Paloszoo• Show poetry

My name is Kim and I hail from Chicago, I'm author of Ferrets for Dummies, 1st and 2nd editions. I've been writing since I was about 10 years old and wrote my first book back then. I have a pretty dark past, therefore my writing is pretty dark, though I'm trying to write lighter these days. I believe writing is the window to a person's soul.

See
deeply
into the
core of writers
so true to themselves
undaunted to make known
they bear their hearts openly
with bravery and hope for break
and willingly pen their darkest pains
pulling from the depth of madness within
knowing they make vulnerable their souls
to predators in search of swift feasts
made easy by open flesh wounds
bitter smell of truthfulness
a trusting writer’s curse
doesn’t have to be
but the writing
so defines
poets
see?

I didn't say I was a good poet ;-) I just love to write. It's healing for me. If you want to check out my other calling, visit my web page at www.animalsforawareness.org. What else can I say? I'm big into tattoos and have 13 myself - mostly tribal. I also have some modest piercings.

Here's an autobiographical poem I had to write for a contest. It's a very brief look into my life and touches a very thin surface of who I am: http://allpoetry.com/poem/4617255

Want to read the best poem on AP???  http://allpoetry.com/poem/3868779

Written by Silent Cougar and Twilight Panther, the following is a dedication poem written just for me. It moved me to tears. I love them both for doing this for me...

The above picture was taken about 14 years ago. The kitty is Goliath, our cougar (mountain lion) at about 4 months old. He was one of our first major rescues. We got him at 4 weeks old when a drug dealer brought him to our vet and abandoned him there. Goliath was on death's door and wasn't expected to make it. My husband and I nursed him back to health. When this picture was taken, we lived in a condo. They accepted us, but started getting nervous when he reached this size. We also had a bear cub that had been tossed at us through a tow truck window one evening. We soon bought a house and expanded, thus  Animals for Awareness. Goliath is now 16 years old and arthritic. I'm the only one who can go in the cage with him, but he allows just about anyone and everyone to pet him through the bars. He purrs louder than a truck motor!

More Goliath!!!! This is his indoor cage. In the background you can see the door where he can go to his outside cage. Believe it or not, he prefers to be inside where he can watch the rest of the animals and interact with us.

And even more! He loves his hanging ball. He has a bright new red one that hangs there now. His favorite toy, though, is my husband's old bowling ball.

Sam and our Canada lynx Kodiak have always had a special bond even though Kodiak wasn't raised with Sam and is a couple years older than Sam is.

Like Mother, like Son.

Alligator "Boots" has gotten much bigger!!! He was confiscated from his original owners by the police. They kept him in a small cage, which is why he's so small for his age. He's about 4 1/2 feet long now and I still carry him like a baby.

Cotimundi [coati) Sebastian is the star of his own story. Read about him in The Adventures of Sir Bastard.

Ramsey is an African Serval. He was beaten for 3 years and kept in a dark basement by his former owner before coming to our place. It took us a year to gain his trust. He's still skittish and hissy, but at least we can go into the cage with him now!

Ana is a bobcat whose Washington owner tried to make into a housepet. When that didn't work, he called a taxidermist to skin and mount her. Fortunately, we were able to step in an rescue her.

Kodiak is a loving Canada lynx. He goes on educational programs with us. He came from a fur farm in Minnesota.

Denali is our youngest Canada lynx. He also came to us from a fur farm. He was deathly ill when he arrived, so he's a little on the small side. He's a great program animal. A real lover!

Devlin is a female Eclectus parrot. We got her as a hatchling and hand raised her. She was a gift from a client.

Baby is a double yellow head Amazon parrot. We also got her as a hatchling and raised her. She was mine and David's wedding gift to ourselves. She's 17 now and knows about 70 words. Baby is the hit of our educational programs!!!

I can't tell you how many hedgehogs come into our facility. They require hours of dfaily handling to make good pets!

Coral is one big albino Burmese pythom - 14 feet right now. He's an owner give up.

This little guy was a hatchling when Animal Control brough him to us as a "stray". He was slithering around a parking lot. Someone either let him go or lost him. He was far, far away from his native Californian habitat! Check out his pretty chocolate color.

This is Koda, one of our many captive coonies. He's got neurological problems, which makes him unreleasable, but he's such a character, which makes him a favorite among the volunteers.

My son Sam loves to dote over the many fawns that come into our care for rehabbing each year. Once they get a little bigger, we have a hands off policy so that they get wilder and afraid of people, but the little ones have no fear!

This is Sid. He's our three-toed sloth.

One of the many kinds of raptors we rehab every year are owls. This is a great horned owl baby.

We have a lot of unreleasable raptors, too. Here's Al, a redtail hawk who was found by someone as a baby. They fed him hamburger meat. Due to the lack of calcium he developed Metabolic Bone Disease and fractured many bones. He can't fly now. He's on the correct diet and eats us out of house and home now!

Here's one of our wallabies from New Zealand. This one is Lily. They're so much fun!

Mache is an imported Leopard Tortoise. He came from Africa about 40 years ago. He's an old man! He's a program animal and was an owner give up.

We're proud of our African Sulcata Chibi. We raised him from a hatchling, and you won't find a finer specimen! He's just a baby at 18 years old. He'll live to be about 150 years old and grow to weight 150-200 lbs. Right now he's about 50 lbs.

