Norwegian Fundraising Cruise

Don't miss out on this amazing adventure and fundraiser! Book your cabin now before they are all gone!

Owls, Bats & Black Cats, Oh my!

Bats, black cats, ravens, crows, owls, rats, frogs and spiders, what do these creatures have in common? They are all associated with Halloween as evil or bad omens. Truth is, each of these creatures has many good qualities and in some cultures revered as symbols of good luck. 

Take the Black cat, in Western culture; they are viewed as a symbol of bad omens, especially if one crosses your path. This is not a new notion and dates back to the 16th century when black cats were suspected of being familiars of witches. Funny thing is in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Japan and Great Britain the black cat is a symbol of good luck and is idolized in Egypt. Sailors preferred a black cat to all others because they felt it would bring them good luck. The sad truth is because of silly superstitions black cats have lower adoption rates in American shelters compared to other colored cats. Black cats are extremely affectionate and very sociable, just ask someone who owns one.

What about the Bat? Yes, there are tales of Vampire Bats, discovered in the 17th century, lapping up the blood of its prey but the first connection with Halloween came from Halloween rituals where people would gather around a bonfire to keep away evil spirits. Insects drawn to the fire light would draw hungry bats. Bats are amazing creatures; did you know that a single brown bat could eat up to 1000 mosquitoes in an hour? Another fun bat fact is they have a very long life span of almost 40 years. It is a myth that bats are dirty and disease carrying. In truth, they are very clean animals that groom themselves like cats.

The Owl is another interesting nocturnal creature that makes people nervous. According to Haunted Bay, “The owl entered into our Halloween traditions much like the bat. As a hunter of bats, owls would often be seen near the Halloween bonfires searching for food”. Heard and not seen, they would also scare those that traveled at night with their screeching and ability to hide in trees. There are many strange myths about owls, for instance, owls are the only creatures that can live with ghosts, if an owl is found in an abandoned house, it is thought to be haunted. Like the black cat, many countries consider the owl to be good luck. The Inuits of Greenland consider the Owl to be a symbol of guidance. Owls are wonderful at pest control, helping to control mice, moles, rats, snakes & insects.

Finally, the Raven and the Crow, These poor birds have been depicted as bad omens since the 1800’s when Edgar Allen Poe wrote about the Raven who mysteriously appears and constantly repeats only one word “nevermore”. Of course, who can forget the flock of crows waiting on the playground at Bodega Bay Elementary School in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds? As for their ties to Halloween it is their jet black feathers and the fact that they feed on carrion (flesh of dead animals) that make them appear to be spooky. Ravens and crows are extremely smart. They can mimic human speech and are great at problem solving. Many cultures consider the Raven to be a spiritual figure.  We should never judge a book by its cover even when it comes to animals. If you take the time to learn about them, you might be surprised at what you find.

To each of you that offered your support for Poppy with your prayers and/or your dollars, we are so thankful and appreciate you.

We lost the fight for Poppy's life Tuesday evening about 8PM.
She fought a tough battle, and lived these few short weeks fully and with many happy comfortable moments, thanks to you, and to our staff at MaJical Miniatures.

We accepted the responsibility of taking her o...n knowing it would be a tough fight to win, and an expensive one in many ways, and though we lost her, we have no regrets that we tried, and we will forever have what she left of herself with us, and within us.

She drew people together to help care for her needs, and she offered us glimpses into her wild fears, and finally allowed herself to trust us just enough to manage her with less and less trauma each day. In her first days with us, she reminded us what strength a wild exotic animal can exhibit, even when in serious pain, to keep fighting for their life. She arrived here moving around on broken feet in a fight not to appear weak and vulnerable.

She was beautiful, funny at times, peaceful when alone in her green grass in the sunshine, hissy and mad when we got too close and she felt fear, and in her last few hours with us at her side, she was at a relaxed peace as she labored to breathe and finally slipped into a quiet death.

The dollars that were donated on her behalf will help with her expenses & allow us continue to do what we do here at MaJical Miniatures, which sometimes seems like the impossible, but often really is just 'almost' impossible. There are many magical miracles wandering around this farm every day, and your support and prayers have helped us make that so.

