Hello! Thank you for visiting Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat! As a self-taught photographer and animal enthusiast, combining the two Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat highlights the work of S. Mason. Our first visitor was from India. Since then, from around the world, Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat, viewers have come. Welcome indeed!
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THANK YOU
There is history between Stella, a jaguar who once resided at Denver Zoo and Mason's blog Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat. Years, years ago as I was going through his photography, I came across a stunning picture and as I continue looking again and again, I kept coming across pictures that made me pause of realization, for I believe every person is born with one, photography was Mason's gift, so it was he organically married his self-taught photography with his love of animals.
Back then Mason simply enjoyed taking pictures of animals and as a lifelong member of Denver Zoo it was, and still is, his perfect harmony. The picture Mason took of Stella, a jaguar who once resided at Denver Zoo was one of manythat compelled me to encourage Mason to create the blog, Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat. It's because Stella was one of many Denver Zoo's animals that have impacted Mason's life in the most beautiful of ways is why I titled his photography of her, Beautiful Stella.
In heart and soul I say Denver Zoo was/is a natural and yet profound influence in Mason's photography, and I cannot imagine that ever changing.
When Mason and I talked about creating a website to highlight his photography with his love of animals, not knowing what we were doing, neither of us had no idea where this journey was headed and yet at the same time, we were never lost. The first comment Dill received came from India and over the years so many countries came to Dill we looked at maps to see where viewers were located. To the viewers of Dill you are so much more; each of you are a part of the landscape of Mason's journey and humbly, we say, "Thank you."💜
Mason's photography of Beautiful Stella is located at the bottom of the page.
DEEP FOREST - NIGHTBIRD
MEMBERSHIP CONNECTS PEOPLE TO THEIR PASSION
Passion Through Membership
As lifelong members of Denver Zoo and members of Denver Museum of Nature and Science over 20 years we speak about these organizations from our encounters when we say the museum and zoo are not places to go but rather places to indulge in the experience.
Memberships have a lot of perks, but it also connects people to their passions and that unto itself makes membership a different kind of home.
May we suggest in some manner support non-profits whose passion is to enhance the quality of life of animals.
Donations. Volunteer. Membership. Worthy gifts.
End Of Life And...
The
decision to euthanize is really more of a reckoning that reality of circumstance
makes the decisiveness outcome, hence 18 years after bringing Yoshi home, comes
the breaking of the heart to return to the Denver Dumb Friends League.
A person who has never loved an animal could
never understand and to those who do, such a tenderized grief, silence is not a
void of words inasmuch as silence becomes another kind of language.
We thank Denver
Dumb Friends League’s staff members Waun and Adam for their respectful
compassion. Returning home, in our email Waun sent us a beautiful memory, a memory
nearly two decades old, pictures of Dill and Yoshi when they were residents of
Denver Dumb Friends League, and we would like to share them with Dill’s
audience.
Compassion, born so often from tragedy, softens the dark corners
of death.
A Promise Kept
When we went to Denver Dumb Friends League with the intentions of bringing one cat into our home we were told the person who surrendered Dill and Yoshi asked that they were adopted together. Without Mason and I looking at each other we both promised to give them a forever home. Dill passed away about a year before Yoshi. To the stranger who had Dill and Yoshi before us, that we will never meet, we kept that promise and if we could say anything to their past guardian it would be, both cats (indoor) had very safe, long and happy lives and to those who must surrender an animal we hope Dill and Yoshi's journey offer you some peace in your grief.
Compassion, born so often from tragedy, softens the dark corners of death...and life.
Based on the website Difference Between | Descriptive Analysis and Comparisons-- There is no actual universally standardized technical distinction between the lakes and ponds. So, we had to read further, collecting data to define their differences with other characteristics.
To a greater degree lakes and ponds can be described in general terms based on the norm of their characteristics. Generally speaking, lakes are wider, larger, and deeper. Because of this lake water have several levels of temperatures, the deepest water the coldest, and the warmest water the surface.
Ponds tend to be smaller in size, thus less wide, plus swallow in depth, and have one uniformed temperate. In winter ponds tend to freeze completely whereas lakes do not. Lakes can produce waves and ponds produce, at best, ripples. At a pond’s deepest depth aquatic plants can grow and sunlight can reach the bottom, and generally speaking those traits are not found in lakes. 🐟
FROM MASON'S PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION OF LIFE IN THE WATER TITLED IF LIFE ITSELF HAD A HEARTBEAT IT WOULD BE THE SOUND OF WATER
WHY DOES RAIN SMELL SO GOOD?
It is sweet and musky at the same time. Earthy. Rain is such a beautiful scent one does not simply smell it but inhale it…deeply. But what gives rain that intoxicating scent of freshness? Would you have guessed, bacterial spores, ozone and plant oils?💧
The Dead Sea is such an odd name considering life cannot exist without water. But the Dead Sea is unusual beyond just its name such as it is not even a sea but a lake and the lowest point on the planet (almost 10,000 feet) below sea level. The Dead Sea got its name from the lack of life, in it’s water and surrounding land, based on being one of the most hyper saline places on earth.💦
An artistic expression added to a blue ringed octopus at Denver Museum Of Nature and Science.
Dogs, Cats, and One Pig...
Denver Dumb Friends League's Pet Derby
We define an animal shelter as a different kind of diamond store and in 1992 Mason entered
his first two cats, Kujo and Panther, in the Denver Dumb Friends League’s Pet
Derby that also included dogs and one pig.
Panther was
an absolute black beauty. I use to place my pearl bracelets on his fur because
he made them look more beautiful but I stopped practice when he ran off with
them. He also had a beautiful personality, so laid back and kind his nickname
was Mr. Silk; seldom in all the years we had him did we hear Panther hiss. Given
his intelligence his other nickname was Mr. President. As we flipped a light switch on, he would look
up at the ceiling light. He got it.
Then there
was Kujo.
On her vet
medical records her name was written in red. When Panther entered our home Kujo
was so pissed, she went into the basement, then inside a closet, and once there
in the dark, facing a wall in the corner, she sat. Over the years bringing
other cats into our home, they all looked at Kujo with a side-eye given her
personality. She wasn’t mean but let’s
just say only with Mason she was a Babygirl and with everyone else she was not
in the mood but even so there was something about Kujo’s salty personality that
made her even more endearing.
For the
derby the dogs were outside, the cats were inside a large room, and someone came
with their small pig. People were very different back then and in good spirit
and welcomed laughter the pig was included with the cats.
With several
categories offered people could enter their pets to win and Mason selected the
category, cats who look like someone famous.
Putting a big yellow bow around Panther’s neck for the costume to
present Kujo and Panther as a couple, with the cats in their carriers and
taking a big brown paper sack we arrived at the derby early so Kujo could be
introduced to the environment slowly.
Once there, Mason
opened the paper sack that he placed on the floor next to Kujo’s carrier and
wearing a red leash Kujo came out of her carrier and immediately went deep into
the sack and remained.
Babygirl was
not in the mood.
Panther sat
on Mason’s lap somewhat startled at seeing a pig but otherwise he remained laid
back and even closed his eyes as the room filled up with people and their cats.
Mason did not notice as he was looking at all the cats but I caught the
side-eye as people looked at this sack on the floor, the red leash moving now
and then, wondering about the cat inside.
I can’t
recall the category, but it was all in good fun the pig won an award at the cat
show.
When it was
time for the cats who looked like someone famous one at a time guardians came
to the front of the room with their costumed cats and the audience had to guess
who they were before their guardians gave the answer.
When it was Panther and Kujo's turn, I carried Panther and Mason, carrying the sack, still
unseen, carried Kujo to the front of the room. It was so funny as people leaned forward as
Mason slowly pulled Kujo from her sack, and befittingly, once she was out, some
people blinked and Kujo wetly, sincerely, hissed at everyone. Only cat people
would understand how funny it was. Even now when I think about that moment I
still giggle.
When asked
to guess what famous couple Panther and Kujo and were representing the room became
silent. When Mason told the audience who
they were everyone laughed, some applauded, and Panther and Kujo came in first
place. Can you guess what famous couple,
with a big yellow bow around Panther’s neck and Kujo’s personality who they
were? At the bottom of the page is the answer.
