Tag: Wildlife Education by Bernie

And the beat goes on

On By Wildlife Education by BernieIn C. Lynx, General News2 Comments

6-7-25 So, it’s been a minute. Max turned 14 on May 4th. He always get a special meal and this year he received a little hedgehog plush toy that has a ball inside. However, it has a nose that pokes out from its face and if you know Max as I know Max, he would chew it off. So, I pushed it inward. It worked! He carries it around mewing little noises and the little guy is still intact.

With a birthday donation from Patricia in Switzerland and Stephen in Oregon, Max’s area is getting a little overhaul. He’s marked the ground around the bench where I sit for our videos so much that the smell is overwhelming and also around the corner cubby and back panels. I removed all the winter straw recently and have been waiting for a decent day to start. Gee, it has done nothing but rain here in upstate NY every weekend. A few days when it wasn’t raining, it was wicked hot. It doesn’t leave much time working around my job and taking care of the homestead. Once I get a good day, I will loosen the soil, lime it, put down some new top soil and fresh mulch on top. After this, the covered area next to the garage where his bathroom is located will be next. My sister is coming up from Florida on the 11th for a two-week visit. This will be a perfect time to tackle this project because I’ll have a lot of time. She won’t miss me for a couple hours.

Another project is once again retrofitting his travel kennel. I don’t like the large wheels and will be going back to the smaller ones. I will need to use 6 of them but at least they lock in place. Poor Max would slide around the back of the car if I didn’t have him packed in tightly.

I would love to get new rough sawn wood cat walks but they need to be cut and painted. I still have rusted panels to treat and paint, so that project will need to be next year.

I’ve limited the number of programs for this summer. I’m slowing losing my mojo and I know Max is slowing down, too. I’ll be undergoing surgery on my left ring finger in August and recovery is a month. I won’t be doing anything physical during that time while it heals.

All the other animals are doing fine. Igor’s beak will never be normal again. The only spot that is growing is the very tip and its growing hooked. My poor little dove. I could kill Burt Parrot but she didn’t injure him on purpose. As they say, accidents happen. I continue to tube-feed him at night to maintain his weight. Some nights are easier than others and he is such a happy bird!

Here are some birthday pics of Max. Also, there’s a video on YT – Max 14th Birthday

Max & Bernie

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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.

Love a good stretch 2/25/24
I refuse to look at you 2/26/24
Majestic Max 2/26/24
Tis the Life 2/26/24

Spring it on!

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6/5/2023 – Will life ever get any easier? Spring has been crazy and we haven’t gotten to summer yet! Nothing too serious, just busy! Here’s some back news…

The weather turned warm with sunshine on April 8 and I was able to begin working on Max’s new wire roofing using 1×4 rough-sawn pine wood for braces. First, I needed to paint them and I used every partial can of rustoleum I had which is why some are black, white and almond. 🤣 Do I care? NO! Burt Parrot supervised. It was brief as she got bored and headed for the steps to be let inside. 

lil Bun 4-10-23Lil Bun 4-10-22April 10 marked my one-year with Lil Bun Holland Lop. He turned a year old on February 14th but this was the day I drove 4 hours to pick him up. He is a very sweet bun!

A hot day on April 13 and the security camera caught Max chilling on the floor.

4-13-23

On April 16 I was able to complete the first of many sections to Max’s wire roofing. This 5×15 section had plastic conduit piping, chicken wire and 2×4 welded wire. I removed the piping and chicken wire and added the board braces. My main goal is to have a secure wire roofing with large enough openings that will allow snow to fall through without accumulating and collapsing the roof.

The last of April is a blur as I was finishing up my weekly after-school programs at the museum with the last one on May 4. My focus was educating youth about the local plants and animals. I had a really good group of kids! 

May 4 – Happy 12th Birthday Max! We celebrated with salmon, cardboard and a toy! See his video – Happy 12th Birthday! The photo on the left is Max at 12 and right is at 6. So handsome!

