January 2010

A stuffed toy horse head was sent in the mail to New Jersey State Sen. Stephen Sweeney.  No note was included. This prompted staff to contact the bomb squad which disposed of the horse head.  The investigation led to the arrest of a 61 year old man. The arrest was made at the home he shares with his parents.  He will undergo psychiatric evaluation. 

I lived in New Mexico for years and never saw a roadrunner. When we moved back here from DC, I started to see them all the time.  Now we have a young roadrunner who likes to hang out in our yard.  He comes by around lunch time and suns himself in the front yard.  The other day he spent hours nestled on the ledge outside our dining room window. The spot on the ledge is shielded by some slightly overgrown shrubs.  So now we can't trim those because our roadrunner needs the cover!

Here is a good Petersons Field Guide video.  Their call is kind of dove like.  But what I want you to hear is the clacking sound they make which I am sure is the basis of the cartoon beep beep.  You don't have to believe me.  But you should.

Excellent post about the illustrator Gustaf Tenggren.  I'd never heard of him, but the style was immediately familiar to me, having consumed my share of Golden Books as a kid.