It's a beautiful thing when a once feral cat
responds to his name
It's a beautiful thing when a once feral cat responds to his name. This is Chowder, a black smoke cat and in the sunlight you can see the smoke (a gradient of gray and white fur) in his mane. He loves to look out the windows but shows no interest in going outside. He also enjoys watching pet videos on YouTube made for animals to watch, and in the winter he really enjoys watching his videos while laying on an electric blanket, toasty warm. As in all of our animals we love him.
🐇In Colorado the governor signed a bill capping rent prices for pets. If you are interested about doing the same in your state you might find this interesting reading. https://www.cpr.org/2023/04/21/landlords-must-cap-pet-rent-bill-governor-signature
🦁Denver Zoo, fluid as water, is forever changing...emerging... growing. It will never have a conclusion of being. It is a modern-day ark whose work extends beyond its gates and literally across the world. Welcome to Denver Zoo
This is Chowder, who came into our home from the Denver Dumb Friends League. Given his history, with very little contact with humans, he now enjoys videos made for cats on YouTube while laying on an electric blanket. Not seen in this picture Chowder is a black smoke cat. His "smoke" is a grayish mane. He is our second black smoke cat, and based on our readings, they are rare.
When we brought Luna into our home from the Denver Dumb Friends League, she was a solid black kitten and within a few months she began changing colors, growing a gray mane that traveled down her chest, to her belly. We never heard of a black cat changing colors and reading about it we learned Luna was defined as a black smoke cat. At best based on what we read black smoke cats are rare and Mason defined her beauty as "Everything she sits next to will look better." Luna also has the distinctive trait of responding to her nicknames, Lulu, Little Girl, and Sugar Cookie.
SQUARES IN NATURE AND IN ANIMALS ARE ALL AROUND US
During a visit to Denver Zoo hearing two zookeepers experiences, their conversation stayed with us all the way home, and inspired us to change the name of The Keyboard to The Ark Keepers – on Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat. We won’t use their names because not realizing then how their words impacted us we did not ask for permission but as this is being written we would like to quote just a segment of what Ark Keepers do by quoting T regarding how profound the caretaking of animals is, “Sometimes we become their parents.”
Majestic. Beautiful. Strong. Enduring.
Our National Mammal
A SIMPLE YET PROFOUND WORD, FOOD
Given hardships please know there are organizations to help people feed their animals. We want offering suggestions where to look for help if needed and ways you can help.
Small business related
to animals
We hear it all the time,
support small businesses, but let’s say it differently. Small businesses hire nearly 50% of the US
work force and when these businesses close permanently is a breaking of bones
of our economy. So, we urge you to
please consider supporting small business related to animals.
Where to turn if you need
help feeding your animals
There are several paths to
find organizations if you need help in feeding your animals and though the
following are suggestions check resources in your local area for specifics. Ask
animals shelters if they have resources, they can direct you to, consider
looking for pet pantries, nonprofits, charities and pet food banks. There are
also Meals On Wheels pet programs who also assist senior citizens.
Donate
Check with the local animal
shelters in your area even if you are not sure what you can do. Just contact them, they have answers. The
same organizations that offer help are also the same organizations in which one
could donate. Don’t forget zoos and
other animal organizations that can have massive needs just based on the
diversity of animals and their specific needs and to highlight that the
following is a video from DENVER ZOO and
what it takes to feed their animals.
Moving forward, for forward advances on the power of hope nearly everyone can easily support such worthy causes be it an organization
and/or small business by tattooing them on your social media.
FROM MASON'S PHOTOGRAPHY ESSAY -
IF LIFE ITSELF HAD A HEARTBEAT IT WOULD BE THE SOUND OF WATER
THE OCEAN CLEANUP
THE OCEAN CLEANUP mission statement: Our aim is to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic, which requires global initiative. With the help and support of individuals, corporations and governments all over the world, we aim to realize the mission and work towards a future where plastic no longer pollutes our oceans.https://theoceancleanup.com/
Beautiful Words
Some words are so beautiful they give us a reason to pause, reflect, and exhale. Such words speak to the stories of our lives. For us there are four special words that are beautiful together when driving miles of snow-covered tree-lined streets and the title of my photography--On Our Way Home Membership, Connecting People To Their Passions
With a certificate of appreciation, Connie, Matt, and Rachel also worked in a fluid team spirit to create a very thoughtful resource book of the Denver Zoo that is very much appreciated. The copyrighted covers are a footprint of a lion, and an elephant trunk.