12 years old
6 years old

IMG_5241 (2)(Copy)The next day we visited the vets for an all-out checkup. Max did well. It was quick and professional. He even came out of sedation in a timely manner so I could go to work. The results? Improved values and he’s quite healthy. I will try to work on getting some of that weight off along with his fur. Still combing! Here’s a photo of Max and his vet, Dr. Bo and you can visit the Health Check 2023 video for more information & photos. BTW, yes Max is sedated and his eyes are opened!

5-6-23 (Copy)Another section of wiring done on May 6. This time at the other end of Max’s 60-foot enclosure. Yay!

I had been doing a lot of thinking about the grass in Max’s enclosure. The small push mower blows too much grass around because of the plexiglass shields, although it’s quick and efficient. The rotary mower was not efficient at all. The grass had to be bone dry and you had to have enough push speed to rotate the blades. So, I sold it really cheap. I purchased an electric weedwhacker with wheels. I pop off the wheel assembly and can use it like a regular weeder. It’s also does edging. I love it and it does a really good job. Though it’s more work and takes additional time but at least it doesn’t freak out Max or get me filthy dirty.

5-9-23 3-in-1 Weedwhacker
5-9-23 Max loving fresh cut grass
5-9-23 A great job!

May 19-20 I had Starling issues. I found two out of the nest prematurely and another two dead in a nest. I believe more than one family was nesting in my porch eave. It was very sad but the two alive finally fledged with their mothers. I got a few good shots of mom feeding baby and a closeup of the baby as he was waiting for mom.

Other happenings were donating extra caging and attending a wildlife rehabbers gala. I donated one of Max’s books for their silent auction. I also decided to “give back” by attending an Eco-Arts Festival in August to help promote the protection of our local environment and wildlife. Max will be there as ambassador, of course.

Mid-May, Max received fresh catnip from my friend Deb. Oh boy, he loved it! On the same day, Ruby Chinchilla surprised me by standing on the scale motionless and allowed me to snap a photo! She even let me put a hat on her. 😂 I have been weighing her monthly because she was losing weight. However, she seems to have settled in and is gaining.  Her and Pearl are not much better about being picked up and held. It’s a challenge and sometimes a flight around the cage. I don’t like stressing them out, so I haven’t been persistent. They have good days and bad when it comes to being friendly.

So here we are to the end of May with my cousin Genevieve visiting from Canada. We had some outings and also worked on Max’s roofing. I had finished installing the board braces by the 22nd, the weekend before. Of course, it turned out to be in the 90’s on the 27 & 28 and I had to buy 3 a/c’s! However, in spite of the depression about air conditioner costs, I was happy to have finished all the wiring. (Yay!) That’s creating a roofing with 8×8 openings. Max sees the wire to eliminate his curiosity and the openings are large enough to prevent snow/ice buildup. Up and down the ladder and working over my head with the sore shoulders took a toll on this old girl. My cousin is 20 years younger, so it was a easier for her! I also painted his two cat walk boards. What’s left to do? I need to cut the 2×4 welded wire into larger openings in the three enclosures and re-wire the 10×15 area. The 2×4’s in that area and the double-entry safety area will need to be rotated to their sides which will allow the boards to be stronger with heavy snow. It’s always something and I hope that this solution will allow me to enjoy winter more instead of being out in it pushing snow off his roofing and repairing it. I have all summer and fall to get this done. If I take an hour every weekend, it should be a piece of cake. Oh, I would love some cake right now! LOL

Ta-da! New wire roofing instead of chicken wire
Very happy! Next to cut the 2×4 openings into 4×4 or larger for snow
Bernie & Genevieve

Stay tuned for some pics and a video of Max and his red egg ball. 

New Year, New Goals

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1/17/23 – Happy New Year!

Oh boy, it has been crazy here… I’ll skip whining about all the negative and get to the positives. Ruby Chin has gained a bit of weight and is getting more friendly. Smokey old kitty is hanging in there. Actually, all the critters and Max are doing fine.

