The week that was

Actually it's more than one week maybe a couple have gone by since I took this first lot of rather bad photos. The old man as always was with his girlfriends the Terrorist and River. They were up there just above my house sitting in the sunshine.

The old boy spends most of his time these days sleeping. At 31 years old he's getting just that bit slower. We don't know how long he does have before he passes on or a decision has to be made to put him to sleep. Those decisions I ate having to make but when it comes to animals it pays always to do the right thing.

It seems we have a new resident living near the house. One rather noisy and very pompous young male Peacock just in the stages of getting his tail train has decided to hang around. The kids promptly named him 'Herald' because of his call that sounds like Hee Rald! I just think he's a noisy loud beak myself. So far he's not causing us any bother. So fine we'll live and let live even though peacocks like turkeys are a pest here in Northland.

Then there was a stunning sunset we had on evening. Kids were out with one camera taking shots I nabbed this one on mine. Another one to add to the already rather large collection of sunset shots. I guess you can never have too many!

These are the last couple of photos of little Miss Lily aka Miss Greedy taken at 14 weeks old.

She left us a week ago on a rainy Sunday and is now at her owners place with two other calves for company in a big paddock. It was fun (not) putting her on the horse trailer. Gilly had her head and I had to put a rope around her rear end and walk up the ramp to keep the little monkey walking up. She travelled well back to Gilly's place and her weight gain was really good. We do miss her but reality dictates on a farm you can only carry so many animals.

I went up to my good friends in Kamo and visited for a couple of days. This is Marah one of their white lionesses enjoying the sunshine which we haven't seen much of for over a month. Northland has had a lot of rain which is unusual for this time of the year. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to our summer!

Little Silas the African Serval is a little cutie, but like all wild animals he can still if he chose inflict a rather nasty injury. He's not so keen on too many people being around. I love his spots and stripes. He lives with his sister Zoe. They're such beautiful little cats.

Mandla the black leopard was as always his cool usual self. He has to be one of the most beautiful big cats at the park. His species have been listed as vunerable on the IUCN Red List. Leopards in the wild are being pushed to the limits by human encroachment and habitat loss. I always make the most of appreciating being able to see such an amazing cat in the flesh.

And last but not least beautiful Shikana who just had to lick her nose when I took the photo. She is a Bengal Tiger. Her subspecies are now also being hunted to the brink of extinction. The trade in tiger parts over the years has worsened. Value these precious animals and keep in mind if you see someone selling a tiger cub as a pet be sure it isn't for conservation but for little more than profit. Wild animals are not pets and should never be kept as pets. Their instincts don't change regardless of how supposedly tam