Pet People Talk

Pet Lovers News and Animal Views

Ravens are Amazing

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Ravens are AmazingA couple days ago I was standing around admiring the foliage, the smells and the mountain breezes on our property. I heard a leathery “swish swish” above my head and looked up in time to see two enormous ravens lazily beating wings as they passed overhead.

I hear their laid-back caws from time to time and always stop to see where they are and where they’re heading. Mostly they float around with a friend or two and seem in no great hurry.

A local ranger with way too many chicken eggs saves some of them for the ravens, and a nearby neighbor leaves his deceased mice (from traps) on a tall pole so the ravens can take them away.

People around here seem to appreciate ravens.

I did a little of my own research on these beautiful and brilliant birds.

Here are some interesting raven facts:

  • A group of ravens is known as a “murder”
  • Ravens are playful! They surf on updrafts, sometimes fly upside down and even turn midair somersaults
  • Young ones sometimes play a game of dropping a stick in flight, then swooping down to catch it before it hits the ground
  • Ravens can make over a hundred different vocalizations. Their voices are deep, and they can imitated human speech and singing
  • They sometimes work together as a pair to acquire food, even luring a parent bird from its nest so the other raven can swoop in and eat the eggs or nestlings
  • They’ve been known to call and lead wolves to a carcass so the tough hide can be torn, allowing the ravens to dine on the soft insides of the carcass
  • Ravens are omnivores, dining on eggs, seeds and berries. They sometimes store extra food in secret hiding places. BUT if another raven is watching, it will pretend to hide it in one place then actually put it somewhere else!

Did you know I recently added to my line of raven jewelry? Yes, The Magic Zoo now has its own “murder!” I have a large raven pendant I created years ago on my website, but last summer I designed and added a smaller raven pendant, a charm and a pair of earrings in sterling silver and gold. And these new ones are in flight, which reminds me of the ravens that soar overhead on our New Mexico property.

Do you see ravens where you live? Tell me about your raven experiences!

Travels to Phoenix and The Petrified Forest

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It was a long drive to Phoenix, especially sitting in a back seat of our van. Ed and I communicated loudly, shouting over the engine noise.

My regular duties of feeding him food as he drove were relegated to preparations (cheese, apples, nuts and so on) passed carefully into the hand he stretched approximately in my rear direction. We became proficient at this new method.

Why the back seat?

My recovering hip does not enjoy a set position for long, which would be unavoidable in the front’s non-adjustable seat. So we moved all Merry operations to the back. Pleasantly, I discovered my backseat driver abilities to be unhampered. “Ed, did you see that guy on the bike?” In a big city like Phoenix, it definitely takes two to get safely around. In my estimation.

Brand New Magic Zoo Fans

Merry in The Magic Zoo Booth in PhoenixThe show had its rewards, consisting mostly of meeting veterinarians brand-new to The Magic Zoo. Since many of these vets specialized in farm animals, I made sure to have a goodly supply of bovine, goat and sheep jewelry on hand. That was a smart move.

That first time a new group of people discover my work is always a thrill. And there are usually some really interesting characters amongst a crowd of veterinarians. Like the lanky gentleman from the Netherlands who ended up talking to us about his life in the university town of Ann Arbor with his red-headed American wife (she is also a vet). After a long harangue about his mother who has an addiction for entering sweepstakes and buying lottery tickets, he chose a pair of green butterfly earrings for his wife. I insisted on the color – my personal fav for redheads.

A Fascinating Ride Home

The vet convention was only 2 days long, so Ed and I took a detour through the Petrified Forest on the way back to New Mexico. Neither of us had been there, and it was a great excuse to prowl easy-to-navigate trails, ahhing over giant cypress trees turned crystalline.

And I learned something amazing that I probabably should’ve learned in 4th grade science:

When present day Arizona was a swamp teeming with giant alligator-like creatures, flying reptiles and huge amphibians, it was located near what is today Costa Rica, on the land mass known as Pangea. It moved North over time, away from that equatorial clime, and the land mass raised in altitude.

Maybe it takes an adult mind to grapple with how astonishing that is. Is anyone else floored by that, or were you paying attention in grade school?

And I don’t just go crazy over extant animal species; I’ve always been completely fascinated by those that walked the earth, soared through the sky and swam the oceans before our time.

Who thinks I should start an “extinct animal” line of jewelry? (I’m only a little bit kidding) Given enough interest, I would love to do just that!

The Magic Zoo is Ready for Autumn!

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Merry and WillowNow that I am back in the Magic Zoo saddle, I wanted to reassure everyone that I am fully operational and ready for the coming months! I can walk like a normal person (look Ma, no cane!) and every day my leg gets stronger and stronger. It’s amazing what physical therapy, a healthy diet and an impatient attitude can do. (I’m afraid I didn’t make a very good invalid.)

New Jewelry from The Magic Zoo!

I just got some more of my new designs back from the casters (wait till you see what I’ve been up to!) and they will be appearing on our website in just a couple weeks.

I would have them available sooner, but I have a veterinary convention (where The Magic Zoo is exhibiting) in Phoenix next weekend, so I’ll be a bit busy for a while with that. This is our wild and woolly season coming up, and I’m getting fixed up just in time to get with that flow!

The Rains are Here

Speaking of flows, it is now the monsoon season in New Mexico, so we have had our share of dramatic rainstorms accompanied by hail and some strong gusty winds. The roof of our house is steel, so when it rains (or especially when it hails) it can be so loud that you have to shout if someone is not standing in the same room with you. No, I am not kidding. Just ask anyone with a metal roof!

But due to all the rain, our entire 20 acres is a profusion of purple morning glories, little orange wild flowers and pink flowers of undetermined origin that the hummingbirds adore. Our prowling grandkitties, Firework and Willow, still stare longingly at the flock of hummers, but even these intrepid hunters are not fast enough to grab a hummingbird from the air. (Believe me, they have tried.)

Enjoy Those Fall Leaves

Do you live where the changing seasons are part of your life? For 18 years we made our home in Florida, where I’d have to literally stop and remember what season we were in. Every holiday had the same basic weather pattern…Easter, Independece Day, New Year’s Day. It made no difference!

Now I’m like a little kid on Christmas morning…I can’t wait till Mother Nature paints those cottonwood leaves golden yellow again. And the thrill of seeing a bright red maple! (Yes, there are some here in New Mexico, believe it or not) And although most of our property is covered by juniper, pinon and ponderosa pine, I do have my very own deciduous tree in the backyard with leaves that turn a yummy lemon yellow come October.

I have so much to look forward to and be thankful for. And that includes you, my very special and wonderful customer!

So tell me what you look forward to as summer glides into fall!

Walk with a Cane, Spot a Cougar

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Spot a CougarThere have been at least two Magic Zoo milestones this week. Graduating from an “old lady walker” to a cane happened practically overnight, and made me feel like a dare-devil. Ed hovered protectively for a while, but has since gotten used to the tap tap tap of (what sounds like) a pirate with a wooden leg on our flagstone and tile floors as I meander from room to room.

I’m getting used to this new hip thing, do my exercises religiously, and (like my surgeon instructed me) I walk, walk, walk.

But mostly this takes place inside, because almost every afternoon has brought thunder and often a real downpour. Our backyard profusion of wildflowers, native grasses and flowering vines now reminds me more of Florida than New Mexico.

The Hummingbird Horde

Instead of subtropical butterfly swarms, I have over 50 hummingbirds draining 6 feeders daily. (And no, I am not exaggerating.) Some of my friends observe this flock jealously, complaining they haven’t been able to attract more than one or two hummers to their feeders.

