I'm gonna do it...I'm going to Longines Grand Slam of Show Jumping...

First off, I've got to say how much I love and appreciate Southwest Airlines.  Without their policy of not charging re-booking fees, I would still be going to Dallas in October.  hahaha.  I think this trip has changed 6 times now, including the most current.  Originally, the trip was for San Diego.  I had the plane ticket and the car reserved, but then I decided to change it to Dallas.   I've never been there before and I was going to see some of the zoos they have there.  I had managed to get in on that super awesome airfare sale last month and a round-trip ticket from Phoenix to Dallas-Love Field only cost me about $150.  Then, I decided I wanted to see zoos AND lighthouses because I haven't visited a lighthouse in quite a few years now, which is horrible for a lighthouse nut like me.  So I changed the trip to San Francisco.  I already had the days off from work so changing the destination was the easy part.  hahahaha.  Somewhere along the lines, though, I decided not to go to San Francisco and started considering Los Angeles for the big show jumping competition the last week of September.  So I changed my flight and car reservations again.  But then I got to thinking of San Diego and how it's been about 4 years, I think, maybe only 3, since I've been there and I really wanted to see the new Tiger exhibit and Lemur exhibit.  So I changed it again and had to pay the difference of $57 because San Diego is super expensive right now.  Oh, and the new trip was shortened to overnight so I could afford to stay in my favorite bay-front hotel.  Now, don't ask me what got me changing my mind again, but I did.  Back to Los Angeles.  I can visit 2 zoos I've never been to before plus return to LA Zoo, maybe.  I may just make that day a goof-off day where I go visit the old Griffith Park Zoo ruins and some of the filming spots of the show Emergency!  I'll have to decide that later.  Sunday, however, Sunday will be spent in Long Beach...

I've already changed my plane ticket and car rental and then I did something daring.  Something that will lessen the likelihood of me changing my mind again...I bought a ticket to the show.  The Grand Prix is Sunday afternoon and if my favorite competitors attend, that will be the day I get to see them.  Since it's on the heels of the Olympics in Rio, my favorite riders...okay, just one: Beezie Madden...may choose not to compete.  That would suck, for sure, but come on.  If you had the opportunity to see your favorite rider compete in person, wouldn't you?  I missed getting to see them in Las Vegas last year so this is my 2nd chance, although it's only show jumping so no dressage riders.  I've posted on the official Facebook page asking if there'll be a list of riders intending to compete and I've also asked on the official John Madden Sales page if they knew if she would be going.  Now I just need to wait for one of them to answer.  JMS is pretty good at answering questions so I imagine I'll hear from them before the Longines people.  I could've bought a less expensive ticket and wouldn't have minded quite as much if I decided not to go because then I could just "eat" the cost, but I decided to go for the *slightly* (by $80) more expensive one because it comes with a free parking pass, a program, a small gift and the seats are right by the jumping ring (it's indoors so no specific arena like an outdoor competition).  Plus, I'll have access to the Prestige Village where the riders will warm up before their classes and "hang out" so there might be a teeny, tiny chance of actually getting to meet Beezie.  That would be so cool.  But I'm not hanging my hat on that happening so I won't be disappointed if it doesn't.  I think it's just going to be a fun experience overall, though.  I haven't booked my hotel yet, that's next and takes a little more research than car or plane tickets.

photo from JMS Facebook

Well, darn.  I went out to Jack In the Box at lunchtime and just took everything out and they got it wrong.  I ordered French Fries and I got some kind of sandwich instead.   I'm not sure what's on it.  I'm scared.  hahaha.

Last night we had a pretty good storm.  My neighborhood got mostly thunder and lightning, but other areas got tons of flooding because it rained solidly for a good hour or so.  I think they said there was 3 inches in some spots.  But they had to close a major interstate due to flooding when 3 cars got stuck under the over-pass.  Yikes!  Usually when there's a big storm, the Scottsdale Greenbelt gets most of the press time because of flooding, but I-17 flooding like that had all the reporters out there.

Well, I'd better get back to work.  Have a good one!

Breyerfest has officially started... also known as...

The Friday In July Where Brenda Gets Very Little Work Done.

