If you’re heading out of town for a day or more, and you’re in need of someone trustworthy to take care of your pet, where do you turn? We’ve mentioned them before, but it’s worth repeating:
* Abby on Argyle: Half-hour dog walks and cat visits at reasonable rates. Weekends, off-peak hours, and holidays carry a surcharge, so be sure to inquire about the price and availability.
* Small World Pet Sitters: Again, reasonable rates that vary depending on the amount of time needed, the days, and the service–they will also water indoor plants (included), or outdoor gardens for a fee. Plus, Boni is available for commissioned portraits of your pet!
* Kids in the neighborhood: Check with your neighbors, or on the Flatbush Family Network, to see if there’s a responsible young person nearby who’s looking for work. Unlike the other options, a kid won’t be licensed or bonded, but they will probably be your least expensive option, and you’re helping them get some useful experience.
The fun continues this weekend and next, as bags and boxes are filled with some of the things animals love most (food), and the animals open them in adorable ways. Don’t believe me? Check out this video from last year of otters with boxes on their heads.
Here’s the schedule:
December 17/18: golden lion tamarins and dwarf mongoose
December 24/25: meerkats and North American river otters
And if you’re still looking for a gift for an animal lover in your life, the zoo offers gift memberships, which are a great value, and cover all the zoos, and the aquarium, in the city.
Presents for the Animals
Saturdays and Sundays, 11am and 3:30pm
Prospect Park Zoo
450 Flatbush Avenue
Lauren from Abby on Argyle spotted this lost dog being taken in by Animal Care & Control on Avenue H and Rugby Road. ACC updates their lost animal database regularly, so you can check online to see if your animal has been brought to one of their Care Centers. Otherwise, call 311 for more information.
To claim a lost pet at ACC, you must go to the Care Center (the one in Brooklyn is at 2336 Linden Boulevard) and bring proof of ownership, such as a photo of the pet or a veterinarian record.
Be a part of the Audubon’s 112th Christmas Bird Count this Saturday, December 17 at 12 and 3pm at Prospect Park.
For three weeks starting today, volunteers around the country brave the cold to do a bird count, and engage in a little friendly competition. The data is used by the Audubon and other organizations to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action.
If you’re around East 19th around Ditmas and Dorchester, keep an eye out for Trisky the cat. Helene sends this email:
So my indoor/outdoor cat has a habit of going into places he shouldn’t, like garages, and getting trapped in there. He has been missing for 3 days and I’m wondering if you could mention that if anybody has seen him, or heard a cat crying if they could check into it. The small area he travels in is basically E 19th around Ditmas and Dorchester. He is solid gray, with a red collar with a bell. His name is Trisky, and will answer to it. If he is let out, he will just come home.
Also wanted to mention that he is very sweet, no scratching or biting, so people shouldn’t be scared of him. Thanks!
If you see him, please contact her at helenesilverman@earthlink.net or 347-247-8059.
Captain, a 25-year-old opera-singing parrot who a neighbor says she’s seen visiting our neighborhood with her owner, Allen Kirson, flew off his shoulder while they were biking on Ocean Parkway last week. Kirson shares custody of Captain with his ex-wife, Roberta Klein, and they are offering a $200 reward. If you see the bird, please call 347-350-5914.
Bats are known to roam Prospect Park–during each of the past few summers, naturalist Paul Keim has led Twilight Tours that feature bat sightings–but has anyone else ever seen them outside of the park?
People are understandably nervous about bats, what with the potential for rabies, but bats do provide some ecological help, like keeping down the mosquito population (maybe we need more bats in the park?). For the curious, here are some tips for building your own bat house, which helps bats find homes as their habitats dwindle.
Anyone lose a friendly black kitten? A neighbor found one, and is hoping to reconnect it with its owner:
A black kitten was found last night on Stratford Road between Cortelyou and Dorchester. It is very friendly. Please contact blackkittenbk@gmail.com, if the kitten belongs to you.
Lindsay Aikman, a professional photographer living in Ditmas Park, is offering the above a pet portrait promotion through December 18. You can see some of her pet portraits at her Flickr site, and additional work at her website. For more info, email lindsay@lindsayaikman.com.
Neighbor Barbara asks that you keep an eye out for her black cat Mac, pictured about on the right:
Our cat, Mac, slipped out the back door (East 16th Street between Ditmas and Newkirk) Sunday mid-morning and hasn’t come back. He is black with a white star on his chest, well built, about eight years old, and shy. The last I spotted him, around three o’clock yesterday afternoon, he was heading towards Newkirk Avenue. He may have slipped into the basement of one of the stores and got locked in.