Unfortunately we must still cover the cost of Poppy's expenses. If you would like to help offset the cost of her expenses so that Majical Miniatures does not have to use funds that could help other animals in need please visit: https://www.gulfcoastgives.org/projects/768 and remember we only have two weeks left to fund this fund-raiser or we could lose what has been donated thus far!

Poppy post-op!

It is now two weeks since Poppy's surgery and she is hanging in there. At one week post op she started to go outside for brief periods of time to get some fresh air and sunshine which is critical for her healing.

Relaxing, not a normal position for a Kangaroo!

She likes her time out and we have been increasing it a little each day. We are cleaning and dressing the feet daily and keeping her medicated for the infection and pain.

Cleaning and changing the dressings

She is also getting laser treatments on her feet to help decrease the inflammation, treat the infection and promote healing.

Which greens should I eat first!

Poppy has started to lose her appetite some so we are constantly looking for new ways to interest her in food. Good nutrition is essential for her recovery. Poppy is almost a 24/7 responsibility but she is one feisty little girl with a strong will to survive. She is a tough little kangaroo and well worth all the effort. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

One week after surgery!

The overall cost for Poppy's operation and after care is over $6000. If you would like to help Poppy please visit our fundraiser on Gulf Coast Gives . To learn more about Poppy visit Majical Miniatures.

Meet Poppy...


Poppy is a 1 yr old kangaroo we just took in with broken feet that is going to need surgery and long term care. As far as we can tell she was born and kept in a space too small for a growing kangaroo to develop properly, thus she had never been able to run and let her tendons and ligaments learn to stretch fully. She was then purchased and shipped to a second location where she was given more space with other kangaroos. Once in this larger space she became a normal active youngster and began to run but since those tendons and ligaments had never learned to stretch as they should have, due to the confinement of that small space in her development time, the first time she was able to run and did, her heel bones broke away from the major foot bones and are now floating freely in her heel tissue.-

That is when the call came in to us and we chose to accept her and take on the costs and care.-The only fix for this is a surgical procedure to pin the heel bone back to the foot bone on each foot. Once the bones have heeled back together and the pins are surgically removed, we will rehab her with physical therapy for several months to teach those tendons and ligaments to stretch and protect and eventually she will be able to live freely with our mob of roos, and with some limits, have a 'normal in captivity' life. We have her scheduled for surgery next Tuesday & we will know more then. The expenses of her medical and rehab care will be somewhere between $4000 and $6000. Since we just needed to spend $7800 for replacement of three of our existing macropod (wallaby, walleroo, and kangaroo) huts, as they had far outlived their life as safe structures for eating and weather protection, we need to raise funds to help with this youngster's medical needs. 

We accepted her knowing the costs and significant human time that would be involved, but chose to help knowing euthanasia was the only other option she had, and because we CAN help her. We have the knowledge and the ability for her aftercare and rehab on site, and felt her quality of life was worth working for. We will have a two part fundraiser on gulfcoastgives.com: Part 1 to help raise funds for her surgery & Part 2 to help pay for her long term care after surgery. We need to raise funds and spend the time and labor to try because it IS WHAT WE DO HERE. Please help Poppy have a normal happy Kangaroo life. If you would like to donate to Poppy's care please visit our website at : www.majicalminiatures.org/donate.html and click on the donate button

Harrison Ranch 2nd annual Summer Splash to benefit Majical Miniatures!

UPDATE: 

THE EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO RAIN: 

NEW DATE JULY 15th!

Join us on June 24th from 2-6pm at the Harrison Ranch Clubhouse

5755 Harrison Ranch Blvd. Parrish for the second annual Summer Splash sponsored by Pulte Homes. 

 Be sure to visit the dunk tank, 3 tries for $1 to benefit Majical Miniatures!

The Great Outdoors

Did you know, June is national Great Outdoors Month? What better time of year to get outside, explore the great outdoors and spend time with nature than spring?! Before you head outside to explore or to work in your yard we wanted to share the following tips with you from www.claws.org: