Canadian Cold. A German Rat Becoming World Famous. Bea Got A New Camera!

I just couldn't believe my eyes, but a second look at the thermometer confirmed my first impression: It was actually showing -20C (-4F) and it was still blowing like crazy out of the west. Wind chill was at -30C (-22F) Dixie got back in like a bullet. Just too cold for doggy paws.

Another day with a cancelled dog walk!

Seated comfortably in front of the blazing woodstove, I studied the news of this morning. That's when I came across a unique story from Germany. 

Can you imagine that a rat can get so fat that it gets stuck in a manhole cover? While rats are a known plague in many cities, the city of Bensheim, sent the fire department and animal rescue team to free the rodent from its precarious situation. The story made it to World News at the Washington Post, Fox News, the Guardian and the Huffington Post plus probably an array of more local papers. 

                                               HELP ME PLEASE!!!

 "She had a lot of winter flab and was stuck fast at her hip - there was no going forward or back," said Michael Sehr, a professional animal rescuer from Rhein Necker, according to BBC.

As the situation looked more and more hopeless, rescuers eventually were able to prop up the manhole and secure a safety loop around the rat, and popped her out of the narrow opening.

Bea had a great day yesterday. A big package arrived yesterday containing a new camera she had ordered. It is a NIKON P900. The camera was almost a revolution when it came out years ago. It features a staggering 2000mm or 83x zoom and  you don't have to carry around a 5-pound telelens, even though the camera body is heavier than the NIKON 5100 we also use.
And if the P900 is not good enough for you, there is now the P1000, which is much, much heavier, bigger and offers a 3000mm integrated zoom.

Bea is very interested in bird photography and hopefully, we will see some of her pics soon. Yesterday we took an explorative trip up to the Head Harbour Lighthouse to experience what the P900 can do. The below pics show the normal view one has from the parking lot, while the 2. pic is showing max zoom. The example from the Herring Cove Beach shows a couple of outhouses with me standing in front of one. The next picture is max zoom on me. The third one is a digital zoom right into my face and was done on Picasa. All pictures were done handheld without a tripod.

  Above: 55mm normal view, 
  Below: Max zoom