Our secret? My husband and I are suckers. We keep them in sugar water, provide nesting trees and welcomed them back from their long migration north again in April. I don’t know where it will end, because I suspect the newly fledged birds will travel south in October, then return ready to make their own babies next spring. There might be a little attrition, but overall I imagine things will only get worse (or better, depending on your viewpoint)

The Other Milestone, if you can call it that

On Saturday, Ed and I were sitting in the kitchen going over our day’s doings. Something outside the window caught my eye and I looked up just in time to see the back half of a really, really big cat slink behind a juniper tree about 50 yards away.

Here is how I computed this surprising event within ¾ of a second. “Oh, a deer. Right color. But a deer doesn’t have a long tail like that and is much, much taller. It couldn’t be Firework or Willow, because we put them inside 20 minutes ago, plus our cats are definitely not that big.” However, like I said the thoughts were in a ¾ second jumble, not laid out nicely like this.

Basically, I was quickly trying to make sense out of something that seemed impossible. Why impossible? I don’t know, I live at the base of a mountain range home to cougar, bear, elk, deer, bobcat, coyote and lots more. But I just never expected to see a cougar outside my kitchen window. Just like the time I saw the bear by our propane tank. Never expected that either.

I called one of my neighbors who lives about 3 miles away. “Have you ever seen a cougar on your property?” She said no, but they had seen big cat prints in the snow one year. She and her husband have a cabin at a bit higher altitude than where we are, so it wasn’t surprising.

Why this big cat came to visit I don’t know for sure. But we aren’t going to leave cat food outside at night anymore. Do big cats enjoy a meal of kitty kibble? Maybe. But I’m not going to test that theory.

What wildlife do you have in your neck of the woods? You might be surprised. When I lived in Florida I spotted bald eagles and coyotes on the golf course across the street, so even if you don’t live at 7,000 feet, you might be surprised!

The Magic Zoo’s Very Strange August

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Merry with flowers and walkerTwo weeks ago I learned firsthand how everything can change in a split second. One minute I was jogging down the dirt road in front of our property, the next minute I turned ever-so-slightly to answer my tagging-along grandson’s question and the following instant I was on the ground with a broken hip. (I didn’t know it was broken at the time, but I suspected something was more wrong than just a bruised ego, which I also had.)

I yelled for little Cassidy and his sister Annabelle to go get Granddaddy, then waited in a singularly uncomfortable position, while a few enterprising mosquitoes took advantage of my inability to swat them away (I was holding myself up with both hands).

Ed came to the rescue, called 911 and thus began a saga whereby I learned to appreciate in a completely new way those who help in emergency situations.

A Very Long Wait for Help

Since we live in the boonies, it took about an hour and a half for an ambulance to reach me. My darling husband (talk about living those marriage vows) made me as comfortable as he could and held me up with his back against mine, swatting away the bugs and being a reassuring presence. When the ambulance arrived to take me to the hospital in Albuquerque (another hour and a half away) I was relieved and admittedly scared. (I am NOT a big fan of pain.) The transference from the dirt road to the gurney was excruciating, and I probably sent some coyotes and birds scattering with my yells.

Saved!

Finally, I was on my way. I made small talk with the paramedic seated next to me in the back of the ambulance ( a sweet, quiet young man named Sean) as he took my vital signs and typed on his laptop while we zoomed along at 80 mph. I made sure that Ed was following (he was, barely) and finally got to UNM (University of New Mexico Hospital) where they did all those things they do with a patient who has foolishly injured herself while trying to get healthy while jogging. One of the nurses assured me it was not the most ridiculous story she’d heard of a self-created accident, and for the first time since my fall I laughed.

X-rays were taken, the break was confirmed and the next day I was in surgery being fitted with a brand new hip. (What?! I swear I never intended to have a hip replacement. I was proud of my strong bones and joints, which were apparently no match for our rock-hard dirt road)

My New Heroes

The day after surgery, the powers that be (my surgeon) decided I could go home! I rolled out of the hospital in a wheelchair feeling so grateful to every doctor, nurse and aide who took care of me during my incredibly brief stay, and wished I knew what their favorite animals were so I could shower Magic Zoo gifts down upon them all. (Wouldn’t that be a surprise? None of them ever knew what I did for a living, nor would that have made a bit of difference. These beautiful people do what they do because their calling is to help others.) What a rich life they must have!