"Thank you" is just the threshold of our gratitude.
The Cincinnati Zoo,Harambe The Cincinnati Zoo made the right and yet hellish decision. In the emotional firestorm of Harambe's death we at Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat want to extend to the Cincinnati Zoo our respects in your time of grief and great loss. Endangered. Beautiful. Magnificent. Family. Harambe. His death is a collective loss of all, and though different, to the zoo itself a loss of family.
"As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child, and if anyone knows me, I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen, but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today." The mother of the toddler The irony is stunning. That day, one of the 'right people' was not in the 'right place' and that person is this parent being at the zoo with the attitude 'accidents happen.'
But the following words are not about her when many people feel the same way. This is about the tragedy within this tragedy--a societal mindset (some believe) that visitors can 'accidentally' enter a zoo animal's habit. We do not believe in the mindset under these circumstances 'accidents happen.' That kind of thinking is the breeding ground to disavow common sense behavior at a zoo, subconsciously marginalize the importance of zoo rules, and weakly alibis a lack of attentive behavior. If anything, such a mindset is absolutely dangerous as we have learned by the hardest way possible.
At this point one of the worst things that can happen is to accept a societal belief a visitor can accidentally get into an animal's habit. To believe that is to prematurely accept that it will happen again. Yet if rules are followed, tempered by common sense, and attentive behavior it would not nor could not occur. Zoo policies and rules are posted on their websites. Many zoos have notices posted throughout the grounds as reminders. Zoo staff members are also a resource to ask.
All zoos are different and their rules apply specific--in some cases--to their unique attributes, so check if you are unsure about anything. Before visiting a zoo talk about what is expected in behavior, and for the little ones who do not understand, use the zoo visit as a teaching tool. If rules were respected and adhered to that day Harabme would be alive. Harabme in Swahili means pull together. Harabme is a word used in rallying cries in Kenya. The orange sunset photograph taken by S. Mason is symbolic that Harabme's days ended too soon. Museums Are Virtual Libraries
Museums are virtual libraries. There isn't another place where so many things that truly are beyond the scope of expectations of ever witnessing in a lifetime exist. Museums are also virtual because it is not about 'looking' but rather experiencing. When the current Denver Museum of Nature and Science (located in City Park) was built it was structured around the prior museum before it. Thus inside the museum today is the intact older DMNS museum. The above picture was taken inside the entrance of the museum, and what is now a wall was once the exterior building of the original museum. Of the many windows, the glass was removed and replaced with art. We also appreciate that the museum has an energy, a vibe of its own, and a sense of humor. There are elves and gnomes hidden throughout the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for you to find.
Marius The Copenhagen Zoo Is A Premature Graveyard No two zoos are the same. But all zoos have the common thread to embrace the quality of life for animals, to protect them, and become the ambassadors of awareness and educate people of their importance. A zoo is nothing short of a testimony of our humanity. For the brutal senseless killing of Marius the giraffe at the Copenhagen Zoo, this place does not deserve the title of being called a zoo. It is a monstrosity for it is a premature graveyard. To mourn Marius is to mourn all the animals in this abomination.
WHAT IS THIS ANIMAL?
There is an animal that we have heard call, a panda, a baby elephant, a pig, and something that has been engineered. It is none of those fore mentioned but it is endangered. How can it be saved when some do not know what it is?
The Secret Life of Strawberry Long ago we stopped being surprised to open our front door to see unfamiliar cats sitting on the porch. They were all groomed and often collared. When we came to the door they all meowed a ‘hello’. Even our cats look at them odd, as if to say, they were not supposed to do that. They were strangers yet company. We gave them names. They answered to them. These cats have never shown any interest in ours. But Yoshi, our cat, goes to the door when Strawberry visits and looks into our home. Otherwise, these cats only spoke to the humans of the household.
