Sliding Around in Scottsdale

My mom went to Scottsdale Arizona a couple of weeks ago, and she had her Big World Assignment hat on. She stopped by Chaparral Lake to see if she could find me any new friends. You can see her in the reflection on the sign if you look closely!

The lake was a beautiful setting.

And mom found me a turtle friend! We think this is a Red-Eared Slider Turtle, but his shell sure looks awfully dirty! Maybe there is too much sludge in this beautiful lake for him to stay clean?

Red-Eared Slider Turtles like to spend most of their time in water, but also love to bask in the sunshine. I personally don't like water, but I like sunshine just as much as my new Turtle friend does!

Red-Eared Sliders are shy and they got their name because they have red ears, and they frantically "slide" off their sunbathing spots when approached.

And going back to the sign at the top of this post, this lake is part of a fishing program in Scottsdale, and there are LOTS of fish here! Mom tried to ask the fish if they wanted to be my friends, but they were "in school" and could not come out to talk to mom before recess.

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Uh Oh, Armadillos!

Do you remember when I was scared of these Armadillos in my backyard at my old house? We still have a ton of them living there, and yes, we still own that house because it has not sold yet! I kept telling my mom about seeing the Armadillos at night, but we never got to take a picture of one.

That is, until our old neighbors started to trap them recently!! Our neighbors were so fed up with the holes being dug under their houses, that they got serious and put out traps! (FYI, No Armadillos were harmed in this process, because they were trapped and then brought to the Texas/Oklahoma border and set free.)

So here you can see a REAL Armadillo! He is a Nine-Banded Armadillo. Armadillos are expert diggers and dig for grubs and also dig themselves dens! They have poor eyesight, but are not completely blind like rumor has it.

Did you know that when they are surprised, they jump straight up in the air? If near traffic, they can collide with cars' undercarriage, which has bad consequences.

I am not so scared of this Armadillo because he is in a cage......but Guess What?? I have seen them at night at our new house too! Mom's flowers better look out!

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Simon vs Spike

Today, I would like you to meet my friend, Simon the Squirrel. I will let him tell his story, about living in my backyard and protecting his lunch!

Hello Big World fans! I am Simon the Squirrel. I live in JB's backyard, and I eat seeds and nuts from the bird feeder every day. JB's mom keeps the bird feeder well stocked with my favorite seeds and nuts. It is called the "bird" feeder to try to trick my evil cousin, Simon the Red Squirrel, into thinking the feeder is just for the birds.

I like to take my time eating the seeds and nuts to make sure not to miss any of the great flavors.

Uh oh! I hear something! Who is coming?

Oh no! It is my evil cousin, Spike the Red Squirrel! He is part of the Squirrel Gang of Thieves and he always tries to steal my seeds and nuts!

Look at him, sneaking along, trying to act so indiscreet and nonchalant!

Go away, Spike! I give you the evil eye and the pointy nose! Go away!
I would share with you if you would just ask, but you only try to steal from me! Go away!

Spike the Red Squirrel says: "Foiled again.....How can I get some seeds and nuts? Can't I be JB's friend too?"

Simon had protected his lunch yet again. He then went back about his business shaking down a nice selection of seeds and nuts directly from the feeder, for dessert.

JB says: "Don't try to steal first, what you could share with friends, if you would just ask!"

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Pooches in Paris

My daddy went on Big World Assignment to Paris, France a couple of weeks ago. Here he is landing his 767 "Big Birdie in the Sky" at Charles de Gaulle Airport. My daddy is the Captain and he is on the left side. Can you see the runway in the distance?

My daddy had a day layover in Paris and he did some walking around his hotel, which was in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The old gothic cathedral, Notre Dame, was within walking distance. It is over 750 years old!

Also within walking distance, my daddy saw a wide assortment of doggies!

This doggie has an art stand just in front of the Notre Dame and he was selling all sorts of artwork! I bet he makes lots of money for snackies!

Now don't quote me on my expertise on naming all the types of doggies my daddy saw, but let me try! I sure hope I don't offend anyone by identifying these doggies incorrectly. I am a cat, you know, so I do the best I can!

My daddy saw a Beagle, a type of Husky, and a Pekinese type doggie.

