Giant Prairie Scenery In Xinjiang, China

The huge territory of Xinjiang is covered by prairies.

Miles of miles of green scenery.

As far as the eyes can see, it's the giant praire scenery.

If you see the tiny spots on the prairie, these are.....

... cattle and sheep...

Lots of livestock munching the greens.

Some areas allow tourists to have a cloers encounter of the livestock.

 

Heavenly Lake in Xinjiang, China

Recently Albert has gone on a long trip to Xinjiang, China.   Xinjiang is an autonomous region in the far northwest of China, the pink are in the map above.   It took three legs of flights and some 35 hours to make it to the capital Urumqi.    Albert will be sharing some photos.

This is the Heavenly Lake, a beautiful area.  

The blue color shows the size and the shape of the Heavenly Lake, it's pronounced "Tianchi". 

The shore of Tianchi.

It's nice scenery but ....

...a bit too many tourists.

 

Happy Hoppy Fourth of July 2024

Northern California Angora Guild 

wishes everyone a 

Happy Hoppy Fourth of July, 2024

County of Santa Clara Animal Shelter at San Martin

The Santa Clara County Animal Shelter is officially called the Animal Service Center.   It was only completed in 2021.  As we can see the facility is very new and modern.  

Here are introductions of the opening and the services provided:
County of Santa Clara Animal Services Center | Architect Magazine
A new animal services center in California reflects current care trends (bdcnetwork.com)

  It is a no kill shelter by goal, it's estimated to have reached the goal into the high 90 percentiles.


 

What was the reason that I visited the service center?   
The center facebook page has a post calling for donation of hard shell kennels to send some kittens to other areas.   Since I am not planning on flying to faraway convention locations, I decided I could donate one of my 3 kennels.   My kennel is bigger than what they would like to have, but it is a nice kennel and only used in two convention trips: a one-way trip from Indiana back to SFO (the airline changed requirement mid trip so I had to buy a kennel at Indianapolis) then a round trip to Massachusetts.  I figure if it is not to be used for kittens, maybe it will be useful for the transfer of puppies or a big dog.



 

My convention kennel is definitely suitable for puppies and dogs.   When I wheeled it in, I was met with suspecious looks.   I said, "I am here to donate a kennel".    I saw faces of relief; one person said, "I thought there were puppies inside".   I said, "I will never do that, I take responsibility of my animals".  The staff/volunteer was very happy and commented the kennel was very nice and asked whether I wish to get a receipt for the donation.  I declined.    The screen in front of the shelter entrance flashes different images of dogs and puppies.

On my way out, I took some photos of the huge digital billboards showing what animals that the shelter serves.  Here are the rabbits!

This shelter serves chickens too.

Cats and kittens, of course.

Farm animals too.   In addition, I have seen listings of peacocks, turtles, extra.

By the way, this shelter is less than 10 miles from my home.   I have visited there in the past when I was scouting for a kitten.  It's nice and clean, cool and comfortable for the animals.

 

More Thoughts about "To Molt or Not to Molt" As a Choice

A white buck in 1983, a molting English Angora.   That was the longest wool ever on his body.

I’m grooming my 1994 ARBA convention BOB winner.  Cynthia’s wool was about 10 inches, unusual then. 

In 2011, Betty grooming Chu's Lilianna at Watsonville.  This photo went viral.

In 2011, Lilianna already has very long wool that measured to be 12 inches.  Without the non-molting characteristic, the chance of having some length and finish is next to zero.

Guinness World Record "Longest Fur on a Rabbit" Chu's Franchesca in 2014, 36.5 cm or 14.37 inches.  This is the one of the official photos on Guinness website.

This is a very common sight in shows: a rabbit that looks bigger than the owner.  Betty and Chu's Annisha in 2019. 