I was given an Owltron security camera to review and I love it. So much that I recently purchased one. Now I can check in on the animals when I’m at work and even speak to them. It’s encrypted, motion detection & tracking, 2-way audio, supports a micro SD card or cloud storage, night vision, panoramic patrol, takes photos or video. I’ve been setting it for local recording of events (motion detection) and then continuous video. I wanted to make sure Ruby was eating but it doesn’t seem to recognize the chin’s movements even though they are about 8 feet from the camera. Whereas my Stealth wildlife cam outside can detect a mouse at that distance. Sometimes the cats don’t trip it either but but the other day I was at work and got one ding after another. I looked at the notifications and all I saw was Tigger kitty sleeping on the couch. Perhaps he rolled over or perhaps Lil Bun was running around his cage. Not sure. It does better in the daytime than in the IR mode. Maybe it’s better at picking up movement from a dog than a cat. It sure picks up my movement! I’ll be creating a video this weekend after I check out a few more features. Downside… no user manual. There’s instructions on how to set it up and that was easy but nothing about what icon means what on each screen and how to use it. They have a couple videos and FAQs that you have to find time to ask the right question for the right answer. I’m not a techy kind of person, so it takes me a bit longer to learn stuff. Plus, I’m busy and it would be more useful to have an online user manual that I can flip through and learn all the stuff. I mean it has a “siren” icon… what the heck? I’m not touching that! BUT it’s a peace of mind for me and I can check in on my home & animals. I mentioned to my contact that they should consider creating one for outdoors. Guess what? They are working on it already! Ok, now I will be able to spy on Max! Although, he sleeps all day. By the way, the videos and photos on the SD card are encrypted and no way of transferring them to your computer. I guess that’s a good thing but what if I want to share? Well, when I playback a recording, I just record it using the app, and then it’s saved to the album on my phone. Yay. Same goes for the photos of events (motion detection). Like this butt you see… Theo 😂 Video: Wildlife Bernie’s little Owl(tron)

7b2c573ce04fcc4dfa30fc4d95445773

And in other news… Remember I told you that I wanted to do another version of Max’s book? I should say, another format. I’m working on the abridged version but it’s taking me longer than I anticipated. I had cancelled my Adobe software for editing pdf files and lucky me they offered me a lower monthly fee. So, I reinstated it for a year. Though, before the end of last year, I published another format of his book. Yes, it’s a softcover with standard color on lighter paper, and identical to the first. The best news, $22.92 (USD) in cost. So, his premium hardcover is still $49.95 but this is more affordable for his fans if they aren’t particular about the quality of the photos. Standard isn’t bad. They are still beautiful photos, just not premium on glossy thick paper. The abridged, of course, will be less than $22 since I’ll be downsizing the photos. That’s the tough part… deciding on which photos to delete. I love his photos! And more good news, my cousin Genevieve’s sister wants to translate his book into French. So, there’ll be a premium, standard and abridged in French. How exciting is that? I had to purchase 10 ISBNs but will need them. Every time you change the format, even if it’s just the cover from hard to soft, you need a different ISBN. Both books can be ordered on Lulu.com. This is what the page will look like when you search for I am Max. They use “paperback” but I prefer soft cover as it sounds more professional. I will update Max’s website with this information shortly.

Screenshot 2023-01-17 231131

Lastly, as it’s getting late and I really need some sleep and I rarely get to bed before midnight anymore… here’s a photo of Max from 1-2-23. My camera has been repaired and is on its way back to me. I can’t wait. I’ve missed it. Hoping to get some good shots of Max. Although, the old one has been suitable.

