Northern California Angora Guild: 3/11/12

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Northern California Angora Guild wishes everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Companion Pairs

Left is Sarafina and right Aaliyah. Both girls are grand champions and had won Best In Show and Reserve In Show during their glorious show days. Now they are retired from showing, they share a large cage and love the companionship.

When Sarafina and Aaliyah go into the exercise area, Aaliyah is usually the leader and Sarafina follows.

With a large exercise area, Sarafina and Aaliyah still like to stay close to each other.

The just love to be with each other whether is in their regular cage or out on the lawn. They no longer have a beautiful show coat but they have each other.

Beautiful Ice Plants

Ice plants are just regular ground cover plants; however, when the flowers are in bloom, they are absolutely gorgeous and glorious.

Allen Judges Best In Show at North Carolina State Convention

Allen goes to different shows all over the country and out of country. Last weekend he was judging at the North Carolina State Convention. At the end of this month, he will be judging in Indonesia Malaysia. These shows will be the first ARBA sanctioned show in Indonesia and second in Malaysia.

Judge Allen judged the Best In Show at the North Carolina State Convention on Saturday. A New Zealand junior buck shown by Robert Crawford won all breed double Best In Show. Mr. Crawford also won the Best In Show with his New Zealand last year at Indy convention.

On Sunday, Mr. Crawford did not show and the show A Best In Show went to a Mini Rex and in show B the Best In Show went to a Florida White.

Judge Allen is examination the BOB English Angora on the BIS table; the rabbit belongs to Dru in New Jersey. It did not go any further than the BOB in the all breed shows.

Found On The Net: Gorilla and Dutch Rabbit

Found on www.GoErie.com

They're an odd pair.

The female half is quiet and aloof, imposing even as she approaches a half-century of life.

The other is just a boy still, tiny with a twitchy nose and a propensity to hop around like young boys do.

Samantha and Panda.

The gorilla and the Dutch rabbit.

Erie Zoo officials introduced the two in mid-February after deciding that Samantha, a 47-year-old western lowland gorilla, ought to have a companion.

She's been without any other presence in her exhibit since Rudy, a male gorilla, died in 2005 at the age of 49. Those two never did interact much; Sam was hand-raised and relates more to humans than to other gorillas.

She's too old and fragile to be paired with another gorilla now, zoo officials said. But she needs the same thing any human does: a friend.

Panda is safe and small, no threat to the gorilla. He's something for her to watch and touch.

"To have something sharing their space that they can observe and interact with is always going to be beneficial," zoo Director Cindy Kreider said.

Zookeepers started slowly. Panda was moved to an area close to Samantha's night quarters. Then keepers held her up to Samantha for inspection. Panda was let into the exhibit by herself to get the lay of the land. Finally, he was let in while Sam was in there, too -- with an escape hatch for the rabbit, just in case.

"Right off the bat, they hit it off," Kreider said.

Scott Mitchell, the zoo's chief executive, recalled a time shortly after the two were introduced when Panda hopped up to Samantha's beloved Baby, a stuffed toy gorilla. Know this: No one messes with Baby.

Samantha "pushed the baby out of the way so Panda could go by," Mitchell said.

Another time, she scratched underneath Panda's chin. She shares her food. She reaches down to touch Panda, gently.

"It was amazing to see," Mitchell said. "And the reaction from the public has been amazing, too. People are intrigued by it. They like the fact that she has a companion."

Samantha has never been aggressive toward Panda. A younger gorilla might have been a different story, but keepers spend a lot of time with Sam and know her personality.

Still, Mitchell admits to having been a little nervous when the two were first introduced. He needn't have worried.

"He's fearless," Mitchell said of Panda. "He's not threatened by her. More often they're closer together than they are farther apart."

On Thursday, Panda nibbled and dug through hay while Samantha munched on kale and stolen rabbit food pellets. Samantha sat in one corner as Panda hopped along the exhibit's edge, near the window.

Finally, he hopped next to her, and they sat, together, the aging gorilla and the tiny rabbit with the pale pink nose.

Pear Blossom

The next upcoming show in Oregon is named Pear Blossom show. At Betty's backyard, there are quite a bit of "Pear Blossom" going on and here are some photos to share.

Japanese Rabbit Book Spring 2012

It was very kind of Yumiko to send Betty the spring issue of the Rabbit Book from Japan. The health booklet shown yesterday is a part of this book.

The spring issue of the Rabbit Book has 107 pages; the cover models are two Jersey Wooly bunnies.

One of the featured article is about the 88th ARBA convention at Indianapolis.

Two familiar faces: our judges Randy and Allen with their Group winner Netherland Dwarf.

This face would have been quite familiar except that it's covered by her hair. Who is it? With the white English Angora doe on the grooming table, you probably could guess that's Betty.