M
Archive for the ‘Animals’ Category
Mom, He’s Copying Me!
Posted in Animals, Cats, Pets, tagged Animals, Cats, Nature on November 3, 2009| 7 Comments »
Shooting Fish in a Barrel
Posted in Animals, birds, Nature, tagged birds, egret, fish, fishing, Florida, heron, Nature, pond, vulture, wildlife on March 3, 2009| 2 Comments »
It was like shooting (or spearing) fish in a barrel for these big guys down at the pond today. When water levels are high, birds dive for food in the glassy water. When it gets low, as it is now, the long legged water birds like egrets and herons just wade out and pick fish off until they are stuffed. There is another stage when it is reduced to puddles and mud and dead or dying fish lie all around. You would think that part would not be desirable. Ah, but you would not be a vulture. That’s when the clean-up crew comes in and takes away the stench, leaving the pond bottom clean and ready for summer rains that will keep it full most of the season. That’s when the soft shell turtles, bass, gar and other fish swim back over from adjacent lakes and ponds. No cycle is wasted as long as we let nature take its course.
Nature for Idiots
Posted in Animals, birds, Florida, Nature, Texas, tagged birds, birds of prey, fish, Florida, Nature, Texas, vulures, wildlife on August 15, 2008| 4 Comments »
A local news story stuck in my craw the other day. That phrase from my Texas upbringing came to mind, and perhaps appropriately. The TV news reported a real stink in a neighborhood pond in the Orlando, FL area. Dead fish had floated to the surface and almost covered the pond. The resident interviewed was very upset. She could not open her doors or windows because of the smell. (Like we do that in Florida in August, anyway.) She pointed out that adding to the terrible situation were flocks of ugly, horrid, black birds all around the water’s edge.
I am, of course, yelling at the TV screen. “You *&#@. They are vultures, the clean up crew!”
Next day there was a follow-up report. Amazingly all the fish were gone. So were the vultures after filling their bellies. The lady was much calmer and surprised that BOTH her problems were taken care of. I will accept an apology on behalf of the vultures!
The Owl & the Armadillo
Posted in Animals, Nature, tagged armadillo, birds, critters, Nature, owl, wildlife on July 27, 2008| 5 Comments »
So much hope, so little realized yesterday. Going door to door for our Neighborhood Watch group, I encountered wildlife without my camera, a major sin. As I stood waiting at the door, bushes began to rustle and shake. That was no lizard, but what? Suddenly an armadillo came waddling toward me. That is not what you expect in a suburban neighborhood, even one as wooded as ours. In a bit of a shock at seeing my first live armadillo outside Texas, I ran next door for my camera, for this house was right next door. But he was out of sight when I returned.
I walked around the neighbor’s house with the camera, hoping they would not mistake me for a stalker. And then: WHO WHO—WHO WHOOOOOO came a hollow sound from one of the live oaks down by our pond. I am easily distracted and the armadillo was obviously hiding. I followed the repeated bird call. It did sound like he was calling me. When I approached the tree the WHO WHO stopped. I waited and waited. Nothing. Was it a ploy, cooked up by the armadillo and owl to distract me? I’ll never know, but if it was, it worked. I have no pictures to post, just a futile search.
Raining Cats
Posted in Animals, Cats, children, tagged Avon, cat wash, Cats, children, grandchildren, kittens, Skin so Soft, strays on July 25, 2008| 5 Comments »
CAT STORY #1
“You want to know how to wash a cat?” my husband said on the phone. “First you need two people. Don’t try it by yourself.”
SILENCE
“No, don’t use the whirlpool. Cats don’t like to be immersed in water.”
This is all being said very calmly with brevity. Then my husband hangs up.
“Who was that?”
“Haley,” he said, indicating our ten-year old granddaughter.
“Did they get a cat? They already have a dog.”
“I don’t know,” Jerry said, “I didn’t ask why she wanted to wash a cat.”
Now you see, here’s an example of big difference between men and women. Can you imagine a grandmother not asking right off why her granddaughter wanted to wash a cat? Did a strange cat wander into the yard all dirty or greasy and Haley wanted to help? I did that once. Embarrassing story below.* Did her parents finally agree she could have one?
So I catch her father on the phone later.
“Did Haley get a cat?”
“No, she and her friend started a dog and cat washing business. First they set up a table to sell lemonade and candy. Business was slow. Then a neighbor asked if they wanted to wash her dog for $10. Now they have a ‘business,” as she calls it, and have put $68 in the kitty already.”
I could not be prouder. At her age I was selling watermelons out front or seeds door to door. I thought this generation had no interest in such enterprises, but Haley is very proud of her business, as she well should be. I think our country is going to be in good hands down the road.
CAT STORY #2
Last night my youngest son, Jason, called and said he had a kitten. Is this Raining Cats Week? But the story was an interesting one.
Jason’s neighbor was given a loaner truck to drive while his was in the shop yesterday. It had a funny sound, like a cat’s mew, but he drove it all the way to Daytona (from Orlando) and back. The truck was still mewing when neighbors gathered to check it out. Jason could hear the sound was coming from the spare tire well up under the truck, so he dove under there. After three hours of struggle, he came out black and greasy, with a coal black kitten clawing his hands.
Someone gave him kitten food and he took the kitten in the house. Now we are looking for a home. If Jason wants to show someone’s future pet in its best light, I know where he can get a superb cat wash.
