Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[CoderLady]

On 3/8/2018 at 9:56 AM, Mindthinkr said:

My kitties just got their flea treatment. Why is it they want to rub that stuff off on me by snuggling and wiggling against my sweater? Cat people problems. 

That stuff apparently stinks to high heaven to some cats. A couple of mine could always smell it no matter how much I tried to misdirect them before applying it. The moment I cracked open the vial they would get a "Oh my God! Who farted?" look on their face even from across the room and would take off running whenever they could.  Perhaps yours are just sharing the misery.

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, ABay said:

Ooh! Ooh! Goldfinch at the finch feeder! And a pair of grackles have discovered the feeders. It makes me ridiculously happy that both the big and small woodpeckers have shown up and the cardinals come to the feeder by the window now. You know, I started this for the cat but she's sleeping by a window that faces a different direction and I'm sitting here with binoculars. Ungrateful beast!

Heh.

Are the male goldfinches gold or are they still more of an olive green? I saw a couple of mine were starting to look yellow again.  Along the side of my driveway I have a 12X5 section that is planted with just coneflowers. From July through October, it teems with butterflies and goldfinches. By the time fall is over, the goldfinches have eaten pretty much every seed they can manage to get out of that garden. 

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Heh.

Are the male goldfinches gold or are they still more of an olive green? I saw a couple of mine were starting to look yellow again.  Along the side of my driveway I have a 12X5 section that is planted with just coneflowers. From July through October, it teems with butterflies and goldfinches. By the time fall is over, the goldfinches have eaten pretty much every seed they can manage to get out of that garden. 

You are pretty sweet to plant a garden for the critters. Please take photos this year and post them. You mentioned that they eat every seed. Does this mean you have to reseed or plant every year? 

[JTMacc99]

47 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

You are pretty sweet to plant a garden for the critters. Please take photos this year and post them. You mentioned that they eat every seed. Does this mean you have to reseed or plant every year? 

Coneflowers (echinacea) are perennials so they just come back every year. For sure I planted them because it's a pretty cool display of flowers and accompanying wildlife all at once. They're hardy, they do very well in full sun without a lot of attention, the deer don't particularly care for them, and in a garden that size, it's a lot of green and pink all at once. 

I just scrolled through a whole bunch of photos looking for one of that area, but somehow I can't find any. I know I took a picture of it at one point because it is currently the photo on one of my credit cards. It looks kind of like this only not quite as healthy and probably some weeds, as this is me we're talking about.

Edited March 9, 2018 by JTMacc99

[SuprSuprElevated]

5 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Oh @ABay I’m so happy that the bird feeders have worked out for you. I have seen Bluebirds lately and need to get moving on putting up a birdhouse for them. Isn’t it nice to hear them singing? 

I’ve had a noticeable change around here. I told you all about the local deer Rosie that used to empty my bird feeder every day. She used to live (sleep) in an empty lot at the beginning of our street. The plot sold and someone is building a house and since construction has begun my bird feeder isn’t emptied every day and there has been no sign of Rosie. Here’s a picture for those of you that haven’t seen her. Sorry for you others whom are seeing it again. I miss seeing her. 

I have them too, and love sharing feed with them!

 

Your photo is so much nicer, lol.  These darn cell phone photos are just too damn big, and I reduced these a lot!

Edited March 9, 2018 by SuprSuprElevated

[isalicat]

You all with the deer are so funny to me...until recently I lived up on the flank of a dormant volcano in a northern California forest and we referred to all the deer (and there were gazillions) as "rats with hooves". They would come in and eat every single plant they could reach in our garden during our extremely short growing season, preferring especially the young tomato plants which they would eat down the ground. I finally put up netting in order to have any tomatoes or beans. I was once chasing a young buck and doe out of my yard (probably brother and sister) and a fellow drove down our dirt road, heard me yelling at them while they casually trotted away and offered to hunt them for me...which of course I declined, after a minute or two of hesitation :)

[ABay]

@JTMacc99, male goldfinches are yellow, females are olive green. Somewhere I have a picture of them and cardinals in my coneflowers and black-eyed susans, and a video of 2 butterflies on the coneflowers. I have a long, narrow strip of dirt along a fence and I'm hoping this year to plant more coneflowers and black-eyed susans there, along with salvia, catmint, and something that is neither purple nor yellow. Bees love catmint and salvia. Maybe a bird bath in there somewhere. It all depends on money and whether I can find someone to do the work.

