lack of snow for Max, the other downside is I get shoulder surgery tomorrow and will not be able to use my right hand to comb him. I’ll be in a sling for a month they tell me. Kind of hard to interact with a lynx when one arm is bound to your side. I believe he would kick my butt and try to dominate me. Nothing major with the surgery, just bicep and cuff repair and a little joint cleaning. Though I have been stressing over it for a month. I have animals that depend on me and it will be challenging to do everything left-handed. Yes, I can ask for help from my friend but I have a routine and she has a life too. I won’t hesitate if I really need her. The surgeon said I will be golden by summer to haul that fat cat of mine around to programs. That’s good as I already have one in July and three in August lined up. We presented a program locally on the 21st. Max was very chilled until someone got too close to him and then he growled. Got to love him! LOL. Lil Bun Holland Lop was held and loved by the masses and Burt Parrot showed off by escaping from her travel cage more than once and was fed a seed by everyone. I must say, she ate so much that she needed a nap when we got home and it was only noon! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see children engaged with the animals and specimens. It makes what I do exceptionally rewarding.
They are here! Now published at lulu.com and available through their bookstore only. Four sizes with stunning covers, 100 lined pages on 60# cream paper. A journal will make for a wonderful gift and you’ll be supporting our mission.
1-1-24 It was a great start to the new year. Although Max was not happy about getting reduced meals, he was thrilled to be taken out for a walk. He got to roll in the grass, weeds and dirt. He behaved quite well on the lead. Thankfully, we are trying to lose weight because his harness barely fits. The floof is 51 pounds. He needs to lose 10 pounds by summer. I won’t be able to walk him daily because I work and get home when it’s dark, but hoping for at least a few times a week. My resolution started as well with 20 minutes on the treadmill. The organizing will start soon enough. Baby steps.
1-1-24 In serious thought
1-1-24 Notice the wet fur from rubbing on the ground
1-1-24 Wish this one was clearer, but Max is difficult to photograph. Not sure what he was looking at.
12/31/23 – I really wanted to post before now but the last few months have been non-stop living. I’m not even sure if I will remember everything that I originally wanted to post but I’ll try.
In August we participated in an Eco-Arts Festival in upstate NY. We volunteered our time to educate visitors about the Canada Lynx. You can view our Eco-Arts Festival.
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8-5-23 Max was very happy to be home!
Porkchop Hedgehog goes on a run around the backyard and Max watches with interest. – Porkchop on the Run
In September, Max went on a walk and fell in love with a tree – Tree Love. I was forced to put wheels under Max’s travel kennel because he weighed in at 47 pounds. On a Roll shows you exactly how I did it. We participated in a wildlife festival on the 23rd. Max snoozed through most of it but let a few people know they got too close to his kennel to take photos. He bluff charged and growled. At the end of the month, I found an ottoman sitting at the end of one’s driveway which was being tossed. I thought it would be wonderful for Max in his outside enclosure. I hauled it home and it still sits in the workshop because it’s great for me to sit on to interact with Max! Sorry Max, I stole it!
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October was a difficult month for both of us. As you can see Max seemed fine on September 28 but come October 1st, he wasn’t. I noticed it immediately when he refused to come when I called him for mealtime. In fact, when I went into his enclosure, he still would not come to me. I knew something was wrong. He stood when I approached him but his demeanor was subdued. I got the butt greeting but he was slow. When he laid down I noticed his breathing was labored and his stomach moving. He would shift his legs like he was uncomfortable. I couldn’t get him to eat or drink water and therefore trying to get laxative into him was going to be impossible. I called the vet and he suggested giving Max an enema and I was willing to try it. He also prescribed meds for nausea. I let Max lie on the ground and I sat with my back up against the fence with my legs over him. The procedure went quite well but when he realized there was a large amount of liquid up his butt, he immediately stood up and tried to poop it out. No Max no! LOL. I sat with him as much as I could putting heat packs on his back and belly. Massages were welcomed too. He passed the blockage on the 3rd and it wasn’t even loaded with fur or bones. It was just a large stool. Following it was days of diarrhea and lack of appetite. His behavior slowly improved but it took several weeks for him to get his appetite back fully. Now, he’s on a regime of cod liver oil one day and laxative two days later. So, every two days he gets one or the other. I have also decreased his chicken legs from 12 a week to 8 rotating them with his red meat in-between. Although Max was not 100%, we still participated in an outdoor event. He didn’t seem to mind as it was dark and cold but I was cold! Only October but still chilly for this old gal. By the end of October Max was back to normal and I was worry-free.