Max 1-2-23

New Chins

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8-18-22 – I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to post that I got two new chinchillas to be ambassadors for my program. I was told they were friendly. Haha. Where do I start? I drove 3 hours one way to pick them up from a guy who had more than the two. When I first contacted him, Coco had just passed away. He didn’t tell me how many he had but said there were male and females with ages from 4 months to 3 years old. The colors were beige, regular grey and black. I decided to wait to give myself time to grieve and decide which Saturday I would have time to pick one up. I did a lot of thinking and contacted others that had a chinchilla to rehome. One did not like to be held. I was told that the species didn’t like it. Ha! I had two chinchillas ever and both loved to be held. I decided that perhaps I should get two chins to keep each other company. When I was ready I contacted the gentleman again and he had two left and both were bonded. He said they were siblings. As for age, one was almost a year and the other about 1.5 years old. They were siblings? Both are standard grey. On July 9, he loaded them into my carrier and when I got down the road to a pitstop, I pulled the little one out. She was very squirmy and her fur was greasy which meant that she had not dust-bathed. I named them Ruby and Pearl as suggested by my good friend Christine. Ruby is the baby who had mats in her fur on her backside. Pearl’s fur was greasy but no mats. Ruby doesn’t know how to dust bathe but Pearl jumps right in. Both DO NOT like to be held and Ruby is a nipper. Yes, she bites. Pearl will lunge at me and try to bite me when I reach in. It takes a lot of logistics to fetch them. I’m thinking dropping a towel over and scooping them up will be the easiest. Sometimes Ruby will constantly squirm and nip when I hold her. Pearl is a little better about being held. Both will happily take a cranraisin (dried cranberry) from my fingers. I try to hold them daily and talk to them every time I walk by their cage. Neither are litter-trained and will pee on the shelves. Ugh! I decided that they needed a new cage. The one was 10 years old and the shelving had been chewed on by many. The new one was a little pricey but is perfect for them. I have seen them using the bottom tray as a litter pan on occasion. I mean, chins will poop everywhere and that’s fine. Their urine is strong and it needs to always be in the bottom tray and not on the shelving. Sooner or later, hopefully we’ll get there. Right after getting them home I took a comb to Ruby’s mat. Underneath the mats were sores. As of now, the fur has been growing back nicely. She also had a sore behind one ear which has healed too. Because Ruby doesn’t know how to roll in a dust house, I got a sugar shaker and will shake the dust over her and fluff her fur. This will keep her soft, fluffy and greaseless. Sometimes afterwards she will roll on the shelf to get the dust off. That’s how she should roll to get the dust on! Anyways, these two are challenging.

Ruby Chinchilla
Pearl Chinchilla
Their new condo

The Book

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I am max coverThe book is done! Yes, I finished Max’s book two days ago and have ordered my proof copy which will probably arrive in a few weeks. You know how it goes with printing and shipping. Once I give it a look over, then I will hit the “publish” button and it will be available to everyone via print on demand! Please pray I don’t need to do any edits. It is a bear.

It has taken me 8 months to compile stories about Max’s life over the last 10 years. Then I had thousands of photos to go through to match to the stories. I have had to purchase two new software programs in order to get it done correctly and still I was told by the printer that my photos were not 300ppi. But dpi’s and ppi’s are so confusing. I made sure that every photo was 300dpi and finding the correct answer on line is difficult. I also had to add additional gutter space because of nine pages over their guidelines. So, did I add too much space or just enough? I have my fingers crossed that it will be okay. If not, well I will just cry…a lot…but will get back to it and figure out the whys and how’s and just fix the darn thing and re-upload.  Be patient.

Wildlife Festival

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12-25-15 3356 cover copy (1)If you live in New York state or any of the neighboring states, Max and I will be at this Wildlife Festival on Saturday, September 18 from 10-4. Burt Parrot and Smudge Hedgehog will be with us. There will be lots of North American animal artifacts for touching and learning. Come one, come all. Here’s the link to their Facebook event – Blenheim-Gilboa Wildlife Festival

New Freezer

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8/16/21 – Well, I guess it was going to happen sooner or later. Max’s upright freezer for his package meals is on the fritz. It is old…manufactured in 2008 and I got it in 2011 for him. I looked online everywhere for a replacement 5.1 cu. ft. upright freezer and nothing. So, I just ordered a 5 cu ft chest freezer from Amazon and it will be here in a week. I wasn’t expecting this but luckily I haven’t gone to get 200 pounds of meat yet and therefore I can switch the meat I processed last week to the chest freezer which is currently pretty empty except for his chicken. Fingers crossed that the new one will last as long as this one!