 Many times I was asked and credited being the person who discovered the non-molting gene in English Angora.   Since I am a social scientist specializing in Economics that is a study of human and business behavior relating to rational decision making, I feel uncomfortable talking about discovering a "gene".   However, being a social scientist, it is important to be able to logically observe and to draw conclusions or predictions.   I'd say that I had concluded from my observations and experiences in my early years of raising English Angora that "non-molting" or "less-molting" is an important characteristic for improving the breed.  I promoted this concept but it took quite an effort to get others to see the benefit of it.   

Here is one of the comments that I received:

"I remember in the mid-1990s, when those of us in Kansas wondered, why would anyone want a non-molting Angora? At that time we were not seeing the very logical reasons that you listed in your article.  These days, it makes so much sense: growing a full, prime senior show coat is such a commitment, it would be a shame to have it fall off before the rabbit's show career is complete.

Here is my reply: 

"Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts.

It takes an open mind to accept something that was uncommon.

If the "uncommon" is the right direction, eventually it will become common.

Though there are still a small number of people who think that the molitng Angoras are good, the number is getting smaller and smaller.  If they ever get the chance to experience the "good" ones, they convert quickly.

As a spinner since 1985, I really could not tell much difference between plucked wool and scissor-cut wool.  If there is any difference, the cut wool is a lot easier to spin because the wool is lined up in the natural order."

This interchange was made in early 2014.   By then most Angora people had accepted the concept.  The French Angora breeder was later to embrace this concept than the English Angora breeders; a small number ofEnglish Angora breeders started taking in this concept in the late 1980s, then the concept became more wide spread in the 1990s.  The French Angora breeders started breeding toward the non-molting direction around mid to late 2000s.   By 2014, both breeds are quite set in the non-molting or less-molting type of animals.   One interesting situation is that the Guinness World Record of the "Longest Fur on a Rabbit" was set on August 17, 2014 with the length of 36.5 cm or 14.57 inches.   Such length would only have been able to achieve if the rabbit keeps on growing the length without the wool falling off.   As we know that the more than 50% of the points are allocation to wool.  It's important to have a good type, nice furnishings, the head, ... if the wool on the body is sparse and short, the chance of doing well in shows is next to impossible.   Non-molting or less-molting is vital to keeping the wool on the rabbits but not on the brush.  

Today in 2024, there is probably very few Angora breeder, if any, would prefer a molting rabbit.  Very few people "pluck" the Angora wool now, and it is a good thing.  With the development of social media, we all have to be very careful how we carry ourselves.  There would be less chance of being considered unkind to animals if we cut the wool than pluck the wool when we harvest.  

Oldie and Goodie: Concept of "To Molt or not to Molt" As a Choice

 

Over my 42 years of raising English Angora, I have been asked about the concept of molting so many times that I cannot count. In the 1980s there was no concept about whether molting is a choice because most considered molting as a natural process for animals to shed their old fur so that the new fur will grow out.   This process could be beneficial for many type of animals, but also it could be detrimental to some type of animals.   At the time when I started, there were only two breeds of Angoras: English Angora and French Angora.   Both breeds molt.   The chosen method of harvesting wool was to "pluck" the wool.  Plucking means pulling the wool off the rabbit's skin.   When molting set in, pulling the wool was quite easy as the skin release the wool.   This releasing mechanism could cause havocs to showing and the health of the rabbits.   Why?   

I wrote the following article for the American Fuzzy Lop national club newsletter in 2012.  Molting or not molting was not a concept discussed or concerned by the AFL breeders, still today probably it's not an important consideration.   It is understandable as wool is only 15 points out of 100 in the AFL standard.   For Angoras, wool is over 50 points (English 57, French 55, Giant 55, Satin 60) out of 100.  Having wool on the rabbit is vital for competition.   Here I am reposting this article to share.  If you wish to read it in the earlier post with some comments, here it is:

 Northern California Angora Guild: To Molt or Not To Molt (ncag.blogspot.com)

In the article I discussed how I discovered the concept of non-molting or at least less-molting being a choice by the breeders to improve the showing, the cleanliness and the health of the rabbits.

