Kitten update

After a hopeful false start than one more kitten was moving and being tended to, Mama Janice has moved one of her kittens away from two now-confirmed dead kittens in the drawer.  Dan and I are planning a kitty cremation this evening in the backyard to send them to Kitty Heaven where ample yarn balls and laser pointers have already greeted them. 

They's multiplying!

"Eeeep, eeepp," greeted me this morning as I went downstairs to check on the kittens and open the door to their basement lair.  Thoroughly confused, I went farther into the downstairs sitting room to a sad sight.  Two kittens, unmoving and cold on the floor.  Looking further, I found Kitty Hendrix had a kitten attached to her.

Alyssa at the Rescue Society thought she was taking in two four/five-month-old kittens and had no idea one was pregnant.  More wet food, plenty of available water, she advised as she assured me that Mama would look after her new kitten and I had zero role to play.   

On produce

Foster kitty photos

The Lions are progressing!  Leda, pictured on the left, comes out to play laser and take treats.  (S)he continues to be vocal day and night and was even exploring upstairs this morning!  Kitty Hendrix, on the right, responds to catnip, does mild exploring downstairs and otherwise continues to be a skilled hider and champion scaredy cat.  

Animal fostering, maiden voyage

Unable to commit to long-term pet ownership, I signed Dan and I up for the next best thing: fostering.  Between being "dumped" or surrendered or crowded shelters, fostering is meant to be a transition for the animals into their eventual "forever home."

The lag between expressing interest to Chetwynd's local rescue group, On Our Way Home Animal Rescue, and receiving two kitten was merely nine days!  

Chetwynd-based and serving British Columbia's Peace region, they're committed to rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing abandoned and abused animals to the homes they deserve.  Anti-euthanization, this dedicated group has several cats and dogs in foster care available for adoption.  

Our own two black with white long-haired cats (collectively named the Licorice Lions with individual names still to present themselves) will be ready to go a week after their spay and neuter surgeries on the 17 April.  

Only two nights in, they're still adapting to their indoor lifestyle (it's thought that they were outdoor feral cats previously) and are skilled hiders.  Preferred spaces so far: dresser drawers, a tiny space between the stairs and the wall and behind the sofa.  

We're taking baby steps with them.  The door to their basement lair is now open during the day time while one of us is home, their food is creeping slowly up the stairs to encourage interaction, we visit and chat to them adjacent to their hiding places nearly hourly when home and are initiating contact.  

I will post photos of these cute kitties in the basement when they pop out long enough to snap a non-blurry photo.  

To view available animals for adoption, to donate, inquire about fostering or other volunteer opportunities, visit their website or facebook group page.  

Liard Easter

Liard Hotsprings, often merely a stopover travelers on the Alaska Highway, is a destination of its own that beckons many into its soothing, and allegedly healing, waters.  Year round accessible and thoughtfully distanced from the highway, its natural-scaped pools with lightly graveled riverbed and exotic hardwood benches are a rustic and raw companion to their southern Radium and Banff commercial cousins.

A wooden boardwalk, linking the hotsprings and parking lot, meandering through a warm water swamp and boreal forest does more than protect the sensitive habitat from wandering footprints. It provides an uncluttered journey to disconnect from the drive you're enduring, refocus on nature's wealth while contemplating the special environment you're in.

A repeat visitor - overnight and passing through - this Easter was my first visit during winter.  Dan and I were joined by his aunt and uncle from Whitehorse for a weekend of relaxing, looking out at stunning northern Rockies scenery and even outdoor! barbecuing.

A handful of the sites in the campground near the hotsprings were occupied by hardy campers both in trailers and tenting!  Usually a keen camper, I firmly draw the line at winter camping.  Mercifully there was a simple lodge (and lodge is a generous term) across the highway to bunk down for the night.  Heading south to Muncho Lake the next night, we checked into the homey Northern Rockies Lodge.  An Easter brekkie the next morning and we bid 'til soon' to Bob and Dawna as another northern roadtrip came to its close.

Highway chockers with buffs!

These solid creatures are bigger than the Civic!

Inviting hotspring

Muncho Lake from the north

Ahh, northern Rockies