Category: Critters

Critters by Joe WilcoxMar 16, 20164:42 pm

Little Lulu

About a week ago, I moseyed into the Mission Valley PetSmart wanting some supplies and stopped to look at the cats up for adoption. We have two, Cali and Neko, and don’t need another; I meant to briefly window shop only. But the story of one beastie just ruptured my heart. According to her info card, she had been in a shelter for a year. A year! What could possibly be wrong with the little furball that no one would want her?

The woman tending the cats couldn’t answer. She fetched the kitty, which she named Lulu, from a Long Beach shelter, that could keep the kitty no longer. The adoption outfit working out of this PetSmart, and two others in the San Diego area, often rescues rescues (that’s not a type but verb and noun). Meaning: Adoptable animals that might otherwise be put down.

Critters by Joe WilcoxJan 15, 201612:16 am

What Kuma Leaves Behind

Four years ago today we lost Kuma, our Maine Coon. He lived a short, full life over 18 months—from near-death abandonment; to adoption; to surgery removing nearly two-dozen hair ties; to being hit by a car; to roaming the neighborhood as the friendly but dominant male cat.

We don’t know what happened to our boy, although coyote kill is likeliest explanation. I hadn’t considered the risk, but there is a canyon close by and the females breed this time of year and come out looking to feed. So accustomed to dogs, an indoor/outdoor California cat wouldn’t necessarily perceive danger. On Jan. 31, 2012, city workers clearing brush in a canyon found Kuma’s collar, which IKEA cat has worn since.

Critters by Joe WilcoxJan 1, 201610:09 pm

Remembering Bubba

When I started Flickr a Day one year ago, I envisioned a photographic storytelling project, That was 2015. For 2016, I shift storytelling to broader venues but can’t promise daily delivery. Our first installment time travels 10 years to June 2006, when our family inherited lost baby bunny Bubba.

While walking our Kensington, Md. neighborhood on the evening of the third, we came across a couple clasping a tiny rabbit; their cat caught the bunny a day earlier. They desperately sought someone to care for the animal. As house-rabbit owners, we obliged, with the intention of taking Bubba to a wildlife rescue center the next day. He didn’t live long enough to be rescued,

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 31, 20156:34 am

Flickr a Day 365: ‘Cat Scratch Fever’

My favorite photo of the 365 is Day 38 “Master of Venice” by Alexis Bross. Cats are such an Internet stereotype how could I not conclude the series with another—conceding that Flickr a Day has too many. Additional Days: 51, 143, 201, 220, and 302.

In choosing the feline that would end the series, I favored habitat shots and ignored facial closeups or handsome subjects. None of the finalists is ugly, per se, but only the last two do I find to be attractive. I never imagined seeing more cat photos than I could possible tolerate, until selecting our winner.

Critters by Joe WilcoxNov 26, 20157:25 am

Flickr a Day 330: ‘Tommy’

Gobble, gobble, it’s turkey day as the United States celebrates another Thanksgiving (the first was 1621). We don’t know the fate of this bird, whether he survived the butcher’s block four years ago or any other thereafter. But being named is hopeful for longer life.

Chris Burke shot self-titled “Tommy” on September 24, 2011, using Canon EOS Rebel T2i and EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS—one of the manufacturer’s best non-“L” lenses. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 135mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 23, 20155:34 pm

Flickr a Day 327: ‘Thieving Monkey’

My heart stopped thinking that bottlers are shameless in the quest to expand their market reach”. 😉 “Just outside the gates of Ubud Monkey Forest“, which is in Indoensia, “this monkey stole a water bottle […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 4, 20157:11 am

Flickr a Day 308: ‘Preying Mantis’

I took some liberty by condensing the self-title to today’s pick, which should be: “Preying Mantis on the Hand Rail Outside HP Headquarters”. Does that reveal where our shooter, Don DeBold, works? Living in San […]

Critters by Joe WilcoxOct 20, 20158:12 pm

This is New

Hours after posting about Cali’s first year with us, she curled up with Neko on the NIPPRIG sofa where he typically sleeps. This has never happened before. The cats are territorial enough that there are some spots […]

Critters by Joe WilcoxOct 20, 20154:25 pm

Cali Decorates Every Room

A year ago today, my daughter’s stray cat Cali moved into the Wilcox household. I want to know where 12 months went. Whoosh! As I shared last Day of the Dead, the tortoiseshell kitty adopted my daughter soon after she moved into a group house near San Diego State University, where she goes to school. We inherited the furball, after a roommate demanded she go (the girl supposedly had animal allergies).

Cali is a stoutly independent cat. She’s a hunter and would do well on a farm. Our hefty ginger, Neko, and her are a bonded pair now. We hoped they would tolerate one another, because you never know with felines, and they’re friendly enough companions. Any time two territorial cats share space, that’s bonded enough.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 18, 20157:16 am

Flickr a Day 291: ‘Geai bleu / Blue Jay’

When I think dramatic photo of bird in flight, eagle, falcon, or owl comes to mind—not blue jay. Hence, the self-title of our Day taker captured by Eric Bégin on Jan. 27, 2008, using Olympus […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 16, 20157:50 pm

Moose are Loose

While finishing up an appointment with the eye specialist, Dad texted. He sent these two photos, which granted aren’t National Geographic caliber—more a problem of their bieng hugely downsampled during transmission. He used one of […]

Critters by Joe WilcoxOct 15, 20156:01 am

Eight Years Later

On this day in 2007, the small Wilcox clan relocated to San Diego—to be closer to my father-in-law, who turns 94 in about two months. We sacrificed much, and gained some, too, by leaving the Washington, D.C area. Daisy, as seen in one of her last romps in our backyard, is among the many things precious we left behind. I still miss that rabbit, which surely has exhausted her lifespan by now.

If I could redo any part of my life, we would stay somewhere around Washington and never move out West. The community left there, we never really regained here. My daughter’s burgeoning ice skating career collapsed with the loss of coach and friends. While she found other mates at San Diego High School and San Diego State University, she left behind more—as did my wife Annie and I.