---------------------

My English Angora are known to be able to keep a prime show coat for a long period of time.   I've had rabbits, especially does, stayed in shows for more than a year.  The longest record was 15 months with the doe started showing at 3 months old and cut down at 18 months old.     Such was unimaginable in the 1980s when I started raising English Angora.  All Angoras, English Angora and French Angora, molted every few months, some even molt constantly with bald spots on various parts of their bodies.   Woolblock was the regular killer of Angora rabbits.  (English Angora and French Angora were the two accepted breeds of Angoras then).  

 

As most of our readers know that my foundation rabbit was a fawn doe named Bubbling Champagne (where the BC ear numbers come from) bred by judge Bobbie Meyer.    In 1984 Bubbling Champagne gave birth to a buck and a doe that I named Chu's Sexy Henry and Chu's Christina.   Sexy Henry did not turn out to be "sexy", never sired a litter.   Christina turned out to be a game changer for me and for the breed of English Angora. 

In 2012, the American Fuzzy Lop national club newsletter editor asked me to guest write an article.   I recounted my experience of creating the "non-molting" English Angora.  

In the following, you will see three old photos taken of Christina in 1984 when she was about 5 months old and the article that I wrote for the American Fuzzy Lop national newsletter.  

(Published in the American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit Club newsletter "Fuzzy Tales", 2012)
 

To Molt or Not To Molt
 

  

Betty Chu

englishangora88@yahoo.com

  

"My buck looked gorgeous last week when I entered him, look at him now, what a mess!"
 

"I am scratching my doe, she blew her coat."
 

"There is a big bald spot here; I don't remember seeing it when I entered it."
 

These are some of discussions that we often heard in shows.
 

A "mess" of coat, "blew her coat", "bald spot" are all symptoms of molting. Most consider molting as a natural process of animals who shed their old coat to gain a new coat. I am using the word "coat" to represent either wool or normal fur on the rabbit. Molting may be a natural process, but we as rabbit breeders can gradually change the way rabbits molt in order:
 

(a) to have a more predictable time line for a prime coat,

(b) to have a more durable prime coat,

(c) to improve the health of the rabbits, and

(d) to improve the cleanliness of the rabbit barn.
 

As most of you know, I am an English Angora breeder, not a breeder of American Fuzzy Lops. I have been asked to be a guest writer to share my journey of improving the English Angora breed and to provide some ideas that you might be able to use in your breeding of American Fuzzy Lop.
 

When I started in early 1980s, the prime show coat of the English Angora was about 3-4 inches; after that, rabbits would lose wool and would mat. I would use a slicker brush and a comb to work on the coat and prayed that the coat would still be around when the next show came (the blower was not a tool until 1989). When the coat was no longer viable for showing, I would pull the wool from the rabbit and the skin released the wool easily. Pulling wool, or plucking, was the standard practice for harvesting wool for almost all Angora owners at the time. In 1984 (see footnote), a chocolate tort doe was born in a colored litter, I named her Chu's Christina. She grew into a beautiful doe and won 5 legs. When the wool harvest time came, I had a hard time plucking her. The concept in the 80s was that only plucked wool was good for spinning, I spent hours trying to get her wool off and it would take several days to make it work. Most of my fellow breeders thought I had a weird rabbit. Then I found out that she was pluckable after she kindled, obviously from the change of hormone to allow her to make a nest for her babies. I bred her often to get babies with the side benefit of plucking her wool off when it's the right time to harvest. She produced very nice babies. The babies became nice show rabbits and some had the same hard-to-pluck characteristics as their mom. One day it dawned on me that I did not just have a weird rabbit, I had a great rabbit that molted very little and that some of her bunnies molted very little. After that light bulb moment, I paid attention to the duration of each rabbit and pushed for a little more duration of coat-holding in the subsequent generations.
 

