Look What I Found Whilst Cleaning!

Boar Tusks!

Yup, boar tusks. :)

Now I didn't say wild boar tusks! One of these is just over an inch long, the other is just over an inch and one eighth. That's as close as I could get to an even trim. These come from the traumatic first tusks trimming of our pet pig William.

Here...take a look at William:

Of course that picture was taken when he was little and cute, and wasn't even THINKING about growing tusks. Here's what he looks like now:

He's not trying to help fix the car, he's trying to steal the blankie. Oooooo....blankie.....

Anyways, he's now huge, and his tusks grew mighty! So mighty, in fact, that one of them curved around and started poking him in his very own face!!

I told him to rotate sides while napping. As we all know, when you sleep on one tusk too long...it bends back and pokes you in the face. Pigs just don't listen.

So...we had to trim them. It was a traumatic experience that involved knocking him over on his side (pigs are sturdy creatures, and very hard to knock over!) and having one person lay on him. Then another person has to hold his head. (For creatures with no necks, they can certainly wiggle their heads a lot!!) Then a third person has to get in there with nippers and carefully trim the tusks without hurting porcine or human. Roll over, repeat. Meanwhile, everybody goes deaf. You'd be amazed how much noise pigs can make when something is being done to them that they don't want done.

Afterward he was highly upset and spent much time pouting. I'd show you a picture, but all you'd see would be a pouty pig butt sticking out from under a hutch...with a very dejected tail hanging from it. We tried to give him an apple afterwards to cheer him up, but he felt that was inadequate compensation.

Yet he ate the apple.

So now I have this lovely memento of William's first tusks trimming. Since then we have gotten much better at it. Now we wait until he's asleep, sneak up, and nip off the tip of one as quickly as we can before running like hell. We only do this when they get to the pokey in the face point, tho, because otherwise they really don't bother us. He only uses them to rip open grocery bags and the occasional bag of dog food. He could use them to rip open people, too, but he prefers to beg for food and belly rubs.

Besides, I love the look people get on their faces when we grab him by the tusks, gently shake his head back and forth, and say "Whoosa good piggy? Huh? Whoosa good piggy?"

Things You Learn When You Have a Squirrel In Your Attic

1. Putting a drop ceiling in the closet where the attic access is will actually cause your husband to forget it's there, making him crawl around the top of the house in icy weather looking for the hole the squirrel got in so he can toss a squirrel bomb in it.

2. Laughing hysterically at him when he pops the ceiling panel and finds, despite his loud and vulgar protests, that the access does exist does not endear you to him.

3. The joists surrounding the attic access are 12", not the 6" your husband thought they were, so when he gives the bomb a hefty 10" toss it bounces off the joist and back into his face.

4. Squirrel bombs have shut offs for just such stupid mistakes. They will, however, spray liberally in your face while you desperately hunt for it.

5. When your husband comes staggering out of a room coughing and choking because he just dropped a squirrel bomb in his own face, perhaps it would be nice to yell "ARE YOU OKAY?" before you yell "OMG THE HEDGEHOGS!!" and shove him aside to get into the room yourself.

6. We can completely evacuate the hedgehog room in under 3 minutes, even while choking so hard we fear throwing up on a cage. This does not include the meal worms, whom we both forgot.

7. The official medical prognosis for someone who's lungs are on fire from inhaling squirrel bomb juice is, and I quote the doctor: "Yeah....you're just gonna have to wait that out."

8. Birds in rooms next to where a squirrel bomb has accidentally been dropped suffer no ill effects whatsoever. Hedgehogs in covered cages quickly removed from a room where a squirrel bomb has accidentally been dropped suffer no ill effects whatsoever. The meal worms who where actually abandoned and left to die in the room where a squirrel bomb was accidentally dropped suffered no freaking ill effects whatsoever. The humans who accidentally dropped the bomb and then pulled all the hedgies out of the room think they are going to die, and cough until they throw up.

9. Turns out the hole the squirrel used to get into the attic was in a nice, easy to access, sheltered place in the carport. Tossing a squirrel bomb in that way would have been safer, easier, and less damaging.

10. Squirrels don't care how you get the bomb in their attic, they just get pissed when you do, and they will chatter at you every time you walk to and from your car. It's only a matter of time before they start throwing nuts.

I Have a Squirrel in My Attic

To those of you who know me well and are currently looking very innocent and muttering "just one?", hush. I mean I have a real rat dressed in a boa chewing up my attic. It's probably destroying the entire house, but where I hear it the most is RIGHT ABOVE MY DESK! I can hear its nasty little teeth doing irreparable damage to my house whilst trying to get stuff accomplished, which means nothing is getting accomplished but me beating on the ceiling with various objects.

If you are a squirrel lover...Good for you! I actually think squirrels are fine. As long as they are running around OUTSIDE among the trees and flowers, God bless them. Once in my attic, however, they become disease ridden demon-beasts whose sole purpose in life is to destroy my home and piece of mind.

Let me give you an example: A giraffe in the wild is a graceful, beautiful animal. The long neck, the delicate mouth, the large expressive eyes. Put it in a house, however, and it suddenly becomes a life threatening mass of destruction, sharp hooves flailing madly on your wooden floors, long, massive neck knocking pictures and artwork off the walls. You just wouldn't be able to open the door and let it back outside fast enough!

And to those of you who say "But you have a pig in the house!" Yes, yes I do. But the pig does not have a long, flailing neck. So there.

Where was I? Oh, yes: Freaking Squirrel. So...we have a spare chunk of drywall in the basement just waiting to be used for repairs. In spite of this my husband was very against me shooting the squirrel through the ceiling with a shotgun. (For those of you who remember the mouse incident...floor is fine. Thanks for asking.) He managed to talk me out of it when he pointed out the drywall dust that would get on my desk. I'd have to clean my desk off first, and that ain't gonna happen.

My next thought was to inject something through the ceiling that would smell bad to the squirrel...like fox pee. Hubby was very against this also. His arguments, which consisted mostly of sputtering and 'ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?' didn't have much of an impact on me, but I soon realized that, if you had to catch a fox to make it pee...what the hell! Just toss the fox up into the attic! Take that squirrel! Enjoy lunch, fox! Win, win for me...AND the fox.

Hubby wants to try a squirrel bomb first. Since he was able to locate a bomb faster than I was able to locate a fox, I'll let him try his first. I think my methods would work better, but at least I know what my next blog is going to be about.

Meanwhile, if anyone sees a fox, please let me know.

Holidaze Shopping...Like On The Actual Holiday......

*rantmode*

Until very recently I worked for one of the major discount chains in the US. You know, the one that starts with 'W', rhymes with 'Wally World'? Anyways, now that the holidaze are rolling around again, I would like to talk about one of the most confusing customer interactions I would have on holidaze like Thanksgiving and Xmas:

I would be assisting a customer to the best of my ability, and they would give me a sad look and say "It's terrible they make you work on holidays like this. They should let you be home with your family."

Then why are you shopping there? Trust me, if the store didn't make a profit by staying open on the holiday, they would close tighter than...oh...insert something that closes very tightly here. They aren't open to accommodate you, they are there to make a profit. It's because of you we are working there.

I realize not shopping on a holiday takes extra planning, or doing without. To be honest...if you're running out for a turkey on Thanksgiving, you're probably a bit screwed. That goes for cranberry sauce, gravy, sweet potatoes, and foil roasters, too. Also, any Xmas gift you buy at 8pm on Xmas eve is going to be a picked over underdog that no one else wanted, so that extra planning would actually make your holiday nicer. And more thoughtful. I bet your relatives would be happy to spend time with you even if you forgot stuffing, or butter, or the entire freaking meal. Just love your family and be thankful. People keep telling me that's what the day is all about.

The people working in those stores aren't making overtime, or holiday pay, they are just working a rough shift on half-staff with cranky customers. They didn't make you forget the cranberry sauce, and it's not their fault the store sold out. Don't ask them if they'd rather be at home, it's a given. Hopefully they will treat you well and be friendly and courteous, and you will do the same for them, but to be honest....they labeled you as a forgetful poor planner with social issues the second you walked in the door.

What if you really really really need something very important, and must must must get it? Run to your local pharmacy. God bless them, they have a reason to be open. They have things people really really really need, like insulin, heart medication, and tampons. They probably have a turkey and some cranberry sauce, too, but even if they don't, thank them for being open and providing a valuable service. Go back home and enjoy some time with your family.

So...if you feel sorry for the poor people who have to work holidaze, do you best not to frequent the places that make them work. There are places that must stay open, but a big discount store certainly isn't one of them. And if you work in one of those places and resent having to work...don't pick something up on your way home. Vote with your dollar, and realize even employee revenue makes them want to stay open...for longer and longer hours each year.

*/rantmode*

So, now that I have that out of my system, I hope you all enjoy the season, whether you celebrate the holidaze or not, and even if you forget something very, very, very important at the last minute. Tell my former fellow workers I said hi. :)

So I Suck at Blogging

I suck at title writing, too, because even tho I do suck at blogging, that is not what this particular blog is about. Tho I will toss in that I've embraced sucking at blogging, and have decided I will only blog when something really major or really fun happens.

Well, now that you're fully informed on how comfortable with I am with my inadequacies, here's what this post is REALLY about!

I started a Facebook Fanpage! Yay! If you don't already like me (just like, no real commitment involved. honest) I'd love it if you joined me at Laurel's Zoo on Facebook, and if you already like me...THANK YOU!

But that's only what it's about in a tangential way, what this is REALLY about is I had a contest! I said I'd draw a name at random from the 'likers' when they reached 100, and that lucky person would get a $25 gift certificate for items from Laurel's Zoo! Rah! Yay! (insert tossed confetti here)

But life got the best of me, and we hit about 135 people before I got a grip on the situation. Trying to be fair I waited until we got to 200 people, and made ready to pick TWO names for $25 gift certificates! Rah! Yay! (more confetti)

So...I assigned each name a number, then used the help of random.org to pick two random numbers. Random person number on was: Jamie L Castro! Rah! Yay! (pelting Jamie with confetti) Many congratulations! Yay!

Random person number two was: my husband. *koff* Seriously? Who let him join my page? Well...forget that! (wadding number and tossing it on the floor with confetti)

Random person number three was: my eldest son. Oh Come On!! What's the freaking chance of that happening? I pick three people out of 200 and two of them I'm related to? Random.org, what is wrong with you? *huff* (ripping number in tiny bits and tossing on floor. blends right in with the confetti)

Random person number four was: wait for it...I have many more relatives.... Stephanie M. Lay! I don't know her from Adam! Rah! Yay! Of course, I hope to get to know her much better, cuz she is the second winner of a $25 gift certificate! Woot Woot! (redundant amounts of confetti)

Thank you all my likers, and I hope to do this again soon...but maybe not until I hit 1000! Gotta water down that relative factor.....

Dear William the Pig,

If you would stand out in the grass to get your bath instead of standing on the ramp trying to ram your way back into the house, the ramp will not be all slippery with soap. I will then have no reason to laugh very hard at you while you try to run into the house, but can't...cuz you keep slipping down the soapy ramp.

Also, my laughter is what brought your daddy to the back door so he could valiantly shove your rear end up the ramp until you made it into the house....so I was really helping by laughing.

Besides...I gave you two freaking treats after you got inside...so STOP GRUMPING AT ME!

Thank you.

Puppet GiveAway!

I love twitter contests...So I've decided to have one! I'll try to keep it simple and fun. :)I'm going to give away not one....not two...but THREE Little Kid Hand Puppets! Not only do you get THREE of them, but YOU GET TO PICK which ones you want! How can you go wrong? Yay!

Go to LaurelsZoo and check out the adorable little puppets made to fit a child's hand. Pick out your favorite, then twitter the following:

I wanna win 3 puppets from @LaurelsZoo! This one is my favorite! *insert link to your favorite puppet here* Get more info at http://bit.ly/z4aPH

497th tweet gets them, no more than one tweet an hour please. :) You can play with the wording, just make sure your tweet includes @LaurelsZoo, a link to your favorite puppet, and a link back to this blog.

And hey...if you see some puppets you really, REALLY like, and don't want to wait until the contest is over to get them (Xmas is getting CLOSE!) get them, but keep tweeting! If you win the contest I'll give you a refund for three previously purchased kiddie puppets, shipping included!

Thanks for reading this, thanks for playing, and let's All Have Fun! :D