It has been two weeks since I broke my hip, and every day is so much better than the last. I’m been off all pain medication for many days (so good to eliminate that accompanying mental fog!) and I’m getting back to getting around on my own (though I still rely on a walker). So if you have possibly wondered why you haven’t had any news from me for a while, that’s because The Magic Zoo’s very strange August has been one of a kind.

Now, tell me what your August has been like! (I hope it’s been more fun than mine!)

Your Animal Loving Artist,

Merry

Making your Favorite Pet into Wearable Art

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wearable art pug necklaceWearable art…that is what inspired me to be a jewelry artist! I had a hunch that people might like to have their favorite pet as a pin or pair of earrings, and what do you know? I was right.

There’s nothing so inspiring to me as using a photograph of a beloved pet to create something memorable for the human companion. And I am picky about the finished design! It has to be loved by the recipient. It has to have the personality of the cat, dog, bird, reptile etc. whose photograph I worked from.

Otherwise, I just haven’t done my job!

There is nothing so precious to me as hearing back from the customer who is pleased with the result. Those comments mean the world to me, more than money ever could. Here’s one of my favorite testimonials:

“I just bought my second and third set of custom polymer earrings for my wife. The first set was of my wife’s first dog and the latest pairs were of our beautiful Malamute, one set as a puppy and the other as an adult. Everyone has been astounded at how closely they match pictures sent in as models. My wife could not be happier with them. The work is beautiful and the quality is top notch. The first pair is about 10 years old and they look now exactly as they did when she received them. She even was able to replicate one earring after the original was misplaced. Especially considering they are custom work, you just can’t beat the prices either. I look forward to buying from Merry again in future, when that second Malamute joins the clan!” – Jim from Louisville

It doesn’t matter what kind of animal you have as a pal…I have made everything from sugar gliders to iguanas. Of course, most custom orders involve cats and dogs, but I get my fair share of exotic pets as well.

The other good thing about the custom pieces is that I will repair any damage they may suffer if they get a bit of rough treatment throughout the years. (Just to let you know, the polymer clay I make them out of is extremely durable, and most likely they won’t suffer a bit of damage with normal wear. Here is what Mary had to say about her ferret jewelry that needed a bit of fixing up after 10 years of wear:

“Merry made a pin of 2 of my ferrets many years ago and it is wonderful. After many years of being on my purse (and not treated as gently as it should- what can I say I loved it and wanted everyone to see it) it got some mild damage. I contacted Merry to see if I could pay her to fix it. Not only did she fix it good as new, she fixed it for free!! And this was more than 10 years after I bought it. That is the best customer service I have ever received. I have several pieces from Merry that I have had even longer and they are all still in perfect shape, but it is so nice to know if something does happen she will stand behind her work and repair an item, even a decade later!!” – Mary (long time customer)

Do you have a very special animal you would like memorialized in a one-of-a-kind polymer clay design? I can’t wait to see YOUR pet!

Embarrassed by My Website – An Artist’s Confession

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Well, this past week has been humbling.

It started off great! We “remodeled” our website, with bigger photographs of my jewelry, some lovely photographs of models, easier ways to get around, and so on.

But…(and this was a rather LARGE “But”)

Our site had trouble loading photographs and in some cases, made it next to impossible to make a purchase. We didn’t realize the trouble until we had a recent sale, and then all heck broke loose.

YIKES!

I’m not used to frustrated customers. I pride myself on NOT having frustrated customers, as a matter of fact. So when I started getting calls and emails from people who wanted to buy and couldn’t, it made for some sleepless nights, apologetic emails and red faces. (which my customers couldn’t see, but trust me, I blushed a lot in private)

To say we felt foolish is to put it quite mildly. The worst part was that our developer couldn’t seem to figure out what the problem was, and it seemed to go on day after day, despite desperate emails, chats and phone calls. To put it mildly, we felt terrible.

