Question Of The Day, Monday, April 24, 2017

[amysuen]

We're in the "city" (population 70,000 so not like NYC) and have seen a mama duck and her ducklings, a couple of wild turkeys, run-away dogs, outdoor cats, hawks, various other birds, tons of bunnies, mice (never seen outside but our kitties catch them inside), and I think that's it.

 

[LTS3]

Coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, the occasional oppossum, raccoons, chipmunks, skunks, geese, blue heron, various other birds. Turkeys are pretty common now but I haven't seen any in the area. The next town over has quite a few and some deer.

 

[Willowy]

I can hear coyotes sometimes, but I have no idea where they are. On a clear night I can hear sounds from a long way away, they could be 5 miles away at the river for all I know. I also hear Great Horned Owls sometimes. There are turkeys and Bald Eagles in the area but I've never seen them near my house. Of course there are pheasants everywhere. . .I haven't seen any nearby but heard one in my shelterbelt the other day. There's a little Kestrel who sits on a wire about half a mile from my house, I see him every day, lol. Must be his favorite hunting spot.

 

[raysmyheart]

My yard is over-run with chipmunks, but I do find them so cute, except for the tunnels they are constructing all around my foundation, I am waiting for the house to sink in. Wild turkeys are an everyday visitor here, sometimes 30 or more passing through the yard.

 

[jcat]

My sister lives just outside of Omaha, Nebraska, and gets an incredible amount of wildlife in her suburban neighborhood. You have to be careful driving due to all the wild turkeys (and deer) that run across the roads. Trash pickup is on Thursday. You can sit on the front stoop Wednesday evenings and watch the coyotes tip the bins and rummage through the trash. You see skunks all over, especially in August. One time when I was visiting I had the inside front door open, with just the screen door latched. The dogs started barking, and when I went to answer the door, there was a skunk standing there peering in. It was so funny. What's funny only in retrospect was the night my parent's two Labs cornered a skunk. It cut loose just as I grabbed their collars, and I had to wash both dogs and myself in tomato juice after midnight. It was awful!

 

[DreamerRose]

We usually have lots of rabbits, but the population has decreased the past few years as we have a hawk who patrols the neighborhood and a coyote who makes occasional visits. I've never seen the coyote, but the neighbors have.

We've had lots of raccoons from time to time. One summer, it seemed like there was a herd of elephants stomping on the roof every night. I went out to look finally with a flashlight and discovered a momma coon and four kits. They were climbing up a tree in the back of the house, crossing the roof, and then going down a tall yew in the front.

We've had skunks, too. One came up to the deck to sample the bird feed I left out to entertain the cats. Years before, another skunk sprayed my dog right in the face when I took him out at night. That was hard to get rid of. If you ever have a run-in with a skunk, there's a product called Skunk-off that gets rid of the odor. Vet offices have it, and it may also be available at pet stores.

The only opossum I've seen was a dead one under a tree. It was in a bed, and I buried him in situ by covering it with dirt.

We also have lots of squirrels and chipmunks. The chippies are a nuisance, digging up my flower pots. I put rocks in the pots now to discourage them.

I believe also we have a few feral cats. They are really sneaky about staying out of sight. I used to think they were neighbors' cats, but don't anymore.

And mice. It's Mouse Central at my house. This was a huge problem until I got Mingo and Lily. They are both great mousers and no mouse lasts long inside now.

 

[Mother Dragon]

We have the usual rabbits, deer, too many squirrels, raccoons, and opossums. Also two-stripe skunks, occasionally one-stripe skunks, rats, mice, coyotes, armadillos, feral hogs, water moccasins, rattlesnakes, copperhead snakes, garter snakes, coral snakes, an alligator once in a great while, especially after a flood or during mating season, bison just up the road, longhorns just up the road, chicken snakes, cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, chickadees, wrens, woodpeckers, pigeons, hummingbirds, robins, thrashers, mockingbirds (those things will chase you if you get too near their nest), hawks, herons, cranes, vultures, seagulls, geese, ducks, grackles, crows, cowbirds, blackbirds, and way too many of those %^$!! white wing doves that empty my feeder in a day, mostly by throwing the seed on the ground. Gigantic red wasps the size of small hummingbirds that prefer being inside the house. Sometimes we kill as many as 15 in one day. Tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, black widows, wolf spiders, daddy longlegs spiders, June bugs, gigantic palmetto bugs (cockroaches that live in trees and wood roofs and come inside when it's too dry or too wet), fleas, ticks, and fire ants. Also a generous assortment of plant-gobbling bugs that can decimate a garden overnight. There are a lot of bats. We had one get into the house a couple of years ago. It was 2 a.m. and we scooped it up in a butter tub and tossed out the door. Bad move. We had to take rabies shots and the cats, even though their shots were current, had to have boosters. It was a royal purple pain. Had we kept the bat and turned it in to rabies control, we probably wouldn't have had to go through all the hassle. There are a lot more critters but I think you get the idea.

 

[jcat]

This area is feral cat central. I've lost count of the number of feral cats we've trapped. Last year there was one big colony where the cats were so wild (read aggressive) that they all had to be returned after speutering. One of the vets had her horses nearby and had spotted European wildcats a couple of times, so it's a good bet that there was at least some crossbreeding. No wonder those ferals were so unmanageable. Usually you can socialize the kittens and adolescents, but it was a whole different ballgame with that bunch.

