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Cutest Things On The Planet

Shell here.

Two chicks have hatched so far.

They’re fluffy.  They’re tiny.  They don’t mind us holding them (which we’re doing very, very carefully).

They’re curious.

They nibble on their food.  One has figured out how to drink water.

They’re the cutest things on the planet.

Gosh, I just mean that!

Pictures forthcoming (Come on, Santa, upload those photos!)

Santa: I’m — ugh, trying!  Just — ugh — tangled up in — ugh! — wires … Ack, how did my big toe get caught?

Annie:  Huh?

Shell:  Shell here again. To be continued!

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News Flash! Baby chick just hatched!

Shell: This is Shell, here, with a live report from Uncle Clay’s barn, where a serama chick has just hatched from its egg!  Yes, you heard correctly, folks.  We have five eggs in an incubator–

Santa: My incubator! I raised the money for it —

Shell:  Santa’s incubator.  Right.  And our serama eggs. Five of them–

Annie: They’re so cute–

Santa:   The eggs, Annie?  Or the chicks. Be specific.  We’re on the internet here!

Annie (hands clasped): Both–!

Shell:  Anyway, seramas are the smallest of bantam chickens —

Santa: –bantams are small chickens —

Shell: — and we collected some eggs from our breeding pair–

Annie:  –And stuck them in the incubator, such a cute, warm, humid place —

Santa: We put them in the incubator 19 days ago.  Now they’re hatching.  Right on schedule.

Shell:  Anyway, the first one hatched, and has tons of energy.

Annie:  — It flopped around —

Shell: –And now the peck area of another egg is turning into a line–

Annie: — the chicks just peck a line all the way around the egg to get out of one end, kind of like a zipper —

Santa: No, it’s not.

Shell: Anyway, it’s all really exciting, and we’ll get back to you with videos and pictures.  Stay tuned! Shell, signing off!

Santa:  Is that “egg”-Shell?  Ha ha!

Shell: Out!

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Red Foxes, Right Here!

Hey, Jane here.  So, I now live on Shell, Annie, and Santa’s island … or at least, an island very much like it.  Well, guess what?  Last week I think I saw a red fox speeding alongside our chicken yard.  The chickens were b’gacking — making some upset noises.  It could have been a cat … we have several around here.  The animal was slightly larger than cat-size, and rust-red in color, with white.  I didn’t see the tail — that would have been a dead giveaway (one way or the other!).

My harp partner, Deb, and her partner told me that they’ve seen foxes where they live.  So now I know for sure that foxes live on the island!

I don’t know why I’m surprised, or think it’s such a miracle — foxes are clever creatures that adapt well to human life.  They live in cities, and in suburbs — just about anywhere that humans are!    They are opportunists, and they are secretive, knowing how to keep under cover.

You may have wild foxes in your own neighborhood.   Feel free to share your fox stories here!