I’ve also created links to many of the books and they will take you to Amazon’s site should you wish to order them or read the reviews.  Here’s a download to all the books in Excel format Butterfly, Birds, Insects, Photography, Pond, Reptiles and Gardening Books

Bird Books

1. National Geographic Field Guide to Birds: Texas
2. Birds of Texas
3. A Birder’s Guide to the Texas Coast
4. The Texas Ornithology Society Handbook of Texas Birds
5. Birds of Texas Field Guide
6. Birding Texas
7. Exploring the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail: Highlights of a Birding Mecca
8. Finding Birds on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail: Houston, Galveston, and the Upper Texas Coast
9. Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds
10. Peterson Field Guide: Eastern Birds’ Nests
11. A Field Guide to Western Birds’ Nests
12. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
13. The Stokes Purple Martin Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting and Housing Purple Martins
14. A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors
15. Hand-Feeding Backyard Birds
16. The Backyard Bird Feeder’s Bible: the A-To-Z Guide to Feeders, Seed Mixes, Projects, and Treats

Butterflies And Butterfly Caterpillars Books

1. Butterfly Gardening For The South
2. Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: a Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America (Field Guide)
3. The Life Cycles of Butterflies
4. The Butterfly Gardener’s Guide
5. Butterfly Photographer’s Handbook
6. Butterflies of North America
7. Gardening to Attract Birds and Butterflies
8. The Family Butterfly Book
9. Butterflies and Moths
10. National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Backyard Wildlife
11. A Pocket Guide to Butterflies and Moths
12. Butterflies of Southeast Texas and the Upper Texas Coast
13. Milkweed, Monarchs and More: a Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch
14. The Butterfly Book
15. The Amazing Monarch
16. Butterflies of Houston & Southeast Texas
17. Finding Butterflies in Texas

Insect Books

1. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States
2. Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies
3. Texas Bug Book
4. Insects of Texas
5. Garden Insects of North America
6. National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America

Reptiles and Amphibian Books

1. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians
2. Texas Snakes: A Field Guide
3. The Frogs and Toads of North America
4. Venomous Snakes of Texas
5. Lone Star Field Guide To Texas Snakes

Gardening Books

1. Wildflowers of Texas
2. Vegetables: American Gardening Series
3. Southern Living Garden Problem Solver
4. Complete Guide to Roses
5. Year Round Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers From Metro Houston
6. The Complete Guide to Creative Landscapes
7. Howard Garrett’s Plants for Texas
8. Howard Garrett’s Texas Organic Gardening Book
9. Plants for Houston and the Gulf Coast
10. Texas Trees
11. The Organic Manual
12. The Truth About Garden Remedies
13. Gardening in the Coastal South
14. The Garden Lover’s Guide to Houston
15. Landscaping 1-2-3
16. Houston Garden Book
17. Gulf Coast Gardening With Randy Lemmon
18. Planning Your Garden
19. Bamboo for Gardens
20. Garden, Landscape, and Project Plans: 225 Do-It Yourself Designs
21. The Gardener’s Bug Book
22. Great Garden Sources for Texans
23. Plants for Places
24. Neil Sperry’s Complete Guide to Texas Gardening
25. Native Texas Plants

Pet Books (Including, Dogs, Cats, And Birds)

1. Dog First Aid
2. Dog Detectives
3. The Lost Pet Chronicles
4. Canine Body Language
5. Search and Rescue Dogs
6. Doin’ Texas With Your Pooch
7. Schutzhund: Theory and Training Methods
8. Give Your Dog a Bone
9. Grow Your Pups With Bones
10. The Barf Diet
11. Schutzhund Obedience
12. How to Speak Dog
13. Vaccine Guide for Dogs and Cats
14. Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook
15. Unleashed: Poems by Writers’ Dogs
16. K9 Explosive Detection
17. Dogwatching: Why Dogs Bark and Other Canine Mysteries Explained
18. Tracking From The Beginning
19. Scent, Training to Track, Search, and Rescue
20. Basic Narcotic Detection Dog Training
21. Training the Competitive Working Dog
22. The Man Who Talks to Dogs
23. Schutzhund Top Working Dogs
24. Top Working Dogs: A Training Manual: Tracking, Obedience, Protection
25. Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats
26. The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture
27. Herbal Remedies for Dogs and Cats
28. Herbs for Pets
29. Natural Dog Care
30. Parrot-Toys and Play Areas
31. Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot
32. The Click That Does the Trick
33. Teaching Your Bird to Talk
34. The Parrot Problem Solver
35. A New Owner’s Guide to African Grey Parrots
36. The Alex Studies
37. The African Grey
38. The Ultimate Parrot
39. African Grey Parrots
40. Cat Wrangling Made Easy

