Parker has exchanged his baby blue eyes for a piercing pale yellow. As he gets older, that yellow with turn to orange and then, eventually, blood red. With spring approaching, he will soon start to drop all his brown juvenile feathers and grow in his vibrant adult plumage of orange and steel blue
Mercury, our red-tailed boa, hanging out in the kitchen. Yes, we sanitized everything after
A perfect example of teamwork between these two; hawk and dog working in unison to hunt. Kai got scraped off the rabbit during the initial grab. It started to run off, but Malia came in from the side and cut off its path, turning it back towards Kai for the catch. I’m so glad I happened to be filming!
Lurking in the shadows
My boy, Kai. We’ve been together over 7 years now as he starts his 8th hunting season.
ex-wife
“When I got my first cat, it changed me. There is something about holding a cat that makes your anger melt away. And if someone does something that upsets me—I have to remember my cat. I can’t keep my cat if I get into trouble.”
“I asked if Major Cabanaw had concerns for the safety of the cats. “Of course, we always want to ensure the safety of the cats, and the staff is great about keeping an eye out for them. But mostly, it’s the offenders keeping them safe. I have never once seen an offender kill his own cat. We screen them to be sure they have no history of animal abuse. But I’ll tell you this, there was a guy killed in here because he had spit soda pop onto someone else’s cat.””
Wow.
Cats now control the prisons. They now have an army.
wildphilosoraptor
This post went exactly where I expected. Well done.
i really love this program i feel like my heart is going to burst. there are so many great things about this program, these animals were going to be euthanized but they are being taken care of by people who need that kind of relationship for their mental well being. the prison system in america is messed up but this is definitely a step in the right direction. its such an innovative solution to both the issue of the negative social and psychological impact that prisons have and lowering the euthanization rates in animal shelters.
“we’re not just saving four-legged lives, we’re saving two-legged lives.”
It’s a proven fact that having inmates, even extremely violent criminals, care for a creature that is small and “helpless” has a positive impact on the criminals brain wiring. Where before they may have had little or even no regard for life, even their own, the animals foster a sense of empathy and responsibility. The inmate begins to consider the animals needs with every choice they make.
“I cant get into this fight cuse I’ll be put in solitary and my cat will miss me.”
“If I do some extra work in x area (laundry, kitchen, ect) I can earn credit for the store (many low security prisons have little general stores where they can buy things like cigarettes, chips, ect) and by Miss Molly that sweet catnip mouse.”
“Need to be on good behavior cuse when I get out I can give my cat a better life than this cell.”
And once out of prison, parolees have a reason to find legitimate work to get things their pet needs or get them special treats and toys. Often a parolee that just has to care for themselves will be able to justify either not getting something they themselves need or not working legitimately for those needs. When they do it for a pet, they often feel a real sense of accomplishment and believe their pet is proud of them for working hard.
Not to mention the effect animals have on depression and anxiety. Coming home to a pet that loves unconditionally after a hard day at work really makes it worth it.
THERE'S A SEQUEL!
MR. NOODLE
The adventure continues!
Awesome dad is awesome.
Hopefully the mother will get used to it
Spencer and I made it into the LA times! They did a story on us for the grand opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Hollywood, where we’ve been keeping pigeons away for over 4 years. The writer did a great job!
This ballsy ass squirrel is lucky that Spencer specializes in chasing birds, not rodents 🤣
Tortellini, our young Sulcata tortoise, enjoying some greens and a nice mud wallow on one of the last hot days of the year. Soon, the temperature will drop too much for her to stay outside and she’ll have to go into her wintering box
Nicodemus at the beach, keeping pesky gulls away from visitors
Roy on point (with help from Stile in one pic). Roy is a 4yo field bred English setter. He’s great at finding birds, and my hope for this season is that he’ll hunt cooperatively with my coopers hawk, Parker. If they can learn to work together, they’ll be unstoppable on quail.
Stiles (3yo English setter) and baby Parker, around 3 weeks old, spending time together at the park. I often took Parker there as a baby to get used to seeing people, bikes, dogs, and other things he might encounter later on. He always felt safe sitting next to “big brother” Stiles, though Stile wasn’t always a fan of his pesky antics
I started playing with oil pastels about a year ago, right before and while in lockdown. I’ve only had time for 4 serious pieces since starting, but I’m loving the medium so far and can’t wait to do more. These were all done with Conte a Paris oil pastels and Stabillo Carbothello pastel pencils on pastelmat paper.
1) Lanner falcon - done by following a tutorial from Jason Morgan
2) Cooper’s hawk on valley quail - original piece from personal reference photo
3) Aplomado falcon on chukar - original piece done on commission
4) Juvenile goshawk on scaled quail - original piece from a friends photo
What do you see over there, Parker? Apparently there’s something interesting behind me
The gang and I started a new job down near Malibu last week. It took them a while to get used to the waves (and it didn’t help that a big ocean storm system came through over the weekend!) but now they’re getting into the rhythm of it. No gulls will be stealing food on this beach while Shady, Spencer, and Melvin are on duty!
Pictures of Parker when he was around 10-16 days old
Malia is Parker’s noble steed