So Now What?

Meanwhile, our website developer kept digging for the source of the problem And guess what??? He finally FOUND IT! Now it just had to be fixed. And he even promised to do it while we slept. (They are in a vastly different time zone)

Ed was up at 4AM this morning to see the results of his efforts. I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I joined Ed in our upstairs studio. I was afraid to ask the question, so I put it euphemistically.

“Anything new?”

“They fixed it.”

“WHAT??!!!”

“They actually fixed it.”

I felt like cheering and crying at the same time. But since that was a little too energetic before the sun even rose, I responded, “Oh wow.”

I sat down at my computer and immediately “ordered” something just to see for myself. It worked. Big sigh, lots of grateful thoughts, then we both went back to bed and slept till 7:30.

To my Wonderful Customers

I want to say, you are the very, very best. Most of you were so patient and kind throughout this ordeal. Many of you have been my customers for over 20 years, and you know how much I care about you, and do not take it lightly when something on our end goes wrong. For those of you who are newer customers, I want to apologize sincerely for any frustration.

And to all my customers, please contact me anytime, with anything you want to say to me, either through this website blog, or by emailing me through my website. I truly, really care about you, and want your experience with The Magic Zoo to be a good one. And I do answer every email.

Your animal loving artist,

Merry

The Magic Zoo Custom Jewelry Designs

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The Magic Zoo custom designsThis past week I made oodles of custom jewelry designs in polymer clay. Much to my delight, everyone and her sister and brother seemed to need a Magic Zoo custom design!

This is something I don’t complain about. Besides, it’s a good excuse to get my husband to help with the meals so I can devote my time to being inspired by so many beautiful animal photographs!

I think it is very sweet to honor a beloved pet “gone over the rainbow bridge” with a one-of-a-kind pendant, pair of earrings or pin. In the years ahead you have this little memento to remind you of your days together.

And of course celebrating the joyful life you have with a current pet by ordering a custom design based on his or her photo is almost magical. Think about how it can aid you when you just need to brag about them!

So…I was pretty darned busy this past week, creating custom jewelry while gazing out at our beautiful Manzano Mountain range from my upstairs studio window.

Great photos to work from

Capturing the personality of someone’s pet is a task I don’t take lightly. I know first-hand how dear our companion animals are to us, and I sometimes make a design over and over several times before I’m satisfied that I was able to do just that.

By the way, a beautifully clear photograph goes a long way towards aiding this artist!

But life being what it is, occasionally I have to work from a blurry, tiny or otherwise impossible-to-see photograph. Sometimes, in the case of a pet who has died, that is all there is. Then I have to use a bit of imagination, and still create something that somehow taps into the basic personality of that dog, cat, bird, lizard, rabbit, etc.

It is a skill I have developed over the years, and it has been hard-won!

Is there a pet or wild animal that means something special to you?

Not all custom designs I’m asked to create represent domestic animals. There are people (maybe you are one of them?) who adore a specific wild animal. Over the years I have created custom jewelry representing an aardvark, an anteater, a turkey vulture, a songbird, a lemur, an ibis and even a T-Rex! Over my 30 plus years of making jewelry, there were many more unusual requests, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately. They have all been a challenge and a joy. I have photos of some, but not all of them. I wish I’d photographed them all!

If you have been looking in vain for a piece of jewelry that represents the animal you love, contact me! I will be more than happy to work with you and make you something you will adore. Just email me merry@themagiczoo.com and we can get started!

Modern and Ancient Artists Meet

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Merry with bird petroglyphThis week I viewed some petroglyphs in Albuquerque with my family. Not for the first time (I’m quite sure) our particular visit was a meeting of modern and ancient artists.

