Grooming, Grooming, Grooming

First Day at the Convention in Harrisburg

 The theme decoration at the entrance.

 Registration booth.

Courtesy booth at the front.

 The coops are nicely set up, but the majority of the rabbits are yet to be checked in.

The New York Angora club members draped bed sheets behind the Angora coops, it saves Angora exhibitors a lot of effort to put dividers in the backside.   We are all very grateful.

Convention Bound

Betty says,

My seven English Angora entries in the convention are all in the carriers inside my van.   Almost ready to leave for the airport.

Rabbits are checked in at SFO,  now in the elevator being taken down to the loading area.

I am sitting at Delta gate 46 waiting for my flight.

Arrived at the Bradley airport, all rabbits did OK.

 

Curious onlookers.

Big Boy Jim is Not Going to the Convention

Big Boy Jim asks,  Would you take me to the convention? 

No, you are not going but I do love you very much.

Regular Show Carriers Being Stored

Betty says,  

Since I show one to three weekends a month, most of my regular show carriers are cleaned immediately after the show then stored in my van.  The only time these carriers are put away is when I fly to a convention.   This year I am flying to PA, my kennel and carriers for flying are now in my van, these regular carriers for are stacked next  to our house.

View of my regular carriers from another angle; next to the carriers is a dedicated washer for doing rabbit laundry.

Kennel and Carriers for Flying to the Convention

It's only a few days from flying to the ARBA national convention in Harrisburg, PA.  Betty is preparing her flying equipment.  She says,

I took my kennel out of storage, it hasn't been used since the convention in Indianapolis in 2011.  It's full of dust and needed a major wash.

This kennel is size 500, could take up to eight English Angora if I really try.  This year I am taking seven.  The cover shows some of the Delta Airlines tags from the past years.  I purposely keep some of them on, just in case there is any issue at the airport counter, I could show the evidence that this kennel was accepted in many previous trips.

The wire bottoms for the coops at the showroom are on the left, behind the wire bottoms are the sitting boards.  These will go into my suitcase.

These are the carriers going into the kennel.  One large carrier is divided into three compartments, the two small carriers are divided into two compartments each, total seven spaces for seven rabbits.  The spaces are way smaller than my regular show carriers.  In fact these carriers are for flying only. With the high price of flying the kennel and with the airline restrictions, the rabbits will not be able to experience the kind of roominess that they are accustomed to.

One large and two small carriers are placed inside the kennel, the top cover and the gate are to be assembled.  Kitty Mary Jane looks on.

The top part of the kennel has been placed, when the gate is put in and the sides are tightened, that's how the assembled kennel looks like.

Found on the Net: Flying Squirrels

In the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, there is an interesting article about flying squirrels.   The story is about the southern flying squirrels migrating to the north and mated with the northern flying squirrels.   The southern flying squirrels mostly live in the US while the northern flying squirrels are in Canada.    There is evidence that they have mated and resulted in a hybrid.   There were debates about what to call these squirrels:  "Canadian" flying squirrel, North American Hybrid Flying Squirrel, Central flying squirrel, Glaucomys vobrinus, Can-Am flying squirrel, ...

To read the entire article, go to:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304171804579121672271958290

 

From the internet, these images were found, they are sure very cute!