10-1-23 Max not feeling well
10-1-23 Max leans on my legs
10-2-23 Max getting some rest
10-7-23 Max feeling better to climb but appetite not back totally
10-10-23 Back to not eating, lumping around
10-12-23 Enjoying some catnip
10-14-23 Our outdoor event
10-21-23 Max enjoys fresh straw for his enclosure. He’s very happy!
November starts off well with fun and games with Max. I found an opossum sitting in the middle of the road on my way home from an awards ceremony on the 9th. It was dark but I stopped turning on my flashers praying no other cars came along. She was injured. I grab the towel in my car, picked her up and placed her on the floor. When I got home, I put straw in a kennel and placed her in it. I then called a wildlife rehab organization and they connected me with a rehabber who was willing to take her in. I drove 30 minutes to deliver her. She suffered trauma to her face but no brain damage. She had to have her eye removed and her jaw was broken. Her teeth were too small and not spaced appropriate, so pinning her jaw was not possible but the vet did what he could using stitches. She, Salem, will never be released due to being blind on the one side. So, the rehabber, Linda, will take care of her for the rest of her life. I hear she’s a sweet opossum and is doing quite well. I’m so happy that I saved her.
My cousin, Genevieve came down from Canada to help me finish Max’s wire roofing the weekend of the 11th. We trimmed and trimmed and got it finished… mostly. I worked on the rest by myself and still have the security entry to finish but it’s a huge weight off my shoulder knowing the snow will pass effortlessly through the wire without collecting & collapsing it.
About the same time I discovered good news. Poppy bunny had been licking her knees bald since summer but by increasing her medication, the fur started to grow. She is back to her cranky self! Hey, that’s good news.
We got a little snow on the 21st and Max got to play in it but it melted in no time.
Thanksgiving was nice. I spent a few hours with my best friend. Max got salmon, as always. It’s my special dinner treat for him. To view our video – Happy Thanksgiving
11-4-23 Stink eye from Max
11-4-23 Enjoying his catwalk
11-10-23 Poppy feeling better
11-14-23 Salem resting in her new home before her surgeryme
11-12-23 Wider openings for snow to fall through
11-19-23 Just chilling
11-19-23 Contentment
December started off with a bang! Max needed a new freezer. Ugh! I had just gotten 150 pounds of meat several weeks before. Well, I ordered and it was delivered the first Saturday but I had to wait around for 4 hours. However, we are all set now! The rest of the month was busy organizing my last after-school class at the museum, getting cards out and decorating the house. I was not in a festive mood. I really can’t pinpoint why. I was just not feeling it this year. Christmas was quiet. I did chores. I baked cookies and watched movies. Christmas Eve I gave Max his toys – Christmas 2023. Most recently, we received a gift of a new loading ramp. I liked the old but it had bumps at the top of the ramp and Max’s wheels would get caught on them. Such challenges! I put on our Amazon wish list a new one which didn’t have the bumps and was wide enough but I didn’t realize that it’s fabric covered. Luckily, it works fine and you can see for yourself with Max’s new loading ramp video.
Now we are up to date with our New Year Eve 2023 video. Max has one resolution… to lose 10 pounds by summer. I have two… to lose 10 pounds this year and to get better organized which includes tossing paperwork, selling collectibles and better use of my time.
10-30-23 – I apologize for being absent but it’s been extremely busy for us (me & the animals). I have news & videos but will share that when I get a few things straightened up around here.
