The California Chapter: January 2012

On Saturday we drove to Pescadero, CA for a guided tour of the elephant seals on the shores of Año Nuevo State Park. I had heard about the tours from a California guide book and had bought tickets a couple months back and, animal lover that I am, was pretty excited for this day to come.

The tour was led by a very informative docent who told us anything a person could ever want to know about elephant seals. The shore of Año Nuevo is the largest mainland breeding colony in the world for the seals and for three months of the year they have tours so you can witness these amazing creatures up close.

From mid-December through mid-January, pregnant females arrive on shore from months out at sea eating and plumping themselves for delivery and nursing. They will give birth and nurse their babies (seal pups are called weaners) until their pup has put on 300 pounds. The males arrive in the meantime and battle other males for breeding access to the lady seals. Once the pup is weaned, the female will mate and go off to sea to repeat the process all over again. The weaners stay on the shore until March, when they go off to sea.

There were several things I thought were sad about the lives of seals (especially female seals). If you were a seal, you'd lead a solitary life alone at sea with virtually no interaction with others. Can you imagine being alone 500 feet down in the cold, dark ocean while watching your back for sharks? Then you make the looong journey to shore to have your baby where you must fast for 5 weeks. But that's not the worst part about your time at shore. The biggest bummer is that there are giant (3-4 times your weight) horny males who try to hop on for a ride before you've even given birth! You have to fight to get the blubbery blobs off of you. And you have to watch them fight and bark at each other to prove who the better man is to mate with you. You go through childbirth by yourself and only get to spend one month with your new sweet pup before it's time for that male with the big head to jump aboard and have his way. Then you return to sea to gorge yourself for the next birth. See. Super depressing, huh? I'm so glad I'm human!

The tour was a 3 mile walk where we came really close to these two:

Remember when I was talking about those amorous hefty males? Let's watch one in action, shall we?

She managed to break free! And this is how we left the unhappy couple. Doesn't it look like her big brown eyes are pleading, "Don't leave me here with this big galoot. Save me!" Poor girl. Here's a couple more big guys laying in the sand along our walk down to the beach:

Check out that schnoz! The males develop those trunk-like noses with age.

Do you see the babies?!

Before we headed home we stopped at Harley Goat Farm (read a previous post here about this amazing place!) for a visit to their cheese shop. Yum!

On Tuesday we celebrated Hazel's 3rd birthday. I can't believe our sweet puppy is 3 already! I just want to take a moment and relive the story of how Hazel became a Timko (because I'm a proud mom and love reminiscing about this!)...

Andy and I had always wanted a dog but couldn't while living in Panama City Beach because the apartment complex where we lived wouldn't allow them. I tried squashing the need for something cute and cuddly by getting a dog substitute. And Carlos the guinea pig would have been perfect had he not bit and growled at Andrew. Apparently male guineas do not take a liking to other males of any species. Who would have known? We had bought the full setup for our new furry friend... a deluxe cage, bedding, food, toys, an exercise ball, and even a harness and leash. I had dreams of evening strolls with my little furball and us cuddling on the couch watching late night TV. But Carlos didn't like being put in a harness and walked, and he wouldn't stop pooping long enough to let him roam free in the house. I was tired of cleaning his cage and Andrew was tired of the unrequited love. So we packed Carlos up and took him back to Petsmart where I like to think he was adopted by a family who was a better fit. When we moved to North Carolina we had two Betta fish, Frank and Rosalita, that we loved. They were easy to clean, cheap to feed, and I loved watching these two and their long, pretty fins (Frank was a vibrant blue, Rosey was a deep red). But they weren't warm to cuddle or fun to play with.

In January 2009 I had taken a trip by myself to Panama City Beach to visit my parents. One day I got a text from Andrew that said "coming home in 2 weeks!" and a picture of an adorable baby puppy:

The picture that was sent to me

I immediately called him, confused, excited, and giddy. See, we had never decided to get a dog. It was always something we talked about but never had said, "Ok, let's do it." So this was thrilling. The rest of my time in Florida was spent researching dog "stuff" and talking on the phone with Andrew about all things dog... food, exercise, gates, crates, toys, vaccinations, potty training, where she'll sleep, what her name will be. Lots of names were thrown out there. Other contenders were Minnie, Mabel, and Meatball. But Hazel was the winner.

When I returned to North Carolina we made a trip to buy all the supplies we would need for the new member of our clan. Then the big day came to pick her up. We had to wait 6 weeks from her birth to bring her home. I think this is the recommended time that she needed to spend with her nursing mom and also to get her first round of vaccinations. The breeder led us back to a room in her house that had a baby's crib and there inside was our sweet girl. She was so tiny that she felt too small to put in the crook of my arm so I held her with both hands against my chest. She was so small and fragile I was afraid I'd hurt her. It was hard taking Hazel away from her mom. The mom didn't want to let her go. The breeder also liked Hazel a lot. She said she was so pretty that she wanted to keep her as a breeding dog but couldn't as she was not sure of Hazel's dad. Yep, Hazel's mom had gotten out of her cage and had a tryst with an unknown male. Scandalous. Since the breeder was pretty sure Hazel would be a full-blooded dachshund but couldn't be positive, she couldn't breed her and sold her to us. Good for Hazel, good for us. She asked us what name we chose for our new dog. When we told her 'Hazel', the hard-of-hearing woman said in a shocked and disappointed tone, "Weasel!?!"

We had brought her new cage with cozy bedding to keep her comfortable on the ride home but I couldn't set her down. She was shaking and scared. So she sat in a blanket in my lap crying the whole ride home. Although we were happy about our new addition, Andy and I were also a little heartbroken having to tear her away from the only home she had known.

When we got back to our apartment I laid on the floor with her on my chest. She stopped crying and we both took a nap in that position.

How Hazel felt most comfortable in her new home

Here are a few other puppy shots that make me melt from her first days with us:

So, as it turns out, we don't think Hazel came from 2 full-blooded dachshunds. Her dad was either a miniature dachshund or a chihuahua. Which actually turns out to be a great thing. She is much smaller than a full dachshund (just 10 lbs compared to 25-30!), and she has long legs that will hopefully aid in supporting her long back better than the short stumps that cause problems for most dachsies.

To celebrate the big 0-3 I took Hazel to get a few things at Petsmart (thank you Mike and Hannah for the gift card!).

We walked to the park that night so Hazel could spend some time running off-leash (yes, we're holding her in these pictures but she did spend time running, too. Poor puppy. She's smothered by us!).