[Mindthinkr]

1 minute ago, isalicat said:

You all with the deer are so funny to me...until recently I lived up on the flank of a dormant volcano in a northern California forest and we referred to all the deer (and there were gazillions) as "rats with hooves". They would come in and eat every single plant they could reach in our garden during our extremely short growing season, preferring especially the young tomato plants which they would eat down the ground. I finally put up netting in order to have any tomatoes or beans. I was once chasing a young buck and doe out of my yard (probably brother and sister) and a fellow drove down our dirt road, heard me yelling at them while they casually trotted away and offered to hunt them for me...which of course I declined, after a minute or two of hesitation :)

They are notorious for eating everything around here too but our local agricultural extension service has put together a deer proof way of planting. They have it on the website and a neighbor was kind enough to print it out for me when I moved here and inquired (after losing some flowers). You have to put aside what you want and concentrate on what you can have. No tulips but they don’t seem to like the daffodils and irises. Herbs are also immune to their munching habits. 

My neighbors have netting and a motion controlled jet water spray to keep them out of their yard. I’m more of a live and let live kind of person. They were here first. Now sadly I think they’ve gone off to another area. 

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

male goldfinches are yellow, females are olive green

In the winter they ditch the breeding time yellow for a conservative olive green. I always love seeing the first signs of yellow coming back. 

[ABay]

Huh. I did not know that. Thanks.

[SuprSuprElevated]

3 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

They were here first.

My motto when it comes to the local wildlife.  I've learned to landscape and grow those plants that are deer resistant.  There is a lovely stand of 10' tall arborvitae dividing my patio from the neighbors.  The are bare from the ground up about 5 ft.  Live and learn.  I feel far more enriched by sharing the land with them, then by the impatiens that they love to chew.  Don't get me wrong, I like impatiens, I just plant them in the front, where the deer don't roam.  I'm not a vegetable grower, but if I were, I'd work out a way to keep them protected I guess.

[riley702]

Way back in the day, Dad put a motion-sensor light in the garden to protect the tomatoes from the deer, but he noted later with disgust that they seemed to enjoy dining by candlelight.

[SuprSuprElevated]

4 hours ago, riley702 said:

Way back in the day, Dad put a motion-sensor light in the garden to protect the tomatoes from the deer, but he noted later with disgust that they seemed to enjoy dining by candlelight.

Haha!

[JTMacc99]

The deer can easily jump over my backyard fence and then over the garden fence by choose not to because of the strong presence of dog. I see their tracks all over the rest of my yard. They’re real jerks when it comes to eating your vegetables. 

14 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I’m more of a live and let live kind of person. They were here first.

So were the predators that kept them in balance. Since we’re not bringing them back, I figure we are kind of in charge now. 

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

So were the predators that kept them in balance. Since we’re not bringing them back, I figure we are kind of in charge now. 

What predators are you speaking of? Wolves are being reintroduced in a lot more places than just Yellowstone. Here there are cars and drivers who speed. Sadly I see roadkill a lot. We also have coyotes and I can no longer allow my kitties to go outside. 

[JTMacc99]

59 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

What predators are you speaking of? Wolves are being reintroduced in a lot more places than just Yellowstone. Here there are cars and drivers who speed. Sadly I see roadkill a lot. We also have coyotes and I can no longer allow my kitties to go outside. 

The eradication of cougars and wolves in the Eastern United States created a giant explosion in the deer population which in turn threw all sorts of things in the ecosystem out of wack. 

We’ve got mad skills when it comes to screwing up nature. 

So my official stance on deer is that it is our fault that there are so many of them, and since I doubt anyone wants packs of wolves roaming around the suburbs of Hartford Connecticut, it’s our responsibility to deal with whatever damage the deer cause. 

The coyotes in the eastern US are also a product of the man made large predator void. They are much more adaptable to living around a human population and have amazingly spread all the way down the east coast. I hear them all the time here. They would absolutely take my cat if given the chance. So she stays inside. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by JTMacc99

[ABay]

Hmm. How close to the legislative office building in Hartford would these wolves be?

[theredhead77]

12 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

The coyotes in the eastern US are also a product of the man made large predator void. They are much more adaptable to living around a human population and have amazingly spread all the way down the east coast. I hear them all the time here. They would absolutely take my cat if given the chance. So she stays inside. 

They were all over the area I used to live in, too. They set up dens on a "decommissioned" Naval Weapons Station and use the dry riverbeds as 'coyote highways' to get around. They are illegal to kill and Animal Control won't do much. Pets were being taken and they started stalking small kids in back yards. Years ago I saw one in the park stalking a small dog an elderly woman was walking. I offered her a ride home but she didn't accept. That path had traffic of people walking dogs so I hope someone scared it off. There was one in my backyard too, that was super fun to come home to. The situation was pretty bad when I left. Oh, and I lived about 2 blocks from the beach and the neighborhoods from above? Also beach communities.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Not for nuthin' - 

As we all opine on this site, that's all I'm doing.  If my posts seem to indicate that I wish to control the behavior of others, that is unintended.

