Month: January 2023

Sleeping With A Stinky Cat

Timothy Price54 Comments

One night close to bedtime about three months ago, Spunk came running in from the catio. As he tore by me at full speed, I caught the full-on aroma of what had happened. Spunk got sprayed by a skunk that had slipped through the wire into the catio. Skunks are like snakes in that they can squeeze their bodies through almost anything their head fits through. A small skunk can easily slip through the 2×4 inch wire that covers the catio. After we got Spunk cleaned up the best we could, he had to sleep with me while he cleaned himself up during the night. He didn’t smell by morning, but when we went to bed, he was ripe with skunk spray. The experience inspired me to write and record Sleeping With A Stinky Cat. The song is played in a funk style.

Sleeping With A Stinky Cat
By Timothy Price

Spunk met a skunk, yeah
In the catio, no
Got a blast in the face
Oh that sent him on a race

He ran around the house like the devil on his tail
Stinking up the place making everyone’s life hell

Now I have to sleep with a stinky cat
Spunk needed comfort after the attack
Now I have to sleep with a stinky cat
My eyes are burning oh, Spunk is such a brat
Lying on the bed, curled in a ball
Sleeping with a stinky cat is no fun at all

I wiped his face, yeah
Wrapped him in a towel, oh
We rinsed his eyes at best
Trying to reduce the stress

Spunk struggled, and he hissed, used his claws and fangs no less
Scratches, bites to end the stress, I ended up a bloody mess

Now I have to sleep with a stinky cat
Spunk needed comfort after the attack
Now I have to sleep with a stinky cat
My eyes are burning oh, Spunk is such a brat
Lying on the bed, Spunk curled in a ball
Sleeping with a stinky cat is no fun at all

The Hawk Incident

Timothy Price61 Comments

Hawk wing too close for the Bazooka to focus

I was sure I had posted this story in August 2021 after it happened, but I apparently got distracted by my mom’s death and didn’t post the incident with a Cooper’s Hawk. I mentioned the story to Brad, who had posted a story on Brian’s Wildlife Intrigued, and Brad wanted to see photos. It took me a while to find the photos because I couldn’t remember right off hand when the incident took place.

I was out on the beach photographing the pTerodactyl one afternoon in late August 2021 when a dove came flying straight at me with a Cooper’s Hawk on its tail. The dove took evasive action at the last second to avoid crashing into me, which made the hawk do the same thing. I was trying to get photos, but everything happened quickly, and the dove and the hawk were too close for the Bazooka to focus on them since its minimum focus distance is 11 feet. The hawk and dove collided right above my head, but the hawk could not grab onto the dove. The dove flew into the salt cedar, and the hawk flew into the bosque.

I checked on the dove, and it seemed to be okay. As I walked from the river bed into the bosque, the hawk was waiting for me. It flew over me, chattering up a storm, and then it landed on a low branch about 15 feet from me and started giving me a beak lashing up one side and down the other about me messing up its kill. That hawk chattered at me for several minutes, flew to another branch, and chattered at me some more before it flew into the salt cedar to see if the dove was still there.

Cooper’s Hawk flying away after colliding with the dove.

Cooper’s Hawk flying to a tree to scold me as it flew over me.

Cooper’s Hawk telling me off for messing up its kill.

Cooper Hawk flew into the salt cedar to see if the dove was still there.

Green Ghost Flies

Timothy Price68 Comments

From a fiery pit
Green ghost flies from damnation
Satin lost his grip

When I took the photo of the sparks flying from the burning embers as they were stirred, I did not see the ghost until I processed the photo. Since I had “Live View” on when I took the photo, I was able to create the above animated GIF from the images that make up the live view image.

Once Upon A Wolf’s Winter Moon

Timothy Price70 Comments

The first full moon of 2023, the Wolf Moon, rose this evening, January 6th, which happens to be Epiphany. I wrote and recorded a song for the occasion and put together the above music video to celebrate the Wolf Moon.

Once Upon A Wolf’s Winter Moon
Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price

[Verse1]
Winter sky sad sulked at dusk’s fall
Darkness fell, embraced cold world
Breezes whispered oh so softly
Warnings of impending doom

[Verse2]
Ambushed by cold winter’s wanting
Wicked wind, frost bit hard
Frozen souls hung in the balance
Gods cast dice; who lives or dies

[Chorus]
Red eyes stared, pierced the darkness
Gravelly growls from all around
A chorus of howls split the heavens
Once upon a wolf’s winter moon
Once upon a wolf’s winter moon

[Verse3]
Wolf Moon rested, washed by dawn
Sunrise melted the seventh seal
Time stood still, stopped, and listened
Sound of silence, dark, unreal

[Verse4]
Overcome eternal darkness
Help us! Save us! Came the cries
Wolves howled, moon tried to warn us
You’re strangled and consumed by lies

[Bridge]
Wolves howled at the full moon
Waking ghosts from gelid sleep
Giving life to frozen souls
Broken-free as winter weeps

[Chorus]
Red eyes stared, pierced the darkness
Gravelly growls from all around
A chorus of howls split the heavens
Once upon a wolf’s winter moon
Once upon a wolf’s winter moon