Unfortunately we had to have a very old white oak removed in April of 2014 as it was dying, although we had tried to save it. Our tree person estimated it to be 175 years old, but for sure it probably was at least more than a century old, and always took for granted it would outlast us. Anyway it was tremendous and leaning out across the water and some of its great limbs extended over our pier. The only way it could be removed and keep it out of the water and also not damage the pier was with the assistance of a crane, and to clear a path for it, two smaller water oaks had to be removed. While the stump of the white oak remains intact, the water oaks have already deteriorated to the point that the woodpecker was feeding on the insects and grubs in the wood. I had been noticing the stumps for quite some time and couldn't imagine what was tearing them apart so rapidly, but thought it must be something powerful like the raccoons, but my wife Ellen recently saw this one feeding on the above stump. It was so close to our home that there was no way I could go outside without it seeing me, so barely opened a back door in the garage just enough to get the lens through and facing in its direction knowing that it would take flight if it saw any movement, and I was only a few feet from it! Clicked off some shots as fast as possible with the above results!

The dogs were more difficult than the cats. If you got down to their eye level you got a snotty nose on your camera lens, to them it means you want to play. I prefer shots without people restraining them, so I did what I could to get a natural appearance. Sissy's face shot was done by husband, ggttc (aka Greg) with D7100 and Nikon 18-55, hand held. The others were by me with Nikon D810 with Nikkor 24-120, hand held.
I'm happy to say that the first dog, Sissy, was adopted the following day after her photos were posted. That makes it all worth it. She came into the shelter a couple of months ago pregnant, had 10 puppies who have all been adopted. It was finally her turn.