With the aid of a blower and regular use of Ivemoc to prevent fur mites, my rabbits can hold their show coats for 12-18 months if I keep up with my maintenance.
 

OK, some of you at this time may say, "You are lucky to have encountered such a rabbit like Chu's Christina, others just don't have your luck." May be that's the case, but its more likely that there are many of these non-molting or less-molting rabbits around but breeders are not realizing that this can be an important trait for the herd.
 

Why is non-molting or less-molting good for you and your rabbits?
 

(a) If a rabbit has a more durable prime coat, a breeder would not have to breed more to cover shows. In 30+ years, I have never seen a rabbit breeder gone out of business due to his inability to have bunnies; I have seen many rabbit breeders gone out of business because they had too many rabbits and got overwhelmed. The human suffered and the rabbits suffered.
 

(b) If a rabbit has a more durable prime coat, it's easier to breed for certain important shows such as the breed national and the ARBA Convention. The window period for breeding could be several months instead of several weeks.
 

(c) If the rabbit molts less, there is less chance for the rabbit to ingest its own wool or fur, thus less chance of having woolblock/hairball/stasis. In the 80s, I had my share of dealing with woolblock; I had spent hundreds and thousands of dollars to have surgery done on blocked rabbits but still suffered losses. I wrote an article about how to prevent woolblock by various methods, and this article is still posted on my website. Today I don't follow my own advice anymore. Why? My rabbits no longer block, the entire woolblock issue has been bred out by having non-molting rabbits! When people ask me how to deal with woolblock, my answer is I don't deal with it because I don't see any.
 

(d) When a rabbit molts, the wool or the hair flies everywhere. Some would wrap around the cage wires. You can not get it out by brushing or picking; the only way to go seems to be blow torching. If you have non-molting or less molting rabbits, you will have less wool on the cage, on the floor, in the air, ... you will have a cleaner rabbitry.
 

Now the question is how to get to the less-molting stage. The simple answer is selective breeding. You start with rabbits that molt relatively less than the others; if your "normal" molting occurs every three months in your herd, you want to push for 3-1/2 months or 4 months molt in the next generation, etc. It'll take time and patience, but you will get there.
 

At this point some of you may be thinking, "Well, having good wool is nice but wool is only 15 points on the American Fuzzy Lop, the head is 30 and the body is 30, wouldn't a breeder be breeding for that 60 points instead of the 15 points?"
 

Before answering, I'd like to say that in the English Angora standard, the wool is 57 points and the body 15 points. Guess what? That 15 points of body is the base for the entire rabbit. Even if the rabbit had a tremendous amount of wool, without the right body, the English Angora rabbit may do well in the breed but would not have a chance on the Best In Show table.
 

Now back to American Fuzzy Lop, if the rabbit has a great head and great body but has bald spots and uneven wool, or the wool is all matted, it could win within the breed but I doubt there would be any chance for that American Fuzzy Lop to do well on the Best In Show table.
 

The goal is to achieve symmetry; the rabbit has to be balanced. I would not advise one to breed an American Fuzzy Lop with a long face and rangy body but great wool because it's not balanced. All I am suggesting is to consciously put non-molting/less-molting as a part of the goals in your breeding program.
 

To molt or not to molt is a choice.
 

(Betty's Footnote: In the original publication in "Fuzzy Tales", the year given was 1985.   When looking at Christina's old photos, the back of the print date shows 1984 thus the correction.)

Alameda County Fair Craft Exhibits, Part 2

There are a large number of and variety of crafts at the Alameda fair in Pleasanton, CA.  From the photos, we can see dressmaking, crocheting, sewing, painting, needlepointing, photography and a piece of "junk art".    

We thank Casey for taking and providing the photos for us to enjoy.

Alameda fair is the largest fair in Northern California.   It closes on July 7, still plenty of time to go to Pleasanton and have fun there.

 

 

Isaura has a great day at the fair and received her "prize" of the pineapple slush!