There are several places (all within a couple of hours of Mountainair) to see this remarkable art, but since I was with my New York artist brother and his wife, we chose the one that boasted at least 300 petroglyphs, Piedras Marcadas Canyon in Albuquerque.

I don’t know if you’ve ever done this kind of time traveling, but with just a little imagination I was able to see lightly clad native Americans squatting by black lava rocks, stone picks in hand carving animal, human and symbolic messages that had definite and specific meanings in their time. I saw them busy early in the morning or very late afternoon, when the midday sun we were modernly trying to avoid with hats and sunglasses was not so intense.

I hoped there was more water and more shade for them.

Or maybe they were just tougher than we were. After 30 minutes or so I was so overheated my inner temperature gauge went haywire and I was shivering in the 90 degree heat and had to head back to the car.

But was it worth it? Oh yes…

It was a treasure hunt…along the trail and from several yards away we stood still, scanning black boulders of mixed size. Horned lizards, birds with fantastic headdresses and shamanistic figures with piercing eyes appeared, staring back at us from the rock.

We moved closer, right up to the design, careful not to touch them with our hands (having been warned of their centuries-old frailty.) Being so close to the work of a fellow artist, separated from me by hundreds and hundreds of years was an extraordinary privilege.

The meanings might be elusive and coded, but the petroglyphic beauty, rough and worn by passing centuries is a current communication, at least to me. One artist to another, one human being to another, ancient carvings of the very lizards and birds that dashed through the sand and into the brush on either side of our trail that afternoon.

When I found Kokopelli, the flute player with the hunch back, (obviously created by different artists all with different skill levels),  I mentally compared those roughly beautiful carvings of this strangely joyful figure with the too perfect modern versions you see these days on coffee cups.

I am moved by those who felt their messages were valuable enough to carve in stone. They were, and they still are.

Is there some artwork of the past that moves you emotionally? I would love to hear about it in your comment here!

The Magic Zoo Customer Photos!

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Woman wearing Magic Zoo Nubian goat necklaceMany of my customers sent me lovely photos of themselves wearing their Magic Zoo jewelry and a HUGE thank you to all of you who did! Once my remodeled site goes live, I will send you all a special gift – you know who you are!

But I need more photographs…If you have a couple minutes and can snap some casual photos of you wearing your favorite Magic Zoo jewelry that would be so very appreciated. And if you can include an animal in the photo with you, that would be especially wonderful. (But not required.)

I need lifestyle photos…so what are lifestyle photos?

What I am looking for are “lifestyle photos” rather than a close up shot of your jewelry. Here is how Wikipedia defines lifestyle photography:

“Lifestyle photography is a kind of photography (that) mainly aims to capture portrait/people in situations, real-life events or milestones in an artistic manner and the art of the everyday. The primary goal is to tell stories about people’s lives…”

So casual photos of you wearing your jewelry would be perfect. I just need to actually see the jewelry in the photograph clearly. But it does not need to be a close up of the jewelry.

You can be part of my newly remodeled website!

I will primarily be using your photographs as secondary photos on my product pages, so my new customers can get some idea of how the jewelry looks on a real person. But if it is an especially clear and large enough photo, I may use it more broadly.

The larger the photo, the better.

Just send your photo as an attachment to my personal email merry@themagiczoo.com

Here are 4 easy steps to sending me your photograph:

  1. Take a photo of yourself wearing some Magic Zoo jewelry. You can send several different photos with different pieces of jewelry…I may use them all!
  2. Please send as large a file as possible (for you savvy photographers, 1000 pixels wide is best)
  3. Email the photograph to merry@themagiczoo.com
  4. Please say in your email “I give The Magic Zoo permission to use my photograph” or something similar so I have your consent to use it.

I think I have the best customers on the planet, and I want to include your photograph on my newly remodeled and super beautiful website! (Which is coming very, very soon)

By the way comment here on my blog, and tell me what your favorite Magic Zoo jewelry design is, and why!

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