Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill

Two wildlife center volunteers demonstrate in downtown Morgan Hill.

Various animals in the kennels to be shown to the spectators in downtown Morgan Hill.

Wildlife center's poster showing some of the patients at the center. Note that there is a possum at the left corner.

Two 2-week-old bobcats were rescued by the Wildlife center.

Two little ones are 3 weeks old in this picture.

Five-week-old bobcat looks just like a domestic kitten.

Wildlife volunteer does not want the bobcat kittens to be domesticated.

The seven-week-old kitten is learning to hunt.

The bobcat kitten is definitely not domesticated.

After staying at the wildlife center for 6 months, the bobcats are set free. A statue of "liberty" is in front of the City Recreation Center; see http://ncag.blogspot.com/search?q=liberty

Morgan Hill is an animal-friendly town; it has fenced areas as dog parks, ponds for fowls, it is not surprising that one of the most successful wildlife rehab centers has its home in this town. See http://www.werc-ca.org/index.html

In addition to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife, one of the missions of the center is "to help emphasize topics such as respect for wildlife, peaceful coexistence, and the impact of encroaching civilization on their habitat."

Betty says,

"I wholeheartedly agree with this mission statement. Though I do not want to raise wildlife in our backyard and consider them animal non-gratis, I don't have any desire to kill them. If very young baby wildlife is found, the wildlife center accepts them. I have sent several baby possums there. The local animal shelter and wildlife center both advise the release of adult wildlife to the state or county parks that are not far from our home. A few miles of driving will find them a home that is full of foliage and running spring.

I don't judge what others do; I have a no-kill practice with my rabbits and would do the same when it comes to wildlife. I feel that it is not necessary to kill any healthy living things to achieve a goal. There is always a way to get there without harming any lives."

Three Wonderful Show Secretaries

In the northern California area, shows are now done by three very able show secretaries: Rita, Dolores and Jennifer. Rita is the first one who started accepting jobs to do secretary work for various clubs, then Dolores followed and Jennifer joined the rank in 2008.

They do such a good job that they are also responsible for the secretary work at the ARBA convention in Louisville in 2008. Here is a rare photo of all three together at the check in booth at the convention.

We thank Dera for providing this picture.

Little Squirrel Thieves

Betty says,

"Our house was built in a walnut grove. When we first moved in, the walnut trees were producing so many walnuts that we could not keep up with them. Overtime, there are less and less walnuts. Before the nuts become mature, the squirrels pick them from the trees and scatter them in the yard or buried them in the soil.

Squirrels are known to like nuts; we did not expect that the darn squirrels also like persimmons. They pick the persimmons, give the fruits a few bites and then scatter them all over.

People like to use "breed like the rabbits" to describe fertility; these squirrels breed a lot more than the rabbits. Anyone want some squirrels?"

The First Youth Show In 2009

Elsa with Pudge, BOB in both shows.

Dominique and Elsa dancing on the stage during the youth show.

Dominique sleeping with a baby bunny.

Elsa falling asleep next to the nestbox.

Tyler begging for the chance to hold a bunny.

While all of us are waiting for the first open show of 2009, the Menn family already had their first outing in the double youth shows last Saturday.

Elsa's Pudge won the Best of Breed in both shows and received honorable mention during the Best In Show judging. Dominique's two different bucks took Best Opposite Sex. Both judges were complimentary of the excellent care that the rabbits received.

The next day, Dominique, Elsa and little brother cuddled their rabbits then fell asleep. Mama Gabrielle says,

"Given the choice, I think that most kids would prefer to sleep-in on a cold Sunday morning. Yet, when I got up this morning at 7:30, I found Elsa laying next to the nest box, cuddling with a bunny. I went to the girls' room to find Dominique snuggling with another bunny, and Tyler begging for his turn."

Three-Legged Bruce Lee

Movie poster of Bruce Lee's first Hong Kong kung fu film "Big Boss" in 1971.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was Lee's martial art student in the US; he flew to Hong Kong to play opposite to Bruce Lee in one of his movies.





Here is another story about "three legs":

We all like rabbits that have "three legs"; we saw photos of a Greyhound that has three legs. "Three Legs" was also a description of late Bruce Lee in his early years.

Bruce Lee grew up and went to school in Seattle area in the 50-60s. In 1970, he was invited back to Hong Kong by Golden Harvest to make Kung Fu movies. The first one was "The Big Boss". Though he had some TV and movie work in the US, he was a brand new actor in Hong Kong. The initial director of "Big Boss", Wu, was also new. They did not get along well. In one fight scene Lee kicked three bad guys played by three extras down to the gournd, director Wu ordered the three extras to get up to fight again. Lee objected; he insisted if he were playing a kung fu expert, these minor bad guys would not be able to get up to fight again; he should concentrate in fighting the big baddies later on.

Director Wu said, "Are you a cat with three legs? Can't you fight?" Those in the studio laughed and started calling him the "three legged Lee". Director Wu eventually got fired and another director, Low, replaced Wu; but the "three legged Lee" nickname stuck with Bruce Lee.

The producer Chow was very worried about his new star being compared to a "three legged cat". Chow was the head of PR for Shaw Brothers, Inc. for many years before forming Golden Harvest, Inc. He thought of a way to get around it. He sent out a press release, "Bruce Lee kicks so fast and so fury that people see three legs when he does his kick, thus he is nicknamed the 'Three Legged Lee' ".

This story was told in Chow's recent interview in Hong Kong, 35+ years after Lee's death.

Three-Legged Greyhound

It is a good thing to say that a rabbit has "three legs"; it is not the same thing for a dog to have three legs.

A family rescued two Greyhounds. A few years later, one of them developed cancer of the bone. His mama faced the decision of having him put down or having his cancerous leg amputated to prolong his life by 6 months or so; his mama opted to for amputation. With only three legs now, the Greyhound adjusted well; he walks and exercises just like a normal dog with four legs. It has been a year since the surgery, so far no sign of the cancer coming back.

This is a very lucky dog and it is a wonderful story; "three legs" is not so bad for this dog, the alternative could be worse.