 

[Kat0121]

Squirrels, rabbits, possum, raccoons,sandhill cranes, peacocks, gators, snakes, ibiz, turkey vultures, black vultures, turtles, armadillos

 

[Mother Dragon]

I forgot the biggest population of all - mosquitoes! Big ones, small ones, they all have huge appetites and are relentless. Besides causing mass anemia, they give us gifts of bird flu, encephalitis, chickungunya, and zika. The toads, frogs, and lizards eat until they're obese, but they and the purple martins fight a losing battle. Anyone who doubts the significance of small things has never heard a mosquito in the bedroom at night.

 

[Gaven Kent]

Chipmunks! That sounds amazing. Sadly in the UK mice, squirrels and a friendly fox are our only garden visitors. How do your cats get on with the wildlife? Do they go for chipmunks? A friend of ours in Perth Australia told me that there's a curfew for cats at certain times of the year to stop cats catching and killing exotic birds during the breeding season. I'm sure she said that any cats repeatedly catching birds (and their owners) can face punishment like fines and possible declawing for the cats. I'm not sure if she was joking. Is there anything like that where you are?
The photo shows a rather annoyed 17 year Carter objecting to the local young fox trying to steal his food

 

[Norachan]

That's a great picture Gaven Kent . I remember urban foxes from when I used to live in Bristol.

The tanuki around here are quite curious about the cats. One time Sophie got too close to the fence as one walked past and it turned around and growled at her! I'm so glad I have the fence.

 

[Gaven Kent]

That looks amazing! There's apparently more foxes in UK cities and towns than in the countryside. There's one for every 300m area around here and they stay where they were born. I'm hopefully getting some animal karmic credit for my cats in helping Loki. I am intrigued to how he reacts with them and how he does the whole dog submission while rolling around. They get on well but clearly hate the fact I'm giving away perfectly good leftovers. What it has done is make Carter who went through a stage of only eating tuna fish actually eat normal cat food. That's got to be a good thing!

 

[Freedom]

Mother Dragon how did Noah and his wife manage NOT to swat those 2 mosquitoes? LOL
Gaven Kent what a fantastic photo! You should enter that in a contest. Great capture!
Norachan one of the many things I love about forums, is having folks from all over the world. I've never heard of tanuki, had to search and read up a bit. Those pics are superb! And I like seeing your fence, as well. May I ask, do you have a 'top' on it as well? Do your cats climb it? So much to learn from so many wonderful folks on this site!

Thanks to all of you for sharing!

 

[Gaven Kent]

Thank you! Sadly it's one of those moments when a real camera isn't to hand so an iPhone in low light was the only option. In fact whenever I try to photograph my cats with a camera they either walk off or stop doing the amazing thing they were doing. Hugo plays to an iPhone but is slightly intimidated by a camera. Carter who was born slightly before camera phones and social media isn't a fan with any of it!

 

[Gaven Kent]

I've just started a thread about Henri Le Chat Noir and heartily recommend you to look at these genius videos in YouTube. That is if you've not seen them already. His channel is HenriLeChatNoir and its some of the best cat comedy I've ever seen. Black and white 1950's French existentialism with cats! Please have a look as it won't disappoint

 

[Gaven Kent]

I don't know what I would do if Hugo brought one of those in! Saying that my two rarely bring in anything. The last rodent incident involved Hugo returning triumphantly with a mouse. He walked straight past us and dropped it at Carters feet as a gift. Humans were definitely excluded from this as it was boy cats business! He was so proud bringing it to his brother from another mother. A couple of times a year we find mice or birds in the conservatory that have been left as gifts but I think they are too well fed and too lazy to make a habit of it. They are also fair weather cats and are in before dark all year round. I've rescued a few before any damage has been done and released them in the garden after kicking two very angry cats in the house and not letting out until the next day! One of my cat owning neighbours had a note put through their door by their non cat owning neighbour calling their cat a murderer! I know it's not pleasant when they kill things but for thousands of years through history that's what cats have been asked to do

 

[Gaven Kent]

Heres a link for one of the first videos:

 

[Norachan]

Norachan one of the many things I love about forums, is having folks from all over the world. I've never heard of tanuki, had to search and read up a bit. Those pics are superb! And I like seeing your fence, as well. May I ask, do you have a 'top' on it as well? Do your cats climb it? So much to learn from so many wonderful folks on this site!

Thanks to all of you for sharing![/QUOTE]

It has an inwardly slanting top that is supposed to make it cat proof. One of my cats, Button Moon, climbs out no matter what we do to it. I'm half way through modifying it at the moment. Probably won't make any difference to Button, but it should make it less likely to collapse after heavy snow.



There are pictures of the enclosure and all the furry beasts on this thread.

Moving House, Taking The Colony With Me.

 

[Gaven Kent]

Hi. The fence doesn't have a top yet. It all depends on what happens with this dreaded battle with developers. If the flats are built then traffic will increase massively so we will have to totally secure the back garden and my cats will become sort of indoor cats who only use the back garden. It'll be enclosed on three sides with sloping inwards tops so they can't climb at all. It's not ideal and will cost a fortune so first we will have to earn the money! If the flats don't go ahead then they can have the freedom they enjoy. At the moment Hugois all over all of the fences but Carter takes things a little easier. He's limited to jumps that are no higher that 50-75cm. We have cat steps by the bed and by the sofa to help him. It's so strange that some bodies desire to build a block of soulless flats and make money is affecting my two cats. And probably the value of our house! I'm loving the site and having the freedom to share the photos and stories of cats past and present. I don't use my Facebook account and haven't really been a commited social media user but TCS has put me in touch with endless like minded people who won't think that a 40 year old man gushing about his cats is strange!