Photography Books

1. How to Photograph Absolutely Everything
2. Photoshop Cs5 for Nature Photographers
3. Adobe Lightroom 3 – the Missing FAQ – Real Answers to Real Questions Asked By Lightroom Users
4. 2010 Photographer’s Market
5. Magic Lantern DVD Guides: Canon EOS 40D Multimedia Workshop
6. Digital SLR Cameras & Photography for Dummies
7. Digital SLR Pro Secrets
8. Mastering Digital Photography
9. Photographing Nature: a Photo Workshop From Brooks Institute’s Top Nature Photography Instructor (Voices That Matter)
10. Lightroom 2: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process
11. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book
12. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book
13. Photoshop Cs5 Restoration and Retouching for Digital Photographers Only
14. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2
15. EF Lens Work III
16. Macro Photography Photo Workshop
17. Photo Portfolio Success
18. The Adobe Photoshop Cs4 Book for Digital Photographers
19. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers
20. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
21. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers
22. The Digital Photography Book
23. The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers
24. The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers
25. Layers: the Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature (2Nd Edition)
26. Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide
27. Beginner’s Guide to Photographic Lighting
28. The Hot Shoe Diaries
29. The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography
30. The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography
31. Understanding Exposure
32. Learning to See Creatively
33. 2009 Photographer’s Market
34. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers Only
35. Photoshop Lightroom 2 for Dummies
36. Adobe Premiere Pro for Dummies
37. Selling Your Photography
38. Winning Digital Photo Contests

Pond Koi and Water Garden Books

1. Ponds & Fountains
2. Goldfish
3. Ortho’s All About Creating Japanese Gardens
4. Japanese Gardens in a Weekend
5. Plants for Water Gardens
6. The Pond Doctor: Planning & Maintaining a Healthy Water Garden
7. Water Gardening in Containers
8. Creating Water Gardens
9. Indoor Water Garden Design
10. Water Gardening
11. The Super Simple Guide to Koi
12. Ortho’s All About Building Waterfalls, Pools, and Streams
13. Japanese Gardening in Small Spaces

She can play fetch for an hour at a time, and actually retrieves better than Maggie (our Golden Retriever) ever did.

She loves this little squeaky mouse.  Leecy or I will throw it, Delilah will dash after it, then run back to whoever through it and gently drop it by our hand.

During my waiting for the Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar to form a Chrysalises, I decided to record Delilah being herself.

So anyway, Leecy decided to make a little video of these two playing.  As usual, Delilah is the instigator.

We have.  Why?  Honestly, Leecy started the whole thing when I went on vacation.  You may recall that I went to the Texas Hill Country and took Sascha (German Shepherd) with me.  At the time I forgot to bring Sascha’s crate with me.

Well guess what?  When I returned Leecy had converted Sascha’s crate to Delilah’s crate.  Now why this kitten needed the largest crate in the house I have no idea.

So anyway, since Delilah seemed to be enjoying the new crate so much, I went out and bought Sascha a new crate.

There’s another reason why this crate training a cat thing isn’t such a bad idea.  You see, Delilah is very much a mixed breed kitten, compared to Chloe who is also a mixed breed (both are rescues) but likely has some Birman in her.  Delilah loves to run around the house, jump all over things, and chase the dogs and Chloe.  She also tends to stare at Coco (our African Grey Parrot) in a way that makes me a little insecure about leaving them alone.

