A Baby Boy!

I have a new baby boy! I got a baby male carpet python.  His name is Helmuth and he was hatched in October. He may look red and pink in the photo below but he is black and beige right now. As he gets older the beige will become yellow. His father is electric yellow, so he should be too.

He is angry as hell right now but that is due to his young age. Small young snakes are vulnerable so they are naturally a little more nervous. He will calm down with handling and age.

Helmuth in striking position after being put in his new tank for the first time.

Helmuth when he first arrived, show his color a bit better.

Passed But Always Here

This morning, one of my Tarantulas sadly passed away. Uthr (Old Norse for Past) was my Mexican Red Knee or Brachypelma smithi. I took care of her for a friend, as she went on vacation and needed someone to look after her tarantulas. I fell in love with the Red Knee during that time. About a week after I gave her back, my friend came back to me and said "I promised myself I would only have two tarantulas, and I bought another, and I know how much you loved taking care of my smithi, so I would like you to have her". I was caught off guard and honored. I took Uthr in and cared and loved for her.

Uthr crica about 2011

 She will be missed but never forgotten.Most people see you as a scary spider, but I loved you, and always will.

Up and Packed, Not Quite Settled.

Sorry for the long delay in postings. A lot has gone on and I needed to get settled again before I could update.

I moved out of my parents place for the first time. It is both exciting and nerve racking, free and frustrating. The new house is a really good one, despite being so far down south in the city. The distance and transit are really the only downsides though. All of my pets even have their own room! I got another pet as well, but I will save that for another post.

I also got a great job. I got a position at a high end piercing shop. I work long hours and my days off are not back to back, but it is worth it. I am having a lot of fun there. I am not a piercer, but it is so neat seeing how things are done. It is getting me closer to a community I always wanted to be a part of but never really had the chance before. I think part of that is because I moved out. The job has taken up a lot of my time and that is a bit of a bummer. I have less time for the communities I love to help out and indulge in.

I have yet to fully unpack, however, the animals are set up and that is what is important.

A New Stunning Spider

Another belated birthday present! I am super excited with the fact that a dear friend gave me a new tarantula. I am now the proud owner of a Cyriopagopus schioedtei, known by its common name "Malaysian Earth Tiger". I do not know if it is male of female, but I am assuming male. It is an old world species, and thus a very nervous and aggressive one. Found in the peninsular area of Malaysia, this tropical spider is arboreal but does have some burrowing habit in captivity.

I love the coloration and markings on this species.

I was talking with a friend over lunch and he got me on the topic of tarantulas. I don't remember how, but if you know me, once I get on the topic, I don't fucking stop. It came up that there was a species I was looking for at Pisces Pet Emporium. He offered to buy it as a belated birthday gift.  After eating our food, we set out on our way.

We get to Pisces and I head right toward the tarantula cabinet. A call for an employee to help me and get the paper work and what not. I am asked a few questions; have ever taken care of a tarantula before, "oh yes, definitely". Do I know the care of this species, " of course". You know that it needs a high humidity, "Yes, and you may want to put the lid securely back on that take there". I let him take note that the lid of one of the tarantula cages isn't fully on. I sign the papers and we are on our way.

Back when I worked at Petland, This spider was on the list of animals I could order in. I tried ordering it and received a Chilobrachys guanxinensis, Chinese Fawn Tarantula. At first I thought this was a mix up so next time I try again. I am again sent a Chinese Fawn. I attempt this four times and each time I receive a Chinese Fawn! This is a completely different species! I call the supplier and told them that they really need to learn their species.

This is a Chinese Fawn. As you can see, it is nothing like an Malaysian Earth Tiger. Wrong color and doesn't have the stripes! That is why the spider is called a tiger; stripes! The picture is not mine, rights go to who ever it is.