One time, a cat we named Jafar use to come into our home without solicitation. He liked to sit on laps while in a rocking chair and look at television. It was a little peculiar but people who love cats accept their idiosyncrasies as charm. The other day a new cat was sitting on our porch. Stepping outside to pet him (we assume male) he meowed and purred as though he had been waiting for the door to open. He spent a part of the morning visiting on our porch. He was given the name Strawberry. Why they come and who are their guardians, we have no idea. And surely their guardians have no idea what their cats are doing. We simply accept that, if only for one morning, we are the secrets in cats' secret lives. A couple of weeks later… South. Early this morning when we opened the door we saw Strawberry come into our yard and for the first time we discovered he walked from the south of our neighborhood. He walked on to the porch, and when we opened the door to pet him, Strawberry walked inside.
Dill and Butter stood there, just shocked. Dill, who was in mid-step, when Strawberry entered and peeked into the living room, remained that way even when Strawberry went back outside and settled on the porch. Strawberry is in my videos, B&W. We asked ourselves, "Should we tie a little note on Strawberry's collar and tell his guardians about Strawberry secret life?" Time answered the question for us. Months later Strawberry does not come around as often, and we miss him and hope he is okay.As Strawberry sometimes peeked in our windows, we now peek out to see if he is there.
Cecil
A Memory Is Another Form Of A Heartbeat
Even now in Cecil’s death he is more than the sum of Walter Palmer’s existence when the lion transcended into becoming a symbol of global hope and his killer is rebuked worldwide. In a slow kill, slaughtered, his body mutilated, Walter Palmer claims he did not know Cecil was famous as if to say his actions would have been acceptable if it had been another lion. There are clinical terms for that kind of personality demeanor. And even now in his regret statement Palmer spoke of his ‘love’ of killing animals. Walter Palmer knew what he was doing.
But all that Cecil stood for still breaths, and West Palmer’s quality of life is dead. Some of his patients are protesters. Who would want the murderous hands of this dentist touching them? Who would allow this doctor to continue earning his living through them that supports his killings? The legal cost alone, incurred by Walter Palmer, will bleed him out finically. As the governmental powers of Zimbabwe must quickly and transparently bring those associated with this heinous act to court the country itself needs to reexamine their own whoring cohort complicity when they allow any animal to be hunted--and while you are at it ban the bastard Walter Palmer from your country. Cecil--what is a memory if not another form of a heartbeat.
Even now, for the rest of us in our global grief and outrage, there is work to do. And it is amazing how much we could do by churning grief into power thus action. Louder than our loudest cries--ROAR.Support zoos and other organizations that enhance the quality of life for animals. World Lion Day is in August--please check out the link to this important organization on Dill's sidebar.
If we do not do something to prevent it, Africa's animals, and the places in which they live, will be lost to our world, and her children, forever. Before it is too late, we need your help to lay the foundation that will preserve this precious legacy long after we are gone. Nelson Mandela
Kujo and Panther won 1st place at the Denver Dumb Friends League Pet Derby in 1992 representing the famous couple, Beauty and the Beast.
There is history between Stella, a jaguar who once resided at Denver Zoo and Mason's photography. Back then Mason simply enjoyed taking pictures of animals and as a lifelong member of Denver Zoo it was, and still is, his perfect harmony. The picture taken of Stella is one of many that encouraged and inspired Mason to become self-taught in photography with animals as his principal subjects that eventually became the path to creating Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat. Thank you for visiting Mason's world.
Currently I am working on it and it may not be downloaded per Goggle Search as this is being written but take the title (on blogspot) and whereas Dill is my home blog as I have grown in my photography my new blog, The Ark, Animal Photography by Mason becomes that extension. I want to thank every viewer who has come to my website and apologized the words "Thank you" cannot express the depth of my gratitude.
WE GREATLY APPRECIATE BUSINESSES THAT ALLOW THEIR ESTABLISHMENTS TO BECOME THE CANVAS FOR BEAUTIFUL ART.
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