And he saw an Eskie, like my good friend, Hana! And a little white doggie, that looks like a Maltese or perhaps a Llasa Apso?

And last but not least, here is a Jack Russel.

But what is that car in the background? It is a very small car, just the right size for me! It is a SMART car for a SMART Jelly Bean! I think I would look really cute driving this little car, don't you?

Thanks to my daddy for his Big World Report on Pooches in Paris!

For a look into my daddy's life as a Captain of a "Big Birdie in the Sky", you can visit his blog at Views From the Left Seat.

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Growing Fur Coats is Important

Today I would like you to meet Sassy. Sassy is a Miniature Horse and she lives in Northern Alberta, Canada. That is very far away from Texas! You can see how miniature Sassy is by how tall the grass is around her!

Sassy lives at this farm with her other miniature horse friends and a Llama.

How cool is this? These horses are just the right size for me! Can you just picture me riding on this little brown horse in a little saddle?

In the summer they eat fresh grass as well as hay, but in the winter, they eat mainly hay. For treats, they like to eat carrots, apples and specially baked horse cookies!

And guess what else they do in the winter? They grow fur coats! They have to because it can get down to -40 degrees F! I wonder if I would grow a fur-ier coat too if I was that cold?

**Special credits given to Jasmine the Eskie and Cuddles the Cat for providing the footage for this report. They don't have a blog yet, but are friends of my friend, Hana, and they wanted to be my friend too!
And they wanted to report this story about the importance of growing a fur coat, since wintertime is getting closer!

Thanks Jasmine and Cuddles!

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Danger, Danger!

Danger, danger! Hawk, Hawk! This is my friend, the Red-Tailed Hawk. Uh, well, I am not sure he is a friend, but he landed in my back yard, and this is JB's Big World, so he landed in my blog!

I find it suspicious that he landed in my backyard near the same time we found the feathers from my last post. Look at those scary paws.....I mean claws! What has happened? Has my friend the Hawk committed a crime?

Red-Tailed Hawks are memebers of the Buteo family, sometimes called "chicken-hawks". Their diet consists of anything from beetles, birds, snakes, rodents, to rabbits. Oh no, Rabbits? Peter Rabbit's cousins are in danger! Not to mention what happened to my feathered friend!

I better not go outside, or something bad could happen to me too! Red-Tailed Hawks are not my friends......good thing I don't like to go outside!

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Whose Feathers are These?

I sure have a lot going on in my new back yard! What have we here? I am a bit worried, because this looks like this could be the remnants of one of my friends! Who could it have been and what happened to him?

~~The sight of these feathers is strangely reminiscent of a story my friend, Deetz, told me......something about a naked Turkey running around near his house. But, he says he did not know what happened to the Turkey's feathers.........hhhhmmmm. Could the same fate have been bestowed upon one of my backyard friends, or something much worse?~~

My mom saw a Yellow Jacket rifling through the feathers, for what reason, I am unsure. I read that Yellow Jackets eat pest insects, so maybe that is what he was looking for? Mom told me not to be close friends with a Yellow Jacket because they can hurt a small Jelly Bean like me.

The feathers in our backyard look unfamiliar to the feathers I am accustomed to inside my house. I wonder who my friend could have been and what happened to him?

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!

Should I Kiss My New Friend?

My mom has been working in the yard a lot AGAIN, just like at our old house. I don't know why humans have to work in the yard so much. But in this case, maybe it was to unearth another new friend for me! Can you tell who this is?

It is my new friend, the Toad! He was hiding down in the soil in our yard. Frogs and toads defend themselves by camouflaging themselves, and my new friend sure did a good job of that!

My new friend, the Toad, almost got hurt from our shovel, because he was camouflaging himself so well. I asked my mom if I could kiss him, but my mom said that she has kissed a lot of frogs in her life and she does not recommend it.

My mom did not want to touch him, so she told my daddy to pick him up and put him somewhere more safe. I like my new friends little paws! Does he really only have 3 toes on each paw?

My daddy put my friend, the Toad, down right by his Toadstool. That's right, my friend has his own stool, just like me!

Before you go, please sign my GUESTBOOK, and stop by my SMALL WORLD too, thanks!