How y'all deal with deer (short of poisoning or something illegal) is your bidness.  For me, I'll enjoy them and take pictures 'n stuff.  As their population grows to problematic levels, our State will continue to have sponsored hunts, to take them back to acceptable numbers.  

[raven]

Miss Tai's TriPawd calendar picture.   I took many pictures trying to get her to look at the camera "Tai, Tai, Tai," I should make a flip book out of them.  She is not camera ready like Alli!

[DeLurker]

But she's totally awesome!

[ABay]

I've been trying to take pictures of some of the birds but they're too damn quick for me. The chickadee and tufted titmouse, especially, because they flit in, grab a seed, and fly away again before I can even focus. The finches, on the other hand, pretty much park themselves on a perch for a leisurely meal.

It looks like I might have to replace my vacuum cleaner soon. Does anyone know of a budget-conscious machines that can cope with cat hair? I vaguely remember this coming up before but haven't found the posts.

[theredhead77]

I love that the kitten-cat will entertain himself with his favorite ball for large blocks of time.

I hate that he does it on my lap, at 4am. And last night I even told myself to put the ball in a drawer but I was too lazy to get out of bed.

[bilgistic]

Little Girl is obsessed with my glasses for some unknown reason. I keep a pair in the bedroom for watching TV. I have to hide them in the nightstand drawer or under my pillow or she will chew on the already chewed-on stems. I cannot leave them lying anywhere out for any amount of time or she'll be on them. It's the weirdest thing a cat of mine has ever fixated on.

Well, no, I take that back. My late girl kitty used to chew on my small hoop earrings when she was a kitten. I have several lobe piercings and wore/wear small silver hoops in all of them. I would wake up to find one or more gnarled silver hoops in the bed because she would chew on my earrings when I was asleep. Or I'd be brushing my hair in the morning and see that I was missing an earring and go frantically find it. Miraculously, she never ate one.

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, ABay said:

I've been trying to take pictures of some of the birds but they're too damn quick for me. The chickadee and tufted titmouse, especially, because they flit in, grab a seed, and fly away again before I can even focus. The finches, on the other hand, pretty much park themselves on a perch for a leisurely meal.

It looks like I might have to replace my vacuum cleaner soon. Does anyone know of a budget-conscious machines that can cope with cat hair? I vaguely remember this coming up before but haven't found the posts.

I really like my Shark Rotator.  It does an above average job on the cat hair imo.  It's probably 3-4 years old, and I paid close to $200 for it, which probably isn't what you meant by budget conscious, but I thought perhaps you could pick up an older generation model like mine on Amazon or Ebay or even QVC?  Not sure.  They've sold a couple of new iterations since mine, and I'm assuming they're well over $200 now.  Don't know if you can spend much less and still be happy with the results, especially with pet hair.  I went cheap before the Shark and bought a Dirt Devil something-or-other and it was absolute junk.

[Sandman87]

I just have a plain old Hoover vacuum cleaner, and it does just fine for cat hair, dust, dirt, ashes around the fireplace, leaves, pennies...

I've had it for over 20 years, and all I've ever had to replace, other than the bags, is the belt for the rug beater.

[bilgistic]

My mother's upright Hoover from the 1970s kicks ass. Here I thought I'd buy a Hoover because hers had done so well for so long. The one I bought maybe 10 years ago is garbage. Granted, I paid "only" about $100 for it, but it's terrible. The attached hose has the suction of a toddler drinking from a sippy cup. The worst. I regret not buying something better when I could've afforded it.

Edited March 17, 2018 by bilgistic

[theredhead77]

16 hours ago, ABay said:

It looks like I might have to replace my vacuum cleaner soon. Does anyone know of a budget-conscious machines that can cope with cat hair? I vaguely remember this coming up before but haven't found the posts.

I have a Shark Lift Away Deluxe. It's a bit heavy, especially the 'lift away' part but it kicks ass at picking up cat hair. It's also dual use - hardwood and carpet. I also vacuum the couch with it, by putting it directly on the couch. If find that method works better than any attachments or furniture vacuums.

[SuprSuprElevated]

11 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

I've had it for over 20 years,

You've just explained why it's a good one.  Built-in obsolescence will pretty much rule out anything newer than that.

29 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I have a Shark Lift Away Deluxe. It's a bit heavy, especially the 'lift away' part but it kicks ass at picking up cat hair. It's also dual use - hardwood and carpet. I also vacuum the couch with it, by putting it directly on the couch. If find that method works better than any attachments or furniture vacuums.