Breyerfest started a bit early this year since it's a NAN year in Kentucky (even numbered years) so a lot of people arrived on Monday in preparation, either because they're showing or to take advantage of the extra people for room sales, I don't know. Most people show up on Wednesday or Thursday because Friday is the day the 3 Day Weekend starts and nobody wants to miss any of the fun. Except me. Well, it's not that I *want* to miss it, I just have a problem with the 4 hour flights and the social anxiety that goes along with traveling from Arizona to Kentucky and then be squished with 7,000 of my closest new best friends. hahahaha. Anyway, so every year Breyerfest has a surprise horse. A mold nobody knows what is until the very first Special Run line goes through at 10am and someone buys it and reveals what it is. Then, there's the additional wait to see what colors it comes in and if it's only available in matte or glossy or both. The past couple of years they've done both and have switched it up which is more hard to come by. Three years ago, the glossy was the hardest to get, then it was the matte and then it was glossy again. Well, it looks like they've done it a little different this year in that only one of the 4 colors is difficult to come by and it's in matte, which is fine because I want to glossy version anyway. I'm not a huge fan of glossy horses, but this one looks much better as a glossy.

Every year there's always speculation as to what mold will be used. They try to figure out the odds based on what has been used before, what hasn't been used before and how it could possibly tie in to the theme of the current year...Carnival/Rio is the 2016 theme. Well, a few people guessed the Esprit mold and that's what it ended up being. One in a funky, clear-ish decorator color and the other 3 in more realistic ones.

The one I want is the Tobiano that is 2nd from the right.  The photo shows him in Glossy and that's what I want.  The palomino on the left has dapples and the black Overo is very flashy-looking, but I want to Tobiano.  I prefer minimal white on my paints.  I have a pick-up person who will be hopefully obtain me that model and another one I have asked for.  Hopefully she'll be able to get it for me.  I don't know how many customers she has this year, but she has 2 people helping her so hopefully between the 3 of them I'll get the Tobiano.  If I'd bought 2 of the 3 Day tickets, I could've gotten the Overo as well, but I had forgotten you could only get one Surprise model per ticket and I wasn't depending on the Surprise being something I collected.  And I don't collect the Esprit model, but the color is something I can't pass up.

I wish model in the photo was horizontal rather than vertical, but oh well.  And then the deco is funky but I don't like decos unless it's a realistic pattern but in a fun color, like a silver dapple they did a couple of years ago

But the reason why I don't get much work done on opening day of Breyerfest is because I'm too excited to see what the surprise model is and then I get caught up in all the hub-bub on Blab and I don't get my work done.  Well, not much of it anyway.  Right now I'm on lunch break so I'm safe for another 40 minutes.  Hurray for getting an hour on payday!  I wasn't going to take lunch until 11.30am, but decided I couldn't wait the extra 30 minutes.  hahaha. 

Tune back in on Monday and I'll share some neat photos of NAN that an attendee gave me permission to use.  I'd like to do it today, but I do need to actually work and blogging with a bunch of pictures from my iPad is no fun so I'll do it on Monday when I can use my work computer again.

We may already know the theme for 2017.  Someone apparently took a picture of a digital sign outside the Kentucky Horse Park that shows the theme and dates, but the picture I saw was of the display on the back of the camera and was posted to Instagram so I'm not entirely 100% sure it's correct, but apparently it's going to be Gateway to India and the dates are July 14-16.  If it IS Gateway to India, and I should know for sure come Sunday when it's usually made public by Breyer, then I'm going to try very hard to go since there's a very good chance there'll be at least one Marwari, which would be ironic since I posted on a Facebook group yesterday that I'd love the opportunity to be "turned loose" with a Marwari and my camera and now I may actually get a chance.  I guess it depends on how easily Breyer or KHP will be able to get one to have on-site for a few days

Look at those ears!  Don't ask me when or how I became enamored of this breed, but I can't resist those ears.  hahaha.  I'm torn, though.  I know quite a few people on Blab that would like to meet me in person finally and Breyerfest would be the best place to do it.  Every year they keep hoping I'll make the trek out and every year I have to disappoint us because of the flight.  So what do I do...?  Do I let them know that I'll be doing my best to make it next year or do I not say anything and then surprise them?  If I don't say anything, then they won't know if I chicken out again, but if I don't tell them, I'd hate to lose out on an opportunity to meet them because they didn't have "time for me"... this will take some thought.

An update on my awesome water bottle.  In my last post I "complained" about the plastic ring that keeps the lid on the bottle because it doesn't lay flat when you take the lid off, but rather sticks out straight.  So, I cut the connecting piece off.  But then I didn't have any convenient way of carrying it.  Oh wait!  I know!  Maybe the lid on the Hydro Flask is the same as the lid on the Klear Bottle and it'll fit.  So I brought it in to work and...hurray!  It fits!

