I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy! You are HEROES! You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day! Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things. And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here! All pawsitive all the time! I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!! Be kind and pass it on! Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!! After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane! Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org
VOTE TODAY
http://bit.ly/VoteVincent Rikkis Refuge, Orange, VA, USA
The Animal Rescue Site - Shelter Challenge
YOU voted Rikki’s Refuge #1 in Virginia in 2010
Let’s do it again for 2011
quick, simple, free
Your daily vote can win $1,000 - $5,000 for Rikki’s Refuge’s Animals!
Yes yes yes your hard work at voting is paying off, we moved up to NUMBER ONE in Virginia overnight with 24.69% of the votes.
We pushed up a notch to number nine planet wide with 0.83% of all the votes!!
Go go go Team Vincent !!! We CAN do it !!!!
Spread the Word - Tell Everyone to Vote!
Bissell MVP Contest
Vote daily thru Tuesday January 18th for Zoe Marie Spumoni
Running on behalf of Rikki’s Refuge
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Your daily vote could win up to $10,000 for Rikki’s Refuge
Click Zoe to Vote Zoe!
SHE COULD WIN $10,000 for Rikki’s Refuge
Possibilities
It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.
---Robert H. Goddard
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think wise, risking more than other's think safe, dreaming more than others think practical, and expecting more than others think possible. ---Origin Unknown
Maybe this is what makes Rikki’s Refuge so special, my hoomans never stop dreaming, dreaming of a better refuge, bigger and better, a better world -- and they care enough to make it happen!
Refuge News
Today is Rikki’s Birthday. Not Rikki’s Refuge. The original Rikki the Cat’s!
Rikki, born Jan. 13, 1981, was a new breed - a Balinese, a Siamese mutation, same body shape, grace & disposition, but with silky long hair. My daughter gave Rikki to me in April 1981. He was greeted by our 11 year old Siamese, who let Rikki know, “I’m top cat.” Rikki, who was always happy, was satisfied to be “bottom cat”.
The only thing Rikki ever regretted was not having wings! He would climb the drapes, walk across the valence and look for something high to jump to, like the top of the china cabinet. He darted this way and that in perpetual motion. My husband said, “He darts around like a mongoose”. So Rikki was named after Rudyard Kipling’s Indian mongoose story, “Rikki Tikki Tavi”.
Rikki was 4 years old when the Siamese cat died at the age of 15. Rikki was lost. Who could he follow around? Rikki needed a companion cat. My husband suggested a kitten - so “Rikki could be boss for once.” When the kitten cried for its mother, Rikki laid down and the kitten suckled Rikki’s paw while Rikki washed him. Although Rikki was a bachelor, the kitten could not have had a better mother. The kitten grew up to be “top cat”.
Rikki would get up on my knick-knack shelves, and with a graceful paw movement would push a cat statue off, then lean over and watch it fall to the floor. This was great fun and Rikki would stop only temporarily when I said, “NO NO”. Rikki always hated water far more than the typical cat. One day while playing this game, I wet my fingers and tiptoed near enough to flip my fingers so a few drops of water hit him. He never played that game again!
My children grown and gone, my husband’s business keeping him out of town, Rikki was my loving, loyal, joyful companion. With me almost always - he slept with me, sat on my lap if I read or sewed, rode on my shoulder out to get the mail. Rikki never did a mean thing to a person or another cat. He was all softness and love. All he ever wanted in life was to be hugged and loved.
Rikki died in my arms in September, 1996 of kidney failure. He had become like a toddler in his illness - never letting me out of his sight. My grandson said, “Rikki was all love without a mean bone in his body.”
I still grieve for him, crying as I write this. What could be a more fitting memorial for Rikki, always so full of kindness & love, than to give comfort & love to homeless and unwanted animals. So I donate this land for Rikki’s Refuge as a perpetual memorial to Rikki for the love and happiness he gave me for 15 years. And so others, less fortunate than Rikki, may know love in their lifetimes. I know Rikki would approve.
------Rikki’s Refuge’s Benefactor, Louise A. Hilliard, August 14, 1998
Celebrate Rikki’s Birthday with a Gift
Thank you Mary for working in the office all day yesterday to help mom out!!
Live from Vincent Video
Meet Georgina the Guinea Hen
Fun and Inspiring
Tails of Trivia
Today in 1930 Mickey Mouse comic strip first appeared.
January 13th is Penguin Awareness Day!
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time. Do you know how much? Tell me if you do Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org or comment here on the blog! Winner gets their name in tomorrow’s Good Morning Good News
Music and Motion
Thieving Doggies!!!!!
Good Times in the News
Why Geese Walk
Delicious Reddit, HappyNews Columnist
Q: Why do geese walk across a road when they can fly, thereby not getting hit by a car?
Angelo, Staten Island, New York, USAA:
Geese certainly can fly across a road. Explorers report them flying even across Mount Everest. Migrating bar-headed geese routinely overfly the Himalayas. Migrating Canadian geese fly, in fair weather, up to 1.6 kilometers (a mile) high, reaching speeds of 70 to 100 km/hr (45 to 60 mph). So geese could fly across a road. There are exceptions: they can't fly while molting (mid June to mid July).
Also domestic geese have largely lost flying ability. Moreover, people often remove part of their wings (pinioning) to prevent domestic geese from flying away. Consequently, domestic geese only flap their wings furiously and maybe lift off a couple of feet.
So why don't wild geese fly across roads? Primarily because a goose is a grazing animal and grazers walk as they graze. Their legs are positioned to their bodies farther forward than either duck or swan legs. They can, therefore, "walk and graze on dry land," writes biologist Chuck Fergus in Wildnotes of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Walking uses far less energy than flying. Conserving energy for fleeing danger and long migrations helps the species survive.
Researchers (A.J. Woakes et al) at the Universities of Birmingham and Wales found that the rate of oxygen consumption was significantly higher for flying rather than walking geese. Geese tend to walk to their feeding site from water. "Because they are grazers, they will do more walking, but they don’t avoid flying," emails biologist Marion E. Larson of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
They fly to migrate thousands of miles. Also they fly from their nighttime home waters (river, pond or lake) to nearby fields to graze during the day, and then fly back to the lake for the night. Such forays may take them a few hundred yards or over 20 miles, depending on food availability. But food drives the flights, not predators. "Because they're big, strong and aggressive, geese are less subject to predation than most other waterfowl," Fergus says. Hawks and owls — airborne dangers — are about the only predators immatures need worry about. Few adults need concern themselves at all.
Furthermore, wild geese are smart and quickly learn where refuge-area boundaries are in regions where they are hunted by humans. Geese become accustomed to road traffic. Intelligent and wary with keen hearing and vision, geese easily avoid traffic. On land, they feed in groups and at least one goose always scouts for trouble. Indeed, the grazing flock multiplies a lookout's sharp senses. So, to answer your question, "Canadian geese prefer to walk or swim. They do not like to fly," says the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension. And they don't need to fly to avoid a mere car. Further Reading:
Dear Vincent
What about Diseases?
Lots of you have questions about Rikki’s Refuge. I’ll pick one or two a day to answer here. Ask your questions in the blog comments or sent to me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org
QUESTION: Yesterday you talked about why you don’t allow visiting animals on the refuge property. Because you are afraid of either the visitor or the resident animals getting injured or killed. What about disease? Don’t you worry about that too? Beth
ANSWER: Hi Beth. You bet we do! Many of our animals are elderly or have health issues that make them frail. Any new disease could be life threatening to them. All animals who are moving into Rikki’s Refuge must have been checked out thoroughly by a doc before they come and then they still must spend a minimum of two weeks in quarantine. It’s bad enough it you go to a doggy park and your doggy catches a cold. But imagine what a nightmare we’d have to deal with if all 43 of our doggies got a cold. Or something worse. Animals - and hoomans too - can be carrying a disease and spreading it before they even have any noticeable signs of it. So, yes, Beth, that’s a real concern too.
Upcoming Events
Check my blog http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com
on the right under STAY IN TOUCH
the next four weeks - what to do at Rikki's Refuge
Will tell you all about upcoming events, also any cancellations and all the up to the minute stuff you need to know. Check in often. Sign up to follow the blog so you get updates when they happen. A little further down on the right click on FOLLOW.
Vote for the Animals
Here you can vote in contests that will give money to save the animals, they’re all free and easy, so all you have to do is click and it’s like making a donation!
2011 Calendar of What's up at Rikki's
Here you can see the calendar for all of 2011, so you can plan way far ahead!!
I really really love you,
Vincent
PS You tell me what you want! Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications! Subscriptions: Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved. Scheduled as needed. Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us! Scheduled daily. Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s! Scheduled weekly.
Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.
Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge
1 comment:
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