holiday home: cute beasties edition

just for fun! a few animal encounters i've had during my holiday.

european squirrel holding on to an apple in our little orchard in the village.
first you have to understand that squirrels in romania are much shier than canadian ones, so seeing a squirrel practically can make one's day! in my parents' town they've been trying to attract them into repopulating the park, with various schemes (one of which is hosting them in a cage so children can look at them....hmmmm).
anyway, so: in all my years in cluj i've probably seen 3 squirrels.
but in the village recently wildlife has shown up more and more. on the outskirts, from the car as we drove in late evening, we saw deers, a rabbit and a fox.
and now this cutie, who's not intimidated by me pointing the camera.
my dad says they're eating the apples because it's been a bad year for nuts:)

i looked up this guy, and apparently in english it's called a stag beetle. first time in my life that i've seen one. my mum spotted it and trapped it under a basin for me to see. my parents, who grew up for real in the countryside, not only on summer holidays and through hyperactive immagination, are considerably more acquainted with it. obviously the picture aims to capture the serrated "horns". then we let it go.

my great-aunt's chicken have their own tumultous life story. they came into being in a small incubator far away and were transported to the village, which accounts for their lack of uniformity in looks. bad year for chicken too...but for someone who feeds them and caters to them everyday it does matter that they're pretty and also varied enough you can tell some apart. (talking from my  childhood experience as a chicken herder.)
also they're still living in danger of foxes and other predators.
or of someone deciding they would like some chicken stew.

this butterfly was fleeting around our family reunion one fine morning.
he particularly liked my great-uncle's shirt.

say hi to surya, my friend lari's cat! she arrived in her house the same morning i arrived in cluj. at the time of my visit (like, 3 hours later) she was still hiding under the bed and generally in the farthest corners she could find. she barely came out for a peek.
lari was like "waaaah, why doesn't she love me?" - in the meantime, she reports  that they've "found their zen". 

this rabbit actually belongs to my cousin ralu's neighbour (in cluj). but he crosses over into ralu's yard quite often, because there's grass and stuff. he was completely unfazed by our laughing at him etc. she called her neighbour to pick him up, and the neighbour was like "nah you can keep him". lol

these kittens lived at a souvenir store (or stall, rather) in the "resort" i went to with my parents. they had another sister, who declined to appear in photos, and were happily playing around and with the souvenirs.

same resort, outside the hallway window of our hotel, a bunch of swallows' nests. i did quite a bit of sleuthing til i managed to catch this moment. just look at that ugly head peeking out of the opening! cuties.