Now I just need to figure out a way to get the plastic ring off the neck of the bottle because it bugs me being there.  hahaha.

Okay, I guess that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Just some randomness and a small vent

Let me get the vent out of the way first. On Sunday, July 17th, I reached my 15th anniversary with the company I work for. To me, it was a big deal, but apparently I'm the only one who cares. My supervisor came by my desk on Wednesday to give me my certificate, but he thought my anniversary was Wednesday so I guess it should come as no surprise that my anniversary came and went with no acknowledgement other than the certificate. None of my co-workers knew. Nobody knew. In the past, our supervisor would bake a cake and have a special unit meeting so the person could be properly acknowledged for their milestone. I believe Wilma got a cake and special meeting for her 15th back in May. Our supervisor's 15th was in June, but he doesn't go for the attention. Normally I don't, either, but this time I wouldn't have minded. I was going to casually bring it up in a meeting with our lead today, but she is out of the office and postponed it until next week and by then it would be silly to bring it up. I don't really care about the meeting or the cake, I just want my milestone to be recognized, you know? Twice I have written an email to my supervisor asking about it, but twice I deleted it and never sent it. I'm torn between bringing it up and just letting it go, but I can't figure out a way to word an email where it won't sound whiney and greedy or whatever. I don't know.

Breyerfest is this week. Friday is when it starts. I wish I was there, but I chose not to go. I can't really afford it anyway since I'm still paying the hospital for my 8 hour stay. I've got a long way to go because I can only afford so much per month and still be able to get my other bills paid. I have too many credit cards. hahaha. I did pay one off the other day, though, and will pay another next month. That will help. A little. The fact of the matter is, even though I have a good paying job on paper, once Uncle Sam and the state are done with it, my take home pay is disgusting. Plus, I have rent and car payments. blah blah blah. Maybe next year I can go to Breyerfest. I had a trip planned for the fall to San Francisco, but I'm probably going to have to cancel it because I remembered my car registration is due the same month. Ouch. I haven't gone anywhere since Las Vegas in 2014. I used to travel quite a bit and now I don't at all. No, there's nothing stopping me from driving somewhere. That would sure cut down on costs, but I'd be limited in where I could drive to by myself so I don't bother. Oh well. Anyway, Breyer's Special Run models aren't very exciting this year. I have a pick-up person who's going to get me a couple of models, including the Surprise horse, which we won't know what it is until Friday morning. Hopefully it's a mold I like. Anyway, because it's also a NAN year for Kentucky, there's people at Breyerfest already. People write mini blogs about the trip so it's almost like being there and I watch the "Breyerfest Adventure" videos on YouTube and then there's the Haul videos. Those can be fun.

Now, I want to talk about this awesome water bottle I got off of Amazon last week. Recently I had gone to Whole Foods and ended up buying a Hydro Flask. It's made of 18/8 stainless steel and is vacuum insulated. The first time I used it at work, it wasn't a pretty sight. I had chosen to get the 40oz over the 32oz because, well, it holds more water. But it was too tall to fit under the ice dispenser at work, so I went to Amazon to find a 32oz one since Whole Foods isn't convenient enough to go back and get another. But anyway, I hadn't finished my water so I took it home and ended up leaving it in my room. When I went back a few hours later, it was still half full of ice!!! So, like I said I went to get another one on Amazon and this time I got a Klear Bottle brand because it was a little less expensive, but it had the same features as the Hydro Flask. Yesterday I tested it out, filling it with ice about 7am.

Approximately 6 hours later, it still had plenty of ice...

I then forgot about it and accidentally left it on my desk overnight. As of 7am this morning, it still had some ice and was still very cold

The only thing I really don't like about it is the doo-hickey that keeps the cap attached to the bottle. I doesn't bend back very far so it kind of gets in the way, but I guess I can live with that.

Our monsoon season has finally decided to show up. It used to be, the season started when the dew point hit a certain point, but now they decided on a specific date in June. As per usual during the summer, you get a build up of clouds nearly every evening, but usually it doesn't produce any storms, but last night, boy did it. While watching the news, a wall of dust came creeping in and the news even had live video of a microburst. Not up close, of course, but from a distance, which was pretty cool. For awhile we weren't sure we were going to get anything, but then about 6:30pm or so, the winds really picked up and there was thunder and finally some rain. It only lasted 10 minutes, but it's better than nothing, right? I think so.

Well, I'd better get back to work. I hope everyone is doing well and if you're going to Breyerfest, have fun!

Boy, am I in trouble! (not really, but sort of)

I don't know how it started, but once it did it has all kind of snowballed and it's still going.

I like cats.  Period.  I like them a lot. 

I like domestic cats

I love wild cats, both big...

And small...

I like Siamese cats...

Bengals...

And cats with Tortoiseshell markings...although this one may be considered a calico...without seeing more of her body, it's difficult to tell with utmost certainty...

And cats with unusual markings are just awesome!

I care very much about cats and their welfare.  I'm sure some of you will remember a few weeks back when I blogged about a lady who had two cats she was sure were purebred Siamese and she allowed them to breed.  Well, it's happened again.  On purpose, again.  This time they had 5 kittens and things quickly fell apart after that on the message board.

But that's not what THIS post is about.  THIS post is about me and my problem.  I have a co-worker that I'm friends with.  She is in another department and they're still at the other building so we communicate at work through emails and after work through Facebook and emails.  She has cats.  I have cats, but she HAS CATS.  Like, 9, I think?  She lives in a house and they're well-cared for and she's not a hoarder or anything.  She just really likes cats.  Anyway, in the past few months, she has lost two of her cats very unexpectedly and in recent weeks she has started looking at shelters online for potential new cats to add to her existing Glaring (a group of cats is a Glaring or a Clowder) and she started sending me names to look on the websites of ones she's interested in.  Part of the problem, though, is the distance with which she's willing to travel to get them.  She doesn't like to drive so she's missed out on ones that are further away than she wants to drive.  So I told her I would drive her to whatever shelter the cat is at.  I don't think she took me seriously at first.  After all, why would I do something like that?  Well, that's just the type of person I am.  I think she's finally realizing I'm serious, though, but that's not the point here.  The point is, when she gives me a name to check out, I have to look at the other cats.  You know, to see what is available.  I have 2 cats of my own, as stated earlier.  I am very happy with my two cats.  But...I still look.  And look.  And look.  Whenever my co-worker gives me a name, I look at what shelter location it's at then look to see if one of the ones I'm interested at is at the same one or I will look for one at the same location.  I can't help myself.  Even when I'm petting Temecula, I tell myself I don't need another cat and that I should focus on making the lives of my 2 existing ones the best that I can.  But then I look at the picture of Del Torro.   He's the Bengal shown above.  I've never seen a Bengal at a shelter and his adoption fee is low.  A couple of shelters have Siamese cats, which are my "heart cat breed".  That's kind of like a Heart Horse, but with a breed rather than a specific animal.  And they all have tortoiseshells.  When I lose a kitty, I don't tend to replicate the color with my next one.  I've had 3 Domestic Shorthair cats with grey tabby markings, but none of them have been the same.  CC had more of a brown tint.  Chevy was grey and black.  Abbie is grey and black, but has a lot of white, too.  TW was all white and Temecula is white with black splotches.  Royal was a ginger tabby so unless I find one someday that is orange and white or "red" and white, it's unlikely I would get another one like that.  The only exception to my rule is tortoiseshell cats.  I could have a whole clowder of them and they'd all look different.  I had a tortie when I was younger.  She was with us for close to 21 years.  There's one shelter that has one and her name is the same as mine!  She's named Brenda, too.  And my work friend likes a couple of cats at that shelter.  My brother has fond memories of our tortoiseshell so I doubt I'd have a hard time bringing her home and springing her on him.  Besides, he's usually in his room and it'd likely be awhile before he even noticed her.   My mom likes Siamese, too, and would "understand" when if I brought one home.

I guess if I took my work friend to a shelter, I could stay out in the waiting area so I wouldn't be tempted to adopt anything, but I think that would be difficult to do so I'm not sure what I'll do.  I just wanted "voice" my situation.  It helps getting it out there.  Just like it helped to gripe to my work friend about the lady who has let her cats breed again.  <sigh> 

I think it's the heat.  Yeah.  It must be the heat.

A HUGE victory for the Wild Ones...

We heard that our presence is requested at the State Capitol Please see the following Media Advisory:

Salt River Wild Horse Management Group and supporters will Celebrate with Horses & Flags at State Capitol celebrating the bill to protect the Salt River Wild Horses

Phoenix, AZ (May 10, 2016) …. Dozens of Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) members and supporters, including riders on horseback waving flags , will be on 17th avenue in front of the State Capitol in celebration of HB 2340, the bill to protect the Salt River wild horses. The street will be closed to regular traffic.