Right now, I wanted to tell you about Lulu’s 20% discount off books and calendars. BTW, I was thinking about doing a calendar on Max but you would pay just as much for a calendar as you would for his paperback book. 400 photos verses 12 is a much better value. Don’t you think? However, I might add notebooks as a product since everyone uses them. We’ll see. Anyways….
The Early Bird Gets 20% Off! Seize this moment and save big on books and calendars! Use the codePREVIEW20to save 20% on all print products at checkout. This code is only good untilNovember 3rd. Don’t let it wiggle away!
For our upstate NY followers, on August 5th, Max & I will be educating & exhibiting at the Maintain the Chain Eco-Arts Festival in Old Forge, NY from 10am to 2pm. This is a free festival at the View Arts Center, 3273 State Route 28. This festival will launch the week-long MTC event and will feature a variety of hands-on arts and science projects for all ages. Food trucks will be on-site for those who work-up an appetite.
I don’t know about you but my life gets busy during the summer when I work full time as a museum educator/curator and part-time wildlife educator and then I get to come home to lawn mowing and it’s not a small yard in the suburbs. It’s 1.5 acres. There’s weed-whacking, gardening upkeep and house chores. Let’s not forget the 14 animals I need to love, feed, and clean caging (for some). There are projects, lots of projects. Well, all that didn’t stop me from acquiring a new little ambassador named Porkchop from Baker Street Hedgehogs (Instagram Baker_street_hedgehogs) last week on July 10. Porkchop was born April 2 and weighed 13.4 ounces when I received her! The little girl is only 14 weeks old and a little porker. She’s a sweet but shy hedgie. At times, she’ll peek her nose out of the spiny little ball and give me a look and then sometimes, not. I’m trying to litter train her. Haha, that’s not going to happen. She went the bathroom in her snuggle sack and so I’ve removed it to give her a little hut with a piece of soft material in it for her to crawl under. I tried a heating pad which Smudge and Velvet liked but none of my hedgies over the past 20 years needed one. She didn’t want it. Go figure. Perhaps in the winter when the house is 68 degrees, she might like a little warmth under her. I do know she loves her wheel. She runs all night and poops & pees in it. By the way, every hedgehog I’ve ever had has done this. They are primitive little creatures that haven’t changed much in 15 million years. I’m always amazed when people have trained them to use the bathroom in one spot. Baker Street Hedgehog says hers are trained. I’ve never been that lucky. Porkchop went to work with me on the 11th and snapped the cutest little photo. I brought her outside yesterday but the weather has been so awful. It was sunny but steamy with humidity that kept fogging up my lenses. She was a spiny little ball but on occasion would stick her nose out. She was easier to see when I put her on the walkway but then she started darting towards under the porch. Oh no! Watch Porkchop the video. Here are some photos.
Porkchop Hedgehog
7/17/23 – I forgot to add her baby photos courtesy of Baker Street Hedgehogs. As you can see from the photo of three, she was the biggest of the babies. I love her name… it fits! LOL
Lulu Press is offering a 15% discount off your order of their printed products. That’s right, you can save 15% off Max’s book. Shop the bookstore and save 15% when you use promo code PORTFOLIO15 at checkout. Offer is good through July 14.
When my cousin, Genevieve was here last month, she brought a Jolly Egg ball for Max. Her dog, Cleo, didn’t want it. I finally got around to giving it to Max on June 4th and posted the video on the 11th. He was interested in it at first rubbing his scent on the ball but preferred to interact with me instead. I tried to play with him and he played a bit. I have found it in different places within his enclosure but I think Max prefers a toy he can carry around. He loves his fuzzy balls. Here are a few photos and you can watch Max’s Egg Ball video on YT.
They are here! Now published at lulu.com and available through their bookstore only. Four sizes with stunning covers, 100 lined pages on 60# cream paper. A journal will make for a wonderful gift and you’ll be supporting our mission.
Wildlife Education by Bernie 
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