If anyone sees him, please call Barbara at 917-601-5577.
Update: After 30 hours, Mac has been happily reunited with his family.
This sweet cat has been missing from from Westminister between Beverly and Cortelyou since yesterday morning. She’s about 2 years old and very friendly. If you see her, please call Jen at 718-683-4070.
Diana says this cat, June Bug, was abandoned on her street and needs a home:
A little girl on my block told me that her mother had put the family cat out on the street.
Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, June Bug showed up in front of my building—very skinny and hungry. She has been staying with me and my 2 cats in my very small apartment.
June Bug needs a home!!
She is a young, high-energy kitty who is very friendly— loves to cuddle. She would do well solo or with another young cat or kitten.
She is a cute little pixie tortie, only 8lbs, microchipped, FIV negative and has a clean bill of health.
Neighbor Mary found this friendly pale orange and cream male cat on Rugby and Dorchester on Sunday, October 2. If you know him, please call 917-847-1489.
The Hawk Creek Wildlife Center of Buffalo brought several birds to Prospect Park for the 14th annual Raptor Festival today. The free event involved a lot of audience participation, such as these children who bravely watched a turkey vulture swoop over them a few times. There was a lot to learn, too–like how the turkey vulture is one of the few birds with a sense of smell, which it can use to sniff out carrion from miles away. But don’t worry–the kids were warned to leave any decaying matter with their parents before lying down.
In May, a young red-tailed hawk was found on Bushwick Avenue, near the Jackie Robinson Parkway, and now it’s all rehabilitated and ready to be released into the wild. You can meet the hawk, along with 12 different species of owls, falcons, hawks, and an eagle (!) at Raptor Fest this Sunday at the Nethermead in Prospect Park.
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, with 5th graders from the St. Savior Elementary School, will release the hawk to kick off the event. Also on hand will be Wildlife In Need Of Rescue and Rehabilitation’s (WINORR) Bobby Horvath, who nursed the bird back to health. Also: raptors!
14th Annual Raptor Fest
Sunday, October 2, 12-3pm
Prospect Park’s Nethermead meadow (enter at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road)
We get reports of lost pets of all kinds, but this is definitely a first. Lucy, one of neighbor Jean’s chickens, escaped over night!
She’s only about 8 weeks old, is completely white, and has blue eyes, so she should be pretty easy to spot. Jean asks that people be on the lookout, try to grab the chicken if you see her, and call 917-292-9301 if you do.
Jean keeps a small flock on East 19th Street between Glenwood and Avenue H. Lucy was rescued after being found on the street in Park Slope, and after she was brought home on Sunday, it seems the lurking neighborhood cats were making her understandably nervous–at about 8 inches tall, most cats outweigh Lucy by a bit. Frightened and clever, she relied on that diminutive size to make her escape, slipping through a corner spot in her coop at some point last night.
The Sean Casey Animal Rescue was at the Flatbush Frolic on Sunday in the North Shore Animal League adoption van. If you didn’t visit, check out the SCAR Facebook page through the September 25 for “Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet” Week. The most recent featured pet is Kitty, a pretty, spunky lady who has the unfortunate distinction of being the cat residing at SCAR the longest.
“You are beautiful and I would never want to eat you,” wrote one young fan. Another wrote, “Dearest Agatha you are the color to my rainbow…”
“Aggie will be greatly missed,” said Denise McClean, Director of the Prospect Park Zoo. “People grew up visiting her and came back to the zoo to see her through the years. She had a big personality and loved the attention.”
The wild parrots of Brooklyn seem to be moving north from their Brooklyn College squawking grounds, or possibly east from Green-Wood.
Though it’s common to see them hanging out in fruit trees as their favorite foods start ripening, we’ve seen more of the birds spending time (and, it seems, building nests) in evergreens as far up as Albemarle, and possibly even Church. Neighbor John Komar has a great set of photos where you can see them enjoying one on Argyle, and I’ve heard reports of diners at the Farm’s patio being pelted by the mischievous birds.
These Quaker parrots (aka Monk parakeets) are commonly believed to have shown up in Brooklyn in the 1960s after being accidentally released at JFK airport from a shipment of birds destined for pet stores. Besides their bright green color, they’re easily identified by their noisy squawking.
