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FOCUS ON TEXAS
Perfect Pets
By Camille Wheeler
Bowwow, readers, thanks for all the fantastic photos—we pored through more than 300 submissions to come up with our winners. Normally, we select five photos in our monthly contest. But so many of your pet pictures were, well, just so perfect, that we’ve got a treat for you this time around: nine winners.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … Alex the beagle! Alex leaps over the couch in his Hill Country living room. “He just got a little riled up,” explained Alex’s owner, Katy Ruzicka, who watched Alex repeatedly sprint and jump over the couch. Ruzicka is served by Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
Kids will be kids: Five-year-old Hannah Stapleton laughs with delight as one of her bottle-fed pet Boer goat kids, Sandy, nibbles her neck. Hannah is the daughter of Lisa Stapleton, a Central Texas Electric Cooperative member who took the photo at the family’s home in Fredericksburg.
“And another thing …” Roger, a 27-year-old double yellow-headed Amazon parrot, tells Buddy, a Labrador mix, all about it on the Flying Arrow Ranch in Mountain Home. Jim Whitty, a Pedernales Electric Cooperative member, submitted the photo.
“Rubber duckie, you’re the one …” Noodle the cat navigates a float while stalking some menacing prey in his backyard pool. Noodle, a good swimmer, is sticking to pool toys after tangling with a rattlesnake that bit him three times and scarred his front left leg. Tom and Nancy Penick, Pedernales Electric Cooperative members, submitted the picture. Nancy took the photo.
Olé! Maggie the cowdog shows a young bull who’s boss. Ken and Judith Glover, who submitted the photo, said that Maggie, a miniature dachshund, had already trained all the cattle on their Whitesboro Ranch and needed a new challenge at a friend’s ranch in Palestine. The Glovers are served by Cooke County and Magic Valley electric cooperatives.
Best buds: Five-year-old Reese and Buddy, a Jack Russell terrier, enjoy dreamland together. The photo was submitted by Reese’s parents, Jeff and Heather Williams, who belong to CoServ Electric.
“I was supposed to save you some?” After licking all the leftovers out of the pot, innocent-eyed Chipper the Chihuahua finds a home on the range. Greenbelt Electric Cooperative members Darrell and April Lister submitted the photo. April took the picture.
“What, me worry?” Even though Kramer the bullmastiff looks as if he needs ironing, he’s not too concerned about things. “He really isn’t too worried about the price of gas or much of anything else,” said Kramer’s owner, Joyce DeLuca, a Pedernales Electric Cooperative member who submitted the photo.
Between a rock and a soft place: Lucy, a Jack Russell terrier/beagle mix, prefers Boomer the beagle to a hard rock island in the Frio River. The photo was submitted by Charles and Kathy Carlson, who belong to Bandera Electric Cooperative. Charles took the photo.
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SIGNS is the topic for our NOVEMBER 2008 issue. Send your photo—along with your name, address, daytime phone, co-op affiliation and a brief description—Signs, Focus on Texas, 2550 S. IH-35, Austin, TX 78704, before September 10. A stamped, self-addressed envelope must be included if you want your entry returned (approximately six weeks). Please do not submit irreplaceable photographs—send a copy or duplicate. We regret that Texas Co-op Power cannot be responsible for photos that are lost in the mail or not received by the deadline. Please note that we cannot provide individual critiques of submitted photos. If you use a digital camera, e-mail your highest-resolution images to focus@texas-ec.org or submit on our website at www.texascooppower.com. (If you have questions about your camera’s capabilities and settings, please refer to the operating manual.)
Upcoming in Focus on Texas
Nov Signs
Dec Costumes
Jan Odd Farm Equipment
Feb Silly Poses
Mar Caught in the Act
Apr Bridges
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