Animal Stories

I've been on the hustings to round up a chipmunk (not a chipmonk!) to show you dear nephews - but I am sad to report that the only chipmunk I have found so far was recently deceased - having died of shock from having encountered one of our Temple Cats! The Temple Cats used to be feral and through the kind ministrations of a Temple team including Ani Samla became semi-domesticated, de-sexed and cared for ...but of course cats being cats...continue to chase furry things. So all I have to offer is a picture of a dead chipmunk and guilty looking Temple cats! I will send a picture of a living chipmunk as soon as I get one!!

Other interesting animal sightings for me have been deer - not novel of course to my American family and friends but definitely to the rest of my family and most Australians - although perhaps not New Zealanders, who have deer immigrants there. Anyhow I feel better prepared for deer on the road having had training with watching out for kangaroos on the road - but of course they move differently - and they look remarkably different. Deer definitely have more spots!
I had to drive for the first time late one night to the Temple for a prayer shift recently (we keep a 24 hour prayer vigil) - and I spotted a raised white skunk tail which I drove carefully around - lest the tails' owner spray! Here is a picture of an alive unidentified beetle in the sunflower field I was in last week - just to round off the species range! It's still warm here - sending you some warmth  for the cooler southern climes.