Keksie

Yes they are. Although we don't know for sure how old Elmer and Storm are so it is a guess between the two of them.

Long day at the refuge so way behind. @dani negreanuI hope peace finds your part of the world soon! No matter what the thread is titled it is still "the best thread ever!" In honor of International Cat Day: Cinnamon Elmer Storm Samantha Annabel

Communicable diseases have always existed. I don't do anything differently than I did prior to 2020.

Well it is prolonged contact so maybe just serve yourself and move on.

Nugget Falls is worth the hike.

I'm sorry about all the changes. We haven't done the Crab excursion but it looks fun and gets a lot of good reviews. We went to Bear Country which we thought was just something to do that day and did not have high hopes for. It ended up being our best excursion ever. A mother bear brought her cub to the stream, pulled out a huge king salmon and headed back into the woods right under our feet. The guides get a big thumbs up because we were just about to get on the bus back to the ship after not seeing any bears when they came running up and took us back to the boardwalk by the stream to see the bears.

Have a wonderful time. I think my favorite cruises have been Alaska and we love Icy Strait Point.

I always said back when positivity rates were tied to lockdowns in some states (not mine) that people who were positive they didn't have covid all go get tests so that the positivity rates would go down if they wanted the lockdowns to go away.

@Sea DogI pick # 1, then #2.

Happy Anniversary. Have a wonderful day!

So far our longest outage lasted 2 days after Hurricane Sally. We had just moved in so didn't have the generator yet. With all the gas my husband has stashed in tractors we could make it a week at least.

They were fully loaded. You just want to drive smoothly and steadily. They only sprayed once the whole time they were at the refuge and that was when an intern had to give them meds.

Yesterday was a success. I drove two skunks and 5 opossums in my car to a release site for an hour without incident! My husband was sure the skunks would spray inside my car. LOL

This is the generator we have. We currently have a very small propane tank to run the range only. I didn't want a big propane tank so this is what we went with. Roger always has all his tractors filled with gas so we would have enough to run it for a long time. We had an electrician install a place to plug it in and make sure that it won't hurt anyone working on the lines. It will power both frigs, air conditioner, electronics, hot water heater and lights. If we need to do laundry we can turn off the air conditioner while we do a tub. It is enough to get us by during an extended outage.

I have not had covid so not taken Paxlovid. However, listening to Dr. radio (Drs that work at Langone in NY) I have heard the following: There are some medications that people are on that rule out Paxlovid or need to be temporarily stopped during treatment. It does make people feel better quickly. There can be rebound and it has been theorized that it is because it is started a little too early in the course of the disease. It does need to be given early (I think within 5 days of testing positive). As to the President having rebound he is completely asymptomatic and just had a positive test. There is a monoclonal antibody treatment that works against this variant but I didn't catch the entire name. It starts with a D. I hope Jack feels better soon and that you do not catch it.

Taste testers. LOL

I was responding to someone who wanted testing because they were concerned about people with flu, covid or other communicable illnesses boarding the ship and I was simply pointing out that people only have to test for covid. There are several illnesses people have to quarantine for, but only with covid do you have to go to a lesser cabin. That is if the medical center knows you are ill.

Mine didn't last year when I went. I only go once a year so things may have changed.

She gives Loxy the fox cat liver treats. Rose the raccoon gets grapes and Riley (who is now retired) gets small pieces of carrot. I am not sure what she gives KT the squirrel but he likes mango best.

There is not anything I want to see badly enough to wear a mask through it. I would spend the entire time just wanting to get out and take it off especially now that it has been so long since I wore one.

Our refuge just posted a very interesting video on F-----book about enrichment and training of our ambassadors. I am not sure how to link it but if anyone is interested just look up Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge on the social media site referenced and you can see it.

People have always been able to get on the ship with flu or other communicable illness. It is just covid that there is/was a testing requirement for.

Just an FYI: In my tourist area of NW Florida businesses are not requiring masks, people for the most part are not wearing masks. If you expect everyone around you to wear a mask don't vacation in NW Florida. I guess I don't understand people coming here and then complaining because even though they wore a mask not many other people wore them. When we go places I research as much as I can to see what the policies are and if there is a hint that we would have to wear a mask at any point we don't go there.

I don't do marine mammal encounters especially in foreign countries. You don't know if the animals were captured just for the encounter or if they are there because they can't be released. Taking something from the wild just to make money off it is wrong. Giving an animal the chance of life when it couldn't survive on its own, its habitat has been destroyed or the species needs help to continue is what I believe in.