The advocates will gather in anticipation of a 10:30 am press conference with Rep. Kelly Townsend, the sponsor of the bill, and Simone Netherlands, president of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, as well as other very important officials. The bill cleared its final hurdle in the legislature with a 53-3 passage in the House last week. 

What: Celebration for Salt River Wild Horses proceeding press conference. 

When: Wednesday, May 11, 2016, 10 a.m. to Noon

Where: 17th Avenue, which will be closed off to all other traffic.
AZ State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 

HB 2340 criminalizes the harassment or killing of a Salt River wild horse, clarifies that they are not stray livestock, and establishes a process for implementing a humane management program in cooperation with federal, state and local agencies and a private entity.

The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, with 100 active volunteers on the river, has confidence that all parties will work together to implement an effective and humane management protocol to permanently protect the horses that mean so much to the people of Arizona. 

We did NOT let them become History!

# # # # # # # 

Today I was proud to sign ‪#‎HB2340‬, which will protect Arizona's majestic Salt River horses and their ability to roam free. Thanks to Rep. Kelly Townsend and the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group for championing this effort -- and for the beautiful painting!

The fight isn't completely over, though.  They still need to come to a management process with the forestry service, who also needs to sign off on the bill, but at least the horses are no longer considered 'stray livestock' and it's illegal to harass them.  I hope the bozos I've seen get too close to them see that.

This is such a great day for the Salt River Wild Horses and if I could, I would hug Governor Ducey.  I didn't vote for him, but right now he's my hero.  Thank you, Representative Townsend for sponsoring the bill and Governor Ducey for signing the bill into law.  And a great big thank you to Simone Netherlands and the dozens of SRWHMG volunteers who worked tirelessly to protect our horses.  If I had known this was going to happen today I would have gone down to the Capitol Building to show my support.  I think it's great they shut down the road in front of it for the celebration.

I'm no horse expert...

Certainly not when it comes to colors and genetics, but how can someone say this horse...

is the same breed as this one?

Now, let me start by saying, it's a shame the first horse is missing and I hope he's recovered soon.  Too many horses are disappearing these days and some have been found after it's too late.  I don't want his disappearance to get overshadowed by the fact that I'm questioning how they can say he is an Akhal Teke.  He is built wrong.  Akhal Tekes are known for their slenderness.  Some are just down-right skinny

but that's how the breed is.  I believe the KHP does have one, but I believe he lives on-sight and I get the impression the missing one is from a private farm.  So tell me, people.  Can the missing horse be an Akhal Teke?  Is it just a more stockier example of the breed?  If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say he was a stock horse of some sort.  Or a cross of something.  He just seems to be too square to be an Akhal Teke.  His head is proportionate to the rest of his body.  He has a thick neck.  Two things not characteristic of the AT.    Not to mention Akhal Tekes don't seem to come in Tobiano.    Sabino and Rabicano markings have been seen in some, but not anything flashy like the horse in the flyer.

At any rate, I really hope they find this guy soon.  I'm sure his people are worried about his welfare.

Speaking of welfare...yesterday some wild animals celebrated two victories.  The State Senate past SB2340, which helps protect the Salt River Wild Horses and it now goes to the governor to be signed into law.  This law would help protect the herd and develop a management program to reduce the breeding of them.  Right now they breed whenever they want and however often they want so any time of year you might see a foal or two.  It's not something that will protect them 100% yet, but it's pretty darn close.  Yesterday was also the day the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to grant the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center a Special Use permit that would allow them to continue to give public tours.  A few months ago, a man who moved into the neighborhood in 2012 filed a lawsuit against the facility stating they were operating a zoo illegally and he wanted them to stop giving tours or the county needed to PAVE the dirt road that leads to his house.  ALL of the roads out there are dirt.  He also wanted the facility to get rid of the coyotes and wolves they have because they howled and disturbed his peace and quiet.  He doesn't even live there full time!  Anyway, SWCC is an official part of the Grey Wolf reintroduction program and they have a fairly decent number of wolves on-site that are valuable to the population.  Fortunately, he was just one person against the center AND the other neighbors.  It was actually one of their neighbors that started the petition to get the special use permit.  The center has been there for more than 20 years and should not be forced out because of one person.  But apparently he dropped his lawsuit against the facility and, as I mentioned earlier, the Board of Supervisors voted to give them the permit.  The guy, who is a dentist or doctor or something, now has 15 days to appeal this decision, but he dropped the lawsuit so why would he file an appeal?  Hopefully he saw he was up against  a whole bunch of support for the facility and knew he couldn't win.  I don't know.  But for now, much of Arizona (and beyond since this reached all around the world) is rejoicing that SWCC can continue doing what they do best and that is to rescue injured or orphaned animals, nurse them back to health then release them back into the wild.  HURRAY!