That's how I do most of the upholstered surfaces, lol.  

Edited March 17, 2018 by SuprSuprElevated

[Sandman87]

Last night I put together a small gift for Mom's Cat. I have some shelves that I installed just over door frame height which run around three sides of my bedroom. I cleared some space on them in an appropriate spot,then arranged some of the boxes from The Great Barn Disaster (see the Chit-Chat thread for details) so that they form a cat-friendly stairway up to the top of my bookcases, and from there it's an easy step up to the wall shelves.

The idea, of course, is that the cat can hang out up there on the shelves near the ceiling. She hasn't discovered her new perch yet...

Edited March 17, 2018 by Sandman87

[bosawks]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Guinness for everyone, Alli’s first! 

[Maharincess]

Do any of you with bird feeders have issues with rats eating the stuff that falls on the ground? I used to have a seed feeder and a hummingbird feeder outside my living room window and I loved watching them and it was great cat TV for my brat. My cat was going nuts at the window one day and there was a rat on the ground eating the seeds. I kicked at the wall and he just looked up at me and kept eating. My seed feeders came down that day and I haven't put them back.  If you do have that problem how do you deal with it?  I loved watching the birds and I know the cat I have now would love it too but I can't handle the rats. Living in the hills I have to deal with them enough. 

Bunny, my new rescue baby has some weird quirks. Every single time the vacuum is used, she runs to her bowl and eats. Every damn time. It's so funny.  When the vacuum is turned on, she runs to the doorway between the kitchen and living room and waits, as soon as the vacuum starts moving she runs in the kitchen and eats. She does other weird things but that one is the weirdest.  She's such a cutie.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Maharincess

[SuprSuprElevated]

4 hours ago, Maharincess said:

Do any of you with bird feeders have issues with rats eating the stuff that falls on the ground? I used to have a seed feeder and a hummingbird feeder outside my living room window and I loved watching them and it was great cat TV for my brat. My cat was going nuts at the window one day and there was a rat on the ground eating the seeds. I kicked at the wall and he just looked up at me and kept eating. My seed feeders came down that day and I haven't put them back.  If you do have that problem how do you deal with it?  I loved watching the birds and I know the cat I have now would love it too but I can't handle the rats. Living in the hills I have to deal with them enough. 

Bunny, my new rescue baby has some weird quirks. Every single time the vacuum is used, she runs to her bowl and eats. Every damn time. It's so funny.  When the vacuum is turned on, she runs to the doorway between the kitchen and living room and waits, as soon as the vacuum starts moving she runs in the kitchen and eats. She does other weird things but that one is the weirdest.  She's such a cutie.

 

She wants to meet her maker with a full tummy?  Or, if there's going to be a rumble, she wants to be well nourished?  lol

Edited March 18, 2018 by SuprSuprElevated

[Maharincess]

56 minutes ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

She wants to meet her maker with a full tummy?  Or, if there's going to be a rumble, she wants to be well nourished?  lol

 

LOL. I think she's just nutso.  Sometimes she'll sit and just stare at me for the longest time, I'm talking like half an hour or more. She doesn't move a muscle, just sits and looks at me. I watch her out of the corner of my eye, it gets a little creepy sometimes. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by Maharincess

[ABay]

@Maharincess, the only other critter I've seen by the feeders aside from squirrels and birds is a possum. I've never seen a rat. There are raccoons, skunks, ground hogs, field mice, and voles but I usually don't see them until later in the spring and summer so I don't know how they'll react to the feeders. At some point, I'll need to cut back on the amount of food I put out and remove the suet but I'm not sure when to do that.

[Mindthinkr]

I have deer issues. Two days ago they (my friend said he saw a herd of 12-14 that night but not in my yard) came onto my porch to get a better bite at the bird feeder and crashed my terra cotta planter.  They also drug another feeder about 5’ from where I had it hung. Argh. 

[DeLurker]

18 hours ago, Maharincess said:

Bunny, my new rescue baby has some weird quirks. Every single time the vacuum is used, she runs to her bowl and eats.

I've heard of Pavlov's Bell, so I guess this would be Maharincess' Vacuum?

[AgentRXS]

[Bastet]

Baxter was my only cat who didn't mind the vacuum; in fact, I had to vacuum around him on occasion.  The others have all left the room, or at least leapt up to observe safely from above.  I was very proud of Riley yesterday when she stayed on the bed while I vacuumed the bedroom; she'd long since quit being truly afraid and running from it, but she would always switch rooms in annoyance/