Search Results for: blog have you hugged your sea monkeys today

Animals with Unusual Aspirations

Every once in a while odd notions pop into my head. (Okay, more than just once in a while.) The past few months, though, I keep having thoughts about animals with unusual aspirations. I’m not sure if they’re potential children’s book titles or just humorous musings meant to poke me when my subconscious thinks I need a laugh. Whatever they are –or may one day become– they make me smile. With all the bad news in the media recently, I thought I’d share them with you in the hopes perhaps they’ll bring a little levity to your life, too. The … Continue reading →

Animal Holidays and Observances There Should Be If There Aren’t Already

Last year I was pretty good about tracking the different animal/pet related holidays and observances with articles like Appreciating Elephants (in honor of Elephant Appreciation Day), Have You Hugged Your Sea-Monkeys Today?, Happy World Turtle Day!, and Hug Your Cat Day: Come Here, Tabby and Mr. Meow!. That’s just to name a few. There were more (see the list below for some others, including some Aimee wrote). The past few months I’ve been thinking about the number and variety of holidays and observances I found –and the ones I don’t think exist that have occurred to me since. I decided … Continue reading →

Animals in Historical Mysteries: An Interview with Mary Reed (and Eric Mayer)

Another author who recently humored my request for an interview is Mary Reed, who co-authors the John the Eunuch series with Eric Mayer. And actually I got double my money this go around because this dynamic duo is also a married one as well. I’m going to keep my intro short because in reading their answers you’ll come to see how much they not only love animals (especially cats), but also use animals in their work and have a lot of fun with it. Courtney Mroch: What kind of things do you write about? Mary Reed/Eric Mayer: We write historical … Continue reading →

Different Types of Fish Food

We’ve looked at the basics — flake fish food, frozen fish food, live fish food, and freeze dried fish food. But there are a lot of different types of fish food that fall under those main headings. Algae wafers were developed specifically for bottom feeders like cory cats and silver dollars. Other herbivorous fish will also enjoy the occasional algae wafer. Wait to add algae wafers to your tank until your daily tank lights go off — that way your bottom feeders won’t have to compete with your top dwelling fish. Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae that makes … Continue reading →

Sea Monkeys and Teaching the Scientific Method

Anytime you teach science, you should be teaching through the scientific method. First of all, it is the foundation for understanding all other subjects in science. Secondly, it fosters critical thinking skills and finally, I am increasingly convinced that it is becoming a lost art leading to shoddy conclusions. So when my son asked if he could have sea monkeys as his next ‘pet’ after the death of his two beloved turtles, I jumped at the opportunity. It really is a fantastic way to introduce younger kids to the steps in the scientific method. It requires that you follow directions … Continue reading →

National Dog Day: Got $5 Bucks?

I’d heard of Take Your Dog to Work Day but I had not heard of National Dog Day. I came across it on one of the lists I check periodically to find pet and/or animal celebration days to write about. Well, the reason I had never heard about it before is because it’s relatively new. If I lived in California, specifically near Malibu, I might have heard about it sooner. National Dog Day events are taking over Calamigos Ranch in Malibu today with activities like Most Beautiful Male and Female, a “Little Dog” Model Search for dogs 25 pounds and … Continue reading →

The Pets Blog Week in Review for May 14-20

I flew solo again for part of the week until Thursday. Then Aimee came back with, among other things, tales of her adventures with Lally and Moose during their cross country trip to their new home. Here’s what other topics were addressed in the Pets Blog: Monday, May 14 Um, everyone needs one day off, right? Tuesday, May 15 Tabby, Tabby, Tabby. It was all about Tabby. First, an account of how even the best vets goof, then about her “disturbing” new behavior. Wednesday, May 16 I’ve really been into themed days lately, so when I found one about Sea-Monkeys, … Continue reading →

Museums and Pets

Do you ever have days or weeks that revolve around a theme? Like you’ll see mention of a certain something in more than one place? This happens to me a lot. I remember the first time I really took notice of the phenomenon. I was a sophomore in high school and we had just started studying Shakespeare. Suddenly everywhere I turned I’d bump into references to his plays. Or when my old car, a 1992 Honda Civic, started having problems that required frequent maintenance, I knew the time was about to come for a new car. I really had my … Continue reading →