Well, that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

So much cuteness!

It's hard not to go into sugar shock.  Hahahaha.  Recently, I saw a message on a co-worker/friend's Facebook page about a whole mess of Cheetah kittens at Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia.  On March 21st, Milani gave birth to 2 males and a female.  On April 1st (perfect day to have Cheetahs born <grin> ), Vaila gave birth to 7 kittens.  7!!!!  That only happens 1% of the time.  Most litters are around 4 or 5 and even 5 is getting a bit unusual.  Unfortunately, 2 did not survive, but the remaining 5 are thriving.  But they weren't done yet.  On April 2nd, Wiay gave birth to 6 cubs, which only happens 8% of the time.  Only 5 of those survived.     There must be something in that Virginia air, though, that is causing these larger litter.  The National Zoo in Washington DC has a breeding program for Cheetahs and the facility is in Virginia and they've been having larger than average litters, too.

Breeding Cheetahs in captivity is a difficult task.  In the wild, it's the females who decide which males they are going to mate with and they can be fairly picky with who they want to spend some quality time with.   Only about 18% of cheetahs in captivity breed successfully.  When I worked as a volunteer at the Phoenix Zoo in the early 90s, they were trying to get theirs to breed, but were unsuccessful so they had a program called Cheetah Watch where basically you'd sit on the hill overlooking their exhibit and watch them and take notes on their behavior and such.  It was a popular program so I never got a chance to participate.  Eventually, though, their Cheetahs did produce some babies.  So anyway, because the females decide who they're going to mate with, zoos have to have a number of males for her to choose from and most facilities don't have the room to do that.  At the time, the Phoenix Zoo had two adjoining exhibit spaces where they kept them.  The female was in one yard and the males were in the other.  There are 3 facilities that have had huge successes in breeding them, but they have a separate location from the main zoo for their breeding program and the public is not allowed there, which is a real shame, but I guess I can understand the reasoning behind it.  Cheetahs are shy and somewhat timid animals and by having too many people around it stresses them out and it might affect the breeding program.

So, anyway, the Metro Richmond Zoo has some webcams set up in the dens of their female Cheetahs and I had forgotten about it until I saw it on my friend's Facebook wall so I had to check it out, of course.  Man, what a time sucker!  hahaha.  I could watch them all day because they're so cute!  And, well, I really like Cheetahs and even if there weren't any babies I'd still watch it.  But I'd like to share some screen captures I got.  Just so you can share in the cuteness.

First we have Milani and her 3...

And then we have Vaila's litter.  I don't know where in the den area this is and I don't know where Vaila is, but her kittens area all dog-piled together.

So cute!    I just checked the cam again and there was Vaila and her kittens are more spread out

The Phoenix Zoo currently has 3 male Cheetahs that are brothers.  In the wild, the females are solitary unless they have babies, but the males form groups called Coalitions.  Usually they're brothers, but occasionally they will accept a non-related male into their group.  Unfortunately, these ones are not part of any breeding program, which is a bummer.  Our last two, also brothers, weren't in the program either.  There's one other facility in Arizona, Wildlife World Zoo, which is in West Phoenix, also has an unrelated male and female pair that they imported from a facility in South Africa.  Since they're housed together, only time will tell if they end up producing any babies.  WWZ doesn't participate in the Species Survival Program, but they don't do anything to prevent breeding.  Those 2 have been at the zoo for a couple of years now, I think, and I have yet to go out and see them.  I just don't really like that place.  It's dirty and they don't enforce the No Smoking law so you see people walking around with cigarettes.  One of these days, though, I'll go see them.

Well, we have officially had our first triple digit temperature.  Yesterday the official high at Sky Harbor Airport was 101.  Yikes!  It's "only" supposed to reach 98 today, but something tells me it's going to be above that.  It's too soon!  It's supposed to cool down for a couple of days this weekend, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Until next time...