Travels with Dakota and Zoe (and their spirit dog, Phaedra): 2014

Sunrise at the Ding!

It’s been four months since we arrived on Sanibel Island. So much has


Jimmy and Ginger et al.

happened and now it’s almost over for the year. We have new friends here in the compound this year. Jimmy the Parrot Head and Frank and Stella are new. Jimmy comes with Carol and John who are avid birders. Frank and Stella are Granddogs of Bob and Patsy and Courtney is their mom. They don't like me at all. I say, "So what?" Ginger returned again with Ginny and Ken and I like Ginger, but Zoe manages to ignore her in lieu of her tug toy. I did take exception to Ginger, though, because she decided to climb my stairs and go right in to the living room. What was she thinking! Unfortunately, Mama knows how I think and when I decided to take her out, Mama had other ideas. Perhaps it’s a good thing since she weighs about 60 pounds and I only weigh 25 pounds. I’m sure I could have taken her, but I don’t think Mama wanted to have me be a bad actor and perhaps upset Ken and Ginny by biting Ginger on the nose. I make sure that the door is closed when Ginger comes to visit. No more getting into my space and squeezing me out of the picture. You better believe that I am a warrior when it comes to defending my territory. Hooah!!!

As I said, we have another great new friend. Jimmy is a Parrot Head.

Jimmy and Carol

He’s really funny. He doesn’t like to be outside unless he sits with his Mama, Carol in his very own chair. Seriously! He’s a King Charles Cavalier and a really sweet guy. We love his folks, John and Carol, too. John and Carol understand that ball throwing is very important to the psyche of a hunting dog. You know Zoe is part Rat Terrier and that's what makes her so OCD. I’m glad it’s balls she follows all over the place instead of rats, though.

Doc Fords

We’ve also met Frank and Stella. Or, I guess I should say, I’ve met them while Zoe totally ignores everyone. Stella really aggravated me one day by yelling at me. I took out after her and I don’t know why Papa and Mama were so upset with me. Maybe I should have just ignored her but I do have a slight issue with impulse control. None of us were really serious about biting each other, but the humans went all up in my face so I’m a reformed “fur girl” from now on - unless I get another chance to assert myself! After all, I’m protecting my family and territory, right? Right!

Zoe's Birthday

Zoe and I’ve been at so many parties this year. It seems every Saturday when Papa gets home in the Gem Car he yells out “It’s Friday! Let’s

Celebrations!

Party!” Mama has come to enjoy red wine and Papa really likes lime Margaritas! We get water - we also do get snacks from all of our friends. Lynda gave us the most wonderful all natural dog treats that she made. Mama got the recipe and promised to make them for us when they were finished. She hasn’t yet, though. But Ranger Becky stepped up this week and made us some from her recipe, too. It’s a good thing our people friends think of us - do you think shaming works on Mama? Maybe! I’ll keep you posted. Zoe celebrated her 5th birthday this year. We had a party for that too!

We’ve had so much fun with family this year. First of all, imagine a dinner party of 10 people in our camper for New Year’s Eve. None of them made it to midnight, but it was lots of fun and Zoe spent all the time under the tables scooping up crumbs!

Our “outlaws” came down from North Carolina and Charleston. Angela and Marty are

Meet the Outlaws!

awesome! We had fun with them, but they took Mama and Papa away every day and when they returned they had to take a nap. The next dinner party with them was even better than the New Year’s party. I think the folks were exhausted every time she came back from the bike rides that they were always doing. I’ve seen a little cart that some bikes pull behind them and they are for dogs. We should have one for each bike so we wouldn’t have to miss anything! I think the Angela and Marty

felt they had to go home to rest up from all the things they did here. We had fun with long-time friends from whom we bought our first home in Durham. Sherre and Mark meet us down here every year as they become snowbirds escaping Madison's delightful winter. One of these days, their kids and our kids will come at the same time, we hope!

With all the super cold up north, the birds (not just snowbirds) have come south. We’ve had a terrific assortment this year AND more alligators than ever. It’s almost getting time for birds to start building nests. Some of the birds are growing longer feathers and changing colors. They are even doing these crazy stunts which make them look freaky like the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron who is showing off here.


Breeding Plumage

The folks say that’s so they can get a girl friend or boyfriend. Nature isn’t much different from humans, is it? Mama keeps yammering on and on about how beautiful this one or that one is -

“Hey, I’m right in front of you - just look how beautiful I am!” And Zoe is no ugly mug, either. Let’s see, birds, dogs, birds, dogs. No contest, we dogs are much more beautiful than any stupid old birds even if they completely change their plumage in the spring.

Parker and Anne came to visit us for a long weekend.

We were thrilled to see our Girls. Hugs from Parker were amazing. Papa did his Alligator Talk for them and then one day the four of them walked across the street to see the alligator babies. There are six of them of them that are being guarded by the mom. She's really fierce but the babies are kind of cute. I wouldn't want to meet them, though. I'd be dinner.

Parker's working on riding a bike. She also learned how to paddle a kayak on Tarpon Bay.

What’s that?

You ask if we got to go along for the ride? Oh, sure, you must be out of your everloving...! We had to “Guard the house” from the big, bad robbers on Sanibel which probably hasn’t had much of a crime in forever! We’re on guard every day, though.

Day old Great Horned Owl

Something that’s really great happened this year, too. Papa and Mama were invited by the “Owl Guy”, Doug Albert, to help him with baby Screech Owls who had lost their tree in a wind and had been running around in a yard in Fort Myers. Doug builds nest boxes and when he gets a call from

the Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) he rushes to the rescue of babies or other birds who need his help. He’s a wonderful person and loves saving owls, eagles, pelicans, cormorants, or any bird who has been injured or displaced. The folks went with him to learn and to get photos if possible. We weren’t invited as you can imagine. They also got to hold a one day old Great Horned Owl who was on the way to being re-nested. As soon as this little guy got back into a new nestbox that Doug made, his parents were right there to feed him. He’s doing really well now and back in the wild growing up with his parents.

Papa has been helping our friend Rachel who is the Mangrove Cuckoo researcher. Just this past week, he went out on Wildlife Drive and they captured a Mangrove Cuckoo. They measured it every which way from Sunday and then they put a backpack on it and turned it loose again. It flies into a mist net that it can’t

see and gets stopped. Then, Rachel and Papa run like racers to remove it from the net. They take it into a very warm car to measure and then put on the backpack. That, by the way, is a little thing that has a transmitter on it that sends out signals to Rachel about where it goes. That’s all part of the research and Rachel and Steve are the only people in the whole world to band a Mangrove Cuckoo. It’s really cool to know people who make a difference in the animal world. Steve is a great tug thrower for Zoe, too.

Bobcat in our backyard

Imagine looking out your window and see this beauty staring right back at you! Well, it happened. Mama went to close the window and there 10 feet from her was this REALLY BIG bobcat. She yelled, "Alan, BOBCAT!" Then she grabbed her camera and rushed out the door. She didn't even stop to think that maybe I could chase it away - she didn't need to do it. The funny thing is, she's always on top of things with her camera but she hadn't changed her battery yet. So, this is the only photo she got of the bobcat. Pretty cool, though, right?

We can’t believe that some of our friends have already left and others are starting to pack up. We only have 3 more weeks left, too. We wonder what that will bring - besides “Guard the house and listen to your sisters!” Whatever it is, Sanibel is a great place to have it happen.

Here are a few more images that we've seen. Hope you like them as much as we do. At least, Zoe and I get to know what's out there on the island.