Thus, during the day we put the dogs and Delilah in their crates.  Our cats tend to just sleep in the afternoon anyway, so I don’t Delilah cares in the least.  I also have a feeling (though I can’t prove it) that Delilah feels like Sascha and Maggie are part of her clan or pack (or maybe it’s the other way around).

Oh, Chloe seems to appreciate it during the night as she gets to continue to sleep on our bed and not worry about harassment from Delilah.

Chloe On Bed

Obviously Chloe is quite content at night (although Leecy may not be once she finds out that I took this picture while she was sleeping).

Sascha, Maggie, and Delilah In Crates

Here’s the rest of the pack.  Maggie (Golden Retriever) appears quite content (sleeping upside down), Sascha is happy to pose for me (although she’s so black you can’t really see her in the picture), and Delilah is on her little cat bed, completely relaxed.

All in all, everyone appears to be quite happy.

One more thing if you’re interested.  Sascha and Delilah tend to be best buddies (Sascha is very gentle with her and Delilah loves to play with Sascha’s tail), Maggie just wants attention from Leecy or myself, and Chloe tends to just not care who’s around as long as it’s relatively calm.

Look at those spots on her stomach.  She was definitely a mixed breed of something.

She’s doing really well.  Still a little groggy today from the pain meds, but other than that, she is doing fine.

Delilah After Spay

Delilah, our adopted rescue kitty really seems to like Sascha, my German Shepherd.  In truth, Sascha seems to like the kitty as well.

However, I wonder what Sascha must be thinking?  “Why’s this kitten playing with my ear?”  Why am I in the crate when the kitten is attacking me?”

Kitten Playing With Dog's Ear

Once playing with Sascha’s ear got boring, Delilah just decided to lay down on top of Sascha’s crate.

Kitten Watching German Shepherd

Leecy was taking a little cat nap, and of course Delilah decided to join her.

I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to get some more pictures.  After I snapped a couple of quick test shots, Delilah barely woke up and presented a nice BIG yawn.

For a rescued Kitty, I’d say she’s got a pretty good life so far!

Leecy Napping With Kitten Yawn

Sascha seems to be the most bonded with Delilah as she follows her everywhere and licks her at every opportunity.

On the other hand, Maggie, being true to her character, doesn’t seem to care one way or another about another animal.  It’s people she’s most interested in.

That is, until Delilah decides to go in between the dog’s crates!  That’s when Maggie starts whining, probably asking why she has to be in a crate when the kitten doesn’t:-).

Kitten Bonding With Dogs

She and Chloe get along great, as well as her and the dogs.  In fact, her favorite playmate (other than Chloe) seems to be Sascha, my German Shepherd.

We also got her a new toy today.  I think she likes it.  She carries it around the house.

Delilah Jumping After Toy

Delilah Jumping But Misses Toy

We decided to let Delilah out to play, hoping that she is almost over her respiratory infection (she goes back to the vet on Friday).

Surprisingly, our other cat Chloe decided it was time to quit hissing at the kitten and that it would be more fun to play with her.

So the cat and kitten are running around playing with each other then both get tired.  Leecy announces that she is going upstairs (to do what I don’t know).

A couple minutes later I heard this sound coming from the kitchen.  I thought, uh oh, the kitten has gotten into something.

So I dash in the kitchen looking for Delilah.  I open the pantry and she’s not in there.  I could swear it sounded like she was behind the refrigerator.

I yell for Leecy, “Leecy, we’ve got another animal emergency, the kitten has gotten behind the refrigerator!”

As I’m listening to the sounds coming from around the refrigerator I’m thinking to myself, “how the heck did the kitten get behind the refrigerator?”  There was no way she could have jumped up to the top of the refrigerator (a little taller than 6 feet).

I decided (don’t ask me why) to open the refrigerator, and there is Delilah, staring at me, probably asking why she was put in the refrigerator.

I yell back up to Leecy, “Leecy, you closed Delilah in the refrigerator!” (she was only in there maybe a couple of minutes)  Despite the funny story, Leecy felt pretty bad.

Lesson learned for the day.  Always look before you close the refrigerator door to make sure your kitten didn’t jump inside.  As an additional reminder, we now have a note on the refrigerator door to make sure the kitten is safe before closing the door:-).

That’s my animal rescue story for the day.

New Tabby Delilah

Leecy took Delilah to the vet today just to make sure everything is okay.  Now before I tell you the results, I did suspect that something was slightly amiss with the kitty.  As it turns out, Delilah has a respiratory infection, and it is infectious.  Our vet didn’t think it would be a huge ordeal to treat, but we do have to treat her for 2 weeks and keep her away from our other cat Chloe.

Now Delilah has been moved upstairs (just like Madison was).  Leecy and I take turns playing with her and visiting her.  I’ll be the one who has to give her the twice daily medications (I have that role for all of our animals that get sick).  For a sick kitty (she sounds a little hoarse today) you wouldn’t really be able to tell.  She still loves to play and jump around.  She still has absolutely no fear, she walked right in to every room upstairs (which she had never seen before), tail held high, and just went to explore.  She even looked at herself in a full length mirror and just stared at it for a couple of seconds, then kept on walking.

Oh well, another day, another animal rescue:-)

What originally begins as typical scratching post behavior explodes into using the human form as a scratching post and climbing tree.  Less reliable news sources suggest that these kittens are trying to make a new fashion statement.

We have received no photographs of these encounters…er..wait…I’m getting something in my ear piece.  We just may a photograph of this bizarre behavior after all.

My New Kitten Hat

In talking with high-ranking governmental sources about this phenomenon, our sources are stressing that this event is nothing to panic about.

To become a full blown epidemic, these kittens must not only exhibit the behavior above, but must experience the kitten trying to suckle off of a “moob” (man boob).  This has only occurred 1 time to the individual above, and we repeat, this is no cause for alarm.

I made the mistake (not really) of telling Leecy I read this article the other day where they were going to be euthanizing 36 kittens at the City of Houston Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care (BARC). I then said we needed to go to Petco to see if they had any of that stuff you can put in bird baths that helps kill mosquitoes and also reduces algae.

I should have known right then and there that of course they had one of the kittens that was supposed to be euthanized last week but was rescued from that circumstance by LMN Feline Rescue.

So Leecy and I walk over to the adoptable kittens as we always have to do every time we go to the pet store.  These two very nice ladies explain about how they rescued this kitten from being euthanized.  Then Leecy asks to hold the kitten.  I knew right then it was over.  Being the nice guy I am, I said, “do you want to rescue the kitty?”

Leecy then gets a tear in her eye and asks “can we?”

Without further adieu, allow me to introduce the latest member of the household, Delilah.

Delilah Kitty

Some of you may notice she looks a little like Madison, my 14 year old shaded blue Persian that I just recently had to put down since her kidneys were failing (see her story here).  I noticed that as well.  Maybe it was something subconscious in me.

However, there are some significant differences between this kitten and Madison, even when she was a kitten.  First, this kitten has no fear.  I hold her up to the 2 dogs so they can sniff her.  She doesn’t even flinch, just keeps purring.  I set her down on the ground and she doesn’t hesitate to go exploring.  Persian cats are also traditionally rather mellow, slow moving.  I have a feeling that this cat will not be like that.  We tried to put a gate up to separate her from Chloe, our other cat, and she basically just climbs the gate and jumps right over it.

So over the first day at home, Delilah has no fear of the other animals.  The dogs just ignore her.  Coco, the African Grey Parrot, just watches her (for now.  Later she’ll be calling her name I’m sure).  Chloe on the other hand, is not exactly thrilled to have another cat in the house.  For now we are keeping them separated.  Hopefully Chloe will come around since this is just a kitten and welcome her into the home.

I mean really, how can Chloe not learn to at least like this new member of the family?

New Tabby Delilah