Thursday, December 31

'Harry , look the sky is falling!'


A few days before Christmas I woke up, walked to the bottom of my bed to let Harry and Elspeth out of their crate then preceded to my window to open the blind.

I thought it was quite cold but only upon opening the blind would we see why.

As far as I could see the countryside was covered in about two inches of snow which might amuse american readers but that's quite deep for England and the snow was still falling!
I walked over to Elspeth, picked her up and showed her the snow. She froze for a second then tried to run away. This was very unlike her. Normally she is quite partial to a morning cuddle.
I placed her on the floor and she ran to Harry who was sitting trying to see out the window. The two of them had quite the conversation and ran off under my bed not to emerge again until I was ready to go down stairs.

So the four of us went down to the kitchen and had breakfast like normal and then into the living room where I thought it would be nice to go out for a walk in the snow and let them explore their finally finished enclosure. I put on Elspeth and Harry's harnesses and leads and went out the door only for the two of them to get level with said door and run back inside and under the sofa! I then got a hand full of snow and tried to show it to them under the sofa where a tiny little Elspeth nose appeared followed by Harry's. The looked at the snow, sniffed it and off they ran again back into cover.

It was a very odd thing to see as in the wild Corsacs come from regions that have snow and I really do not imagine in the wild Corsacs spending all winter in their burrows because snow is scary!

Anyway I gave up my dreams of taking them on an arctic adventure around the grounds and instead went on my own.

When I got back I my feet were soaking and freezing. It would appear that New Rock boots however pretty are not water resistant so I took them off and went to put my slippers on only to find that they had been taken into Elspeth's collection of goodies as I had left them within a foot of her crate. (I put them in their crates when I go out to prevent then hurting then selves or my home.) I then went to open their crate and saw that Harry had the Sky remote!

We went on with out daily playing, cuddling and what not. I tried to wrap my Christmas gifts for people and Harry decided he wanted to help. Every time he stood on the wrapping paper he wiped it due to his claws (which are meant to be kept long, it's a Corsac thing.) so I got through a whole roll of wrapping paper on one box of chocolates!..Oh well at least Harry had fun hehe.

The faces Harry pulls when he eats:



(Last one made me laugh!)

So yes that was their first snow and no they really did not like it!

I must now go, my partner is trying to entertain two foxes which looks ...painful hehe!

TTFN!



Monday, December 28

New video!

For Christmas Santa got us a new video camera which is great as I lost my camera which I used as a video camera.

Last night I decided to film Harry and Elspeth playing around on my bed. They were not feeling very cuddly but they were quite playful.
I am really glad that the new camera adjusts to light and did not make the whole room look red.

I also had some photos of Harry and Elspeth 'fixed'. As you may notice on quite allot of the photos their eyes are a funny colour. Well that is not the colour of their eyes naturally so a friend of mine fixed a few for me, take a look!


Before

After



Before


After

I had quite a few more done but let me know what you think. He wantes to try again but spend longer on them so that Harry and Elspeth still look like they have a soul behind thie eyes.

Well I must be off. I have about four hours of fox movies to edit.

TTFN!

Thursday, December 24

Twas the night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was sturring, not even an African pygmy dormouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas would soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plumbs danced through their heads;





And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.




Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,


Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;


A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night"

Merry Christmas!
Love-
Harry and Elspeth Flashman
xXx

Ps: More photos and videos of us after Christmas as we are getting a new Camera AND Video camera...Or so Santa tells us shhh!

Thursday, December 3

Sorry!

Well hello everyone!

I am so sorry I have not blogged in a while, myself and the foxies have not been up to much and I lost my camera so I had nothing to post.

What we have generally been up to since I last posted is sorting out little issues. These are things like how foxes tinkle in their water bowls. I sorted this out by getting a bowl holder with adjustable height. I now have their food and water just high enough that they cannot mess in them but they can still reach to eat and drink.
This was a tricky thing to find as they are generally very big as they are normally used for tall dogs but I found one for Terriers which seems just right.


I then sorted out Elspeth's need to dig everything everywhere. You see she had been keeping me up at night as she wanted to dig in her crate which has a metal floor so this made a total racket. I watched her one night to see why she would do this. It was quite amusing as poor Harry would be trying to sleep and he would get their blankets thrown atop of him! Elspeth seemed to be trying to bury her treats that she had earnt through out the day. I knew she was stashing them somewhere I just did not know her trips to her litter tray were really to hide goodies!

I found a treat that neither of them wanted to stash but instead would eat right there...Puppy food. How odd is that? The moist meaty chunks seem to be perfect. They have nothing bad for foxes in them, they are the puppy ones so they can be eaten quickly and I can carry quite allot of them and they have added calcium as another bonus! They both go mad for these and they come in a cereal sized box so there is quite allot in there. As treats they work out quite cheep but if like the box suggests I used them as a complete food they would break the bank. So anyway since giving these to the two of them they sleep at night after their bedtime chat, no more midnight treat hiding, YAY!


Speaking of their bedtime chat Harry and Elspeth have totally come out of their shells. They actually talk to us which is great. It seems the noises they made before was their version of whispering. Now they talk at a normal volume and their language is...amazing. They have a huge range of sounds which they use in just a normal conversation. I have not yet heard them being mad but I am sure that would have yet another sound. I made a sound bite thing for you all last night so you have some idea what I am on about. There is no picture as it was filmed in my bedroom when I turnt off the lights. I tried turning them on and filming them but they stopped talking then. It seems it is just a little chat they have just before going to sleep and if I turn the light on clearly I want to play some more.
So this coming out of their shells seems to mean that Harry is now my boy. Yep, my beloved Elspeth, my little princess has decided she likes my other half, her daddy more then me. She now follows him all over the place and gets upset if he goes to the bathroom as she is not allowed to follow and will run to our bedroom and wait for him under the bed. I think she loves him for his shoes. She has stolen quite a few of them and she likes it when he chases her for them.

Harry however has become a soppy little chap. He likes to sit on the bed and be fed his dinner by hand. I guess it makes it fun for him. He also still enjoys Peek-a-boo but extreme peek-a-boo. He now comes right up onto the bed or the sofa, depending where we are at the time. He now the same as Elspeth comes when he is called. It really is great! I can call him to follow me anywhere if he is not already doing so. They both have trouble with stairs though, neither of them can cope with them. They start out well but then they are a tangle of legs. Neither of them get hurt but it's interesting to see how they try to figure out how to use them.

Even though I seem to have swapped foxes with my partner I am still very happy. I love them both so very much I do not mind which wishes to spend time with me.

I read earlier in the week that Corsacs are easily habituated to humans which I must admit seems to be true. The more they see that we provide for them they closer our bond grows and it is not just material things. It is also things like is Harry is shaking his head allot and clearly has an itchy ear I will scratch it for him, if he closes the door to his crate when we are playing and needs to get in to use the litter tray I will help him. All of these things along with food, shelter, love seem to bring us closer.

I shall endeavour to write this blog as often as I did before now that I have found my camera.

TTFN!