Life Along the Creek

The last of the fish pictures.

The first pictures of a deer I followed.  He was on the other side of the creek and he'd stop to let me take some pictures.  He'd move on a little more, and I'd follow. 

Feathers and Fins

A lovely cardinal

A closer look at him

A group of fish in Kingfisher Creek.  They were feeding on the insects.

Train Trestle & Wildflowers

View of a train trestle from the overlook at Shawnee Lookout

Wildflowers

Frogs, Petals and River Rats

Lovin' my frogs!

Some pretty flowers trailside.

 At the top of the trail...and overlook...spotted a barge.

Surprises Along the Trail

Just a few little different things I saw during a recent hike.  I like this pretty little purple flower.

Cute little frog. ;-)

Thought this was pretty too.

No snake...but like the skin he left behind.

A closer look...love the design!

Trail Shots

I haven't blogged in a few days because I'm on vacation this week and spending a lot of time running around hiking etc.  It's been a lot of fun, but I'm tired today and only did a short hike (I'll call it a walk).  It's the 4th of July and the trail I did was short, with more people and dogs than I care to deal with and very hot and muggy.

I'm not anti-social and definitely not anti-dog, I just like my trails to be quiet, calm and peaceful.  I intended to do this short trail several times to make up for it's short distance, but after going around once, I decided to call it a day.

They have a nice gift shop at this park so I stopped in a bought a few things, then headed home.  Now that I've taken pretty many pictures in the last few days, I'm behind in posting them.  Here are a few:

 Fungi

Ahhhhhhh...the end of Little Turtle Trail.  I was glad to see the end on this hot and steamy day.  It was a long trail with lots of hills and my knees had had it for the day.

Storm clouds a coming...glad I was headed home.

A Tale (tail) of Two Kitties (actually 4)

We went hiking on Saturday, and I invited my husband to come along.  Most times he doesn't come, but this time he agreed.  We did my normal long trail, then he wanted to do another, and I agreed.  As we drove to the trail, we passed this pretty little cat sitting by the side of the road.  We snapped it's picture then continued on.

After we finished the trail, Her decided to do the driving and on the way out drove slow to search for the cat again.  I looked out the opposite side window because I couldn't bear to see the cat sitting out in what was to be 100 degree weather.  Herb spotted the cat, got out of the car and the cat walked toward him.  Herb picked up the cat and put him in the car!!  What is wrong with this man!  He normally doesn't do things like that!

We stopped at our vet on the way home and they said to come back in an hour when they had an opening.  We wondered why someone would abandon this pretty little cat.  As soon as we wondered, I had that "Aha!" moment...she is probably pregnant.

Sure enough, the vet confirmed it, but wasn't sure how far along she was.  I frantically called the shelter where I volunteer to see if I could get any advice.  Since she was a stray and pregnant they didn't want to bring her into the shelter until after the kittens were born.  Then they could vaccinate her etc.

Lo and behold, three kittens were born that same night (yesterday)!  So, I guess they'll be staying with us for at least the next 6 weeks.  I love cats, but have never dealt with newborns, so I hope for their sake, I'm doing everything alright.

Mom and babies.

Mom after birth.

The good thing about this other than that they had a nice place to be born instead of 100 degrees in the forest is that it was my husband who picked the cat up...not me!  He feels bad because our cat population has grown to 7...not something we wanted.  I'm glad we helped this little lady though.  I hope they all survive and put some weight on...Mom was quite skinny.  I would consider keeping Mom, but definitely can't handle more than that.  Will keep you all posted.