Ever see a white opossum? This is Snoopy. His mom was killed by a car. We raised and released his siblings, but Snoopy stays with us and helps to educate the public about wildlife awareness.

We have special needs critters, too! Here's our domestic albino skunk Champagne who lost function of her back legs in her old age. We had a special cart made for her so that she could be mobile.

Dakota is one of the many foxes on our property. She is an Arctic Fox, and she was an owner give up.

Winnie is a ringtail cat and is related to raccoons. I raised her from a baby.

This is a kinkajou. They're related to raccoons. Cheech is one of our program animals, and she was an owner give up.

Jasi the fennec fox was an owner give up and is used in programs. They come from Africa.

This is Amber, my show horse. I had her for 25 years before I put her down at the age of 28 a few years ago. It shattered my heart. Riding was my passion. It freed my soul.

We have 5 genets at home. All but one are owner give ups. Some people keep them as pets. They're rascally little creatures. I love them to death!

This is a silver fox (vulpes vulpes), the same species as the red fox, but raised for fur. She was raised as an apartment pet, because breeders convince people they make great pets. They actually smell like skunks and go to the bathroom everywhere including their food and water and beds! We just lost Silver, her name, at the age of 15, last week.

Here's Sterling, another silver fox that was raised as an apartment pet. He's so old that he's completely deaf and blind in one eye, but we love him anyway!

One of our many ferrets, Dusk was a stray that came to us from animal control several years ago.

Ghost is yet another silver fox. You can see they come in a variety of colors. He was also an apartment pet gone terribly wrong.

Although I'm deathly afraid of spiders, I'm not afraid of tarantulas. They seem more like animals to me. This is a mexican red knee named Flicker. She flicks her hairs at me when she's agitated. They stick in me. I'm highly allergic to them and break out like I have chicken pox. Needless to say, I don't handle her anymore!

We have a lot of lizards here including these two mali uromastyx named  Buddy and Mallory. They're both owner give-ups. They're sweet as can be!

Bearded Dragon Ozzy is another owner give up. He makes an awesome educational animal. Sweet as can be!

CHECK OUT THESE AMAZING BEFORE AND AFTER REHAB PICTURES!

This is what the typical red fox kit looks like when it comes in with a severe case of mange. We get dozens of fox kits in every year, and we assume all have mange even if they don't show signs like this poor guy above. Therefore, they all get medicated to treat it. The medication also treats internal parasites.

Here's the same fox after months of medical care and rehabilitation. He, of course, was released back into the wild healthy and feisty as ever, but ready to take on nature as a wild and competent hunter.

My AP Family

Mom:            http://allpoetry.com/storiesuntold

Dad:             http://allpoetry.com/penman

Great Grandfather:   http://allpoetry.com/judmc

Daughter:     http://allpoetry.com/thearmsofsorrow

Daughter:     http://allpoetry.com/miss-princess

Daughter:     http://allpoetry.com/Immortal%20Obscurity

Daughter:     http://allpoetry.com/Midnight-x-Rose

Son:             http://allpoetry.com/Adig01

Son:             http://allpoetry.com/Jamesbliss

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Bosiarbooger

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Haygood

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Jake0715

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Wastebound

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/wtchr

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Swan_song

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Michael

Brother:       http://allpoetry.com/Arkbear

Uncle:          http://allpoetry.com/future%20dead%20poet

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/ellaelu

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/A63-Angel

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/darlintlc

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/trekkergirl

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/geckogirl

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/daviscth

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/Soft-Rain

Sister:          http://allpoetry.com/Amera

Niece:           http://allpoetry.com/written-in-ink

Niece:           http://allpoetry.com/Poetryistherapy

Niece:           http://allpoetry.com/IrishGypsyRose

Dear Friend: http://allpoetry.com/Maxboy

My AP Zoo:

Freed Butterfly:     http://allpoetry.com/Soft-Rain

Pet Spider:   http://allpoetry.com/Reptile%20Lady

Pet Kinkajou:         http://allpoetry.com/DennisP1

Mystical Unicorn:    http://allpoetry.com/lianonsidhe

Old Crow:     http://allpoetry.com/Wandering%20Woodchuck

Peace Dove: http://allpoetry.com/Poet%20Muse

Pet Spider Monkey: http://allpoetry.com/storiesuntold

Barbary Lion:          http://allpoetry.com/Shakes-spear

Bald Eagle:             http://allpoetry.com/SamanthaSam

African Lion:           http://allpoetry.com/BluesMan

Duck Billed Platypus:  http://allpoetry.com/Black%20Narcissus

Burmese Python:     http://allpoetry.com/BuriedTreasures

Otter:                      http://allpoetry.com/Mercury%20Rising

Giraffe:                   http://allpoetry.com/in%20silver%20script

Red Fox:                  http://allpoetry.com/Darklordkya

Kangaroo:                http://allpoetry.com/sunsunny3235

Canada Lynx:           http://allpoetry.com/Nicky%20R

Panda Bear:             http://allpoetry.com/A63-Angel

Elephant:                 http://allpoetry.com/YoursTrulyJulie

Cheetah:                  http://allpoetry.com/Sarin%20Rayne

Siberian Tiger:         http://allpoetry.com/brokenheartedchild

Arctic Fox:                http://allpoetry.com/Baldwin

Wolf:                        http://allpoetry.com/DeathInEveryCorner