The name on the label that was on the tank says "Earth Tiger Tarantula", but I would like to point out that there are several species of earth tigers. A enthusiast like me I am pretty sure would like to see the full name of the species I am buying. At first I thought it was the wrong species but it is not. The pet store had the right scientific name of "Cyriopagapus Schiodtei. I would like to see the full common name (Malaysian Earth Tiger) posted though.

You can see the little crevice the arachnid was hiding in the background

When I got back to Roscoe's house I wanted to do a quick check. The pet store guarantees good health, but you can never be too careful with arachnids. I open the top of the tank and take a chop stick and ease it it in to coerce it from its little hole. I barely even get the stick near the spider and in a split second it flips around and out of the hole and grabs the stick and attacks it. I draw the stick out and close the lid simultaneously. It sit there, just like the picture above and doesn't move. It was amazing and perfect. I can clearly see all the the tarantula in this position and take the opportunity to check for mites, and such. They were right, from what I can see (tarantulas are very hard to see problem as they don't usually show signs) it is in great health. After this a look up some names and determined that Uggr is the perfect name. It is old Norse for "fear, apprehension". I thought it fits well because it is a fairly aggressive species, even more so than my Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens.

All in all as you can probably tell, I am very excited and happy to finally have a Cyriopagopus schioedte.

A Tumultuous Transfer

After a rather turbid time trying to figure things out, I have managed to change the account this blog is administrated by to the account I actually use.

I was using my old email address, but I got a new one when bearpup came around. I inadvertently made a Google account for it and thus, will not allow me change the old address on the account to the new one as it is "already associated with another account". You apparently cannot delete Google accounts and when I tried to email them, it said I couldn't use a Gmail address to email Google Support. That is kinda pathetic in my mind. On top of it, they would only give me 25 goddamn spaces in the goddamn comment box to explain the goddamn problem.

Anyway, with a bit of direction from Roscoe, I manage to add my new email address as a moderator to the my blog, and then change status from moderator to administrator. I could then deleted my old email address as the blog needs at least administrator at all times. This effectively switched the blog to be under my new address' full and utter control! Muh ha hahahahaha!

This has not changed anything to do with the blog, other than the administrating email address.

Another Year Passes

I dislike the title of this post but it is 2:34 AM and I cannot think of anything better. My birthday was on Sunday and now I am 24 years old. I had a fantastic time. I went frolicking at Sikome lake with a bunch of friends around 1 PM. On the way there we picked up Danica and she gave me a $25 gift card to Mountain Equipment Co-Op, stating " I know you like camping and stuff, so here you go". I love it and cannot wait to visit the store. Some friends, a couple, knew I liked mead and cider, however hey couldn't decide what kind of cider and mead I liked. This lead them to buy me a box full of assorted kinds. I am excited to sample all of them!

After swimming, there was a party at the Calgary Eagle. The theme was "fire hydrant red", so everyone that came had to wear red. I wore my Sepultura shirt, the one with the Canadian flag on it, and some fantastic pants I got.Now time for a quick side story! Woohoo! I was at T.D. Square with Danica and saw these pants. I called my mom and asked for some money because I absolutely needed these pants. She transferred some money to me. Since my mother gave me the money for the pair, I am treating it like it was my birthday present from her. The are bright red (my colour of red) stretchy jeans, in leopard print. Yeah they are fucking amazing, Anyway, Roscoe and I arrive at the bar to be greeted by many close friends. As soon as I walk in, I see Sir Johnathan who immidietly grabs my had and drags me to the bar. "One paw up on the bar boy. Now the other. Good boy. Hey Kevin, 3 shots of Honey Jack for the pup!" He grins and tells me to drink all three right away. I do as I am told and he quickly asks me what I wish to drink. I say a Strongbow would be swell. As soon as I recieve the pint of cider Sir Johnathan tell me to take a sip. I sip and place the glass back down on the bar and he says to me "that's a girly sip, drink down to here" as he points a quarter way down the pint glass. Another two shots of Honey Jack ensues, and to be followed by two shots of Jager. Sir Joel brings out platters of potato salad, hamburgers and hotdogs and more. I reach for a hotdog, Joel stops me and tells me to follow him. I am led to the back room of the facility and he hands me a plate with a steak half the size of the dinner plate! It was delectable. I was soon told to sit down, and a cake was brought out as everyone sung happy birthday. The cake was little mini chocolate chip banana bread muffins around in the shape of a fire hydrant with red icing to top it off. It was so delicious and awesome. After a few stories were shared about Hoover being a poodle, a good friend Brent decides he wants some pictures with me in the new wrestling singlet I bought myself for my birthday. Ryan shows up at this point with Cisco. It was very nice to see them there. Brent and I pup out a bit on the stage at this point, which was short lived but very fun. Brent informs me that he got me a present but left it at his place so we venture over there after finishing up at the bar. He got me a fucking speculum. It looks so alien and intriguing, It is an interesting toy.

It was a very fun birthday, and I am glad to have seen everyone who showed up at the bar. I ordered myself another birthday present, but that is for another blog entry. ;)

Food-Hungry Feathered Fiend

A quick trip back to the other day. Roscoe, Danica and I wanted to go for a dip, so we drove down to southern Calgary to go to Sikome lake. The website said it was open first weekend of June and we adore swimming so naturally we were all really excited. When we got there, we found out via sign pasted over that the man made body of water was closed until June 16th! How rude! We decided to go downtown to a measure of the river and plunge ourselves there.

We parked by Eau Claire Market and walked through Prince`s Island Park where they have a branch of river that is usually inhabited by a voluminous congregation of geese, ducks and the occasional gull or two, sometimes innumerable. We strolled past the water and down and around the park where Danica decidedly photo bombed a picture of some adolescent imp on a bridge. We made it to the river, though we did not wonder in much more than the what we could call the sand bar. We skipped some rocks and splashed each other and had a grande time. We started to head back to the car, again walking around the park and such, I almost got hit in the head with a frisbee. We made it back to the goose indwell and watched some goose-lings and mallards swim about with the larger geese.

This next part was my favorite part of the day and honestly, the main reason why I am posting about this expedition. Across the arm of water, some people started feeding the birds. The smile on our faces lit up when we saw this. We know how geese are. We know that a life long fear of geese would ensue in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... the child goes screaming towards the mother after the goose snapped at her hand. The goose concluded that it should follow, for she has food. The little girl, who appeared no older than 6, reached out to grapple onto her mother`s leg as the goose was in pursuit. That feathered fowl tackled the bantam damsel in distress! I know it may be cruel, but it had to be the most hilarious thing in a while and I was the only one to watch it go down! A goose on a rock on our side of the brook chose to go evacuate its bowels at the exact same moment the one across was determined to contend with the food abnegating child. The other two I was with were distracted by the said poo-clad event.

What a glorious day.

Crazy Cards With The Czar

"You Sir are a fascist! People do not look back on Mussolini and say "Oh that guy, he made a mean lasagna", NO. That is fascism!"

No truer words have ever been spoken during a few games of go fish and crazy eights, and better way to kick off this section of my blog.

Bilateral Blog

Greetings! This entry to to kick of the new portion of The Hydrant, "The Boy Chronicles". This section is to account for all those moments in life were I feel like posting all that absurdity that is not kink related. A lot of you know me as a pup, and for good reason. A pup is mainly what I am, and my kinks mean a lot to me and have become a lofty, even exalted part of my life. However, there is a bit more to me than that. Everything that is likened to that part of my life will be posted in this section. I hope you enjoy the new version of accounts of my vigor.

Please note that if you choose to subscribe to my blog, you can choose to either subscribe to one part or the other by filling in the "Follow By Email" box on the side bar, in the section you wish to receive updates on. If you want to receive updates from both sections of the blog, you have to fill out the box in both sections.