CAT STORY #3
*Now for the embarrassing cat wash story.
A strange cat wandered into our yard many years back. The poor thing was covered in oil or grease and seemed to be pleading to me to help him. I got out soap, turned on the hose and this poor, strange cat let me wash him all over. I hoped the grease poured on him had not been hot and burned his skin. He didn’t seem to be in pain, but I washed gently. The smell was unusual, not like cooking grease, but I couldn’t place it – not until years later. I was sitting in the stands at a tennis match in Hilton Head. Almost everyone there was slathered with Avon Skin so Soft and the scent was overpowering – and familiar. The cat! But why? The same reason adults apply it to themselves some put it on their animals, I was told, to repel insects. OHHHHHHHHHH
Life With Cats
Posted in Animals, Cats, tagged Animals, Cats, lizard, Persian, Pets, Pixie Bob, Pixiebob on July 24, 2008| 2 Comments »
After four days of patient stalking, Emma (our Persian) finally flushed the wayward lizard from under the stove late last night. Speaking “in tongues” at the foot of our bed, Emma alerted us she had brought her gracious present to us. If the lizard lying by the bed skirt were still alive, it could easily crawl right up the bed covers. Jerry had fallen asleep and had no interest in throwing him outdoors. I tried to go back to sleep, keenly aware a frightened lizard lay between Emma and me. Soon I heard more scuffling at the foot of the bed when Luther, our Pixiebob, joined the huntress. I finally roused Jerry, who cupped the poor reptile in his hands and threw him out the front door. Jerry dropped right off. The cats assumed the stance of “move along folks, there’s nothing to see here” before heading for bed. Yet I was too revved to fall asleep before 3 a.m.
Ah, life with cats.
Belly Button Lint 4
Posted in Animals, Blogroll, Economy, Education, Nature, Reading, Words, tagged birds, birds of a feather, blogs, fixed income, Nature, research, stagflation, Words on February 19, 2008| 4 Comments »
- Do blogs with dark background tend to contain more dark, negative, angry messages? Just wondering.
- There is concern in the financial community about imminent stagflation. Welcome to fixed income retirees’ world.
- I despise searching for information on a subject only to be connected to a video link. If I wanted to watch video I’d turn on the TV. With a few exceptions, I’d rather read to search for facts. It’s certainly faster and I don’t have to watch a commercial to get to the subject. I’m just saying: warn me. I’ll click another link.
- Do birds of a feather really flock together? Not at our bird feeder. Cardinals, woodpeckers, bluejays, and titmice come regularly and they plan their forays together. The feeder is either empty of guests or a waiting line has formed. Perhaps we need to rethink the old saw about birds of a feather.
- As I passed through a room yesterday snapping doors closed, straightening rugs, picking up stray flotsam from the floor, straightening pillows, my movements seemed eerily familiar. Flight attendant! That was the feeling I got in my bones. And to think I was turned away from that job many years ago because of my height. I guess I’m showing them.
- Wedlock. I know it’s a perfectly good word, but just doesn’t sound good. Is that why we mostly use it in a negative way? Ever hear of anyone being born “in wedlock?”
To Stop a Raging Bull
Posted in Animals, Bulls, dreams, fear, Nightmares, tagged Bull, dreams, fear, nightmare, recurring dream, recurring nightmare on February 9, 2008| 3 Comments »
The earth quivered, dust billowed and the rumble of his hooves set my heart racing. The bull in my recurring dreams was always a shiny black, snorting beast with one purpose—to get to me. Year after year he exploded into the night, bursting into my sleep. There was always a fence or tree behind me, but far beyond my capacity to climb even in my youth. As I aged my muscles turned from girly to jiggly and the chance of escape narrowed. But again and again I grabbed onto a branch or railing and prayed for strength to propel my body upward. In this position I could no longer see those bleached horns thundering toward me as I waited for the impaling. Then I would wake—always in time.
Even in the daylight “El Toro” inserted himself into my life. He was in the Texas pastures of my youth, the stock pens my dad and I visited the night before the auctions. Rodeos and bull riding were inescapable. But later in life I didn’t have to watch bullfights in movies or on TV or lock my eyes on the stock market bull when it filled the screen, but I did. What you resist you attract. There is no other explanation. The pull toward the menacing, magnificent animal grew stronger as the nighttime escape from him grew more intense. He was gaining on me, closing his distance before I reached the fence.
On a night about ten years ago I sat up after an encounter, my heart pounding. The screams that had no sound a second ago were muffled by my hand. No more. I could not take any more. I decided at that moment that next time it would be different; I would not run. I would not run. Could I will myself in that dream state to do the bidding of my cognizant mind? I was determined to try.
The bull was patient. He didn’t appear for months, but when he did, returned more menacing and determined than before. The familiar fear washed over me. He pawed the earth, looked up at me from his bowed head, and snorted.
“Go ahead,” my dream self said, “Do what you will. I am not running any longer. I can’t.”
El Toro’s massive muscles rippled as he aimed his blackness toward me. I stiffened my body and rooted my feet to the ground. He grew closer in a dust storm. Suddenly the thundering ceased, the dust swirled past me.
Morning came. I sat up in bed remembering his broad nose and forehead, gigantic even above his massive chest. I could see in my mind his long, black eyelashes. It was the last time I saw him.