If you’re interesting in learning more about them, Brooklyn parrot authority Steve Baldwin regularly holds tours at Brooklyn college–the next one is coming up on Saturday, September 10.
The new neighborhood vet is ready to see patients in her brand new location on Church Avenue. Dr. Courtney Perry is still putting the final touches on the PAWSitive Veterinary space, but she and her staff are available for many services already. When I stopped by, a cat was resting in a cage in the back, and a tiny chihuahua had just come in with his family.
When everything is up and running (and it will be soon) they will offer a full range of preventative and wellness services:
Wellness exams, vaccinations, intestinal parasite testing and control, FeLV/FIV testing, mircochipping, nutrition, routine surgical procedures, and dental care. We can also treat your pets should they become sick from illness or injury.
Dr. Perry and her staff are all friendly, caring folks–you’ll be putting your pets in good hands. Congrats on the new space, and welcome to the neighborhood!
Their hours are:
Monday: 12-8pm
Wednesday and Friday: 9am-5pm
Saturday: 9am-2pm
Animal lovers listen up: The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo is currently accepting applications for its volunteer discovery guide and docent programs.
Prospect Park Zoo volunteers educate visitors about the zoo’s animals and WCS’s mission to save wildlife and wild places around the globe.
Prospective volunteers must complete a basic volunteer training program. Training sessions will be held on Sundays, September 25, October 2, and October 16.
Once trained, guides will be able to answer questions about the zoo’s animals, present “biofacts” at Discovery Stations, assist in the interactive Discovery Center, work at special events, and teach visitors how to interact with alpacas, horses, and sheep in the barn area.
Admission to the program is competitive, but it’s worth a shot! Application information can be found online. Prospective volunteers are encouraged to submit their applications by September 8.
For more information, call 718-399-7339 Ext. 325 or visit the zoo’s volunteer page.
This year’s Newport Folk Festival is just two months out. Today, tickets for an amazing Deer Tick hosted after party on Friday, Saturday and Sunday went on sale…and already sold out. Deer Tick will be curating three Newport Folk Fest after parties at the Newport Blues Cafe on July 27-29. According to the band’s publicist, […]
Festival season is officially kicking into high gear. This afternoon, Bonnaroo’s lineup schedule for the 4-day music and arts fest in Manchester, Tenn. was announced. In case you need a lineup refresher, one of the most notable acts *is (*IMHO) Fruit Bats – the band fronted by Eric D. Johnson that fell off the radar […]
Want to lose weight but not seeing results? You could be making one of these 3 biggest diet mistakes. In this video, licensed nutritionist Lisa Jubilee of Living Proof Nutrition/Fitness explains the 3 most common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. Interested in trying our kickboxing program? Get 3 kickboxing classes and a … […]
Powerful Words is the name of our character development curriculum here at Urban Martial Arts. It’s designed by one of the nation’s leading childhood development experts, Dr. Robyn Silverman. Every month, we’ll focus on a different Powerful Word, or concept around character development. This month’s Powerful Word is TRUSTWORTHINESS. Here’s a video from Dr. R […]
Echinacea pallida, Pale Coneflower, growing in my urban backyard native plant garden. I was appalled to see the National Wildlife Federation publish on their Web site, without qualification or counter-point, a press piece by the "Brand Manager... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] […]
We wanted to make sure you knew about a Groupon of ours that just went live this morning. For $30, you get 4 kickboxing classes with a 40-minute personal training session, and a pair of free boxing gloves. or… For $50, you get 10 kickboxing classes with a 40-minute personal training session, and a pair … […]
Not only are there a few handfuls of awesome shows happening around the five boroughs this week, there’s a helluva lot goin’ on this weekend in the way of festivals. Basically, it’s going to be like Mardi Gras … minus the beads … and a lot of other things. First, it’s the 4th Annual Brooklyn […]
Now that THE LILY MAID is safely off to my agent, I’ve begun work on another project: relaunching this website. It’s a major project, frankly, and one which is overdue. The last time I redesigned the site was for the launch of DOOMED QUEENS. Since then, I’ve moved onto writing fiction, creating iPhone apps and […]
So many good shows this week, so little time. Justin Townes Earle is back in town, up-and-comers The Whiskey Collection hit Rockwood again, Jonathan Wilson and Jenny O do their thing, and the list goes on. Keepin’ it short and sweet, folks — check out the packed lineup below, and plan wisely! Monday, May 14 […]
Diana says this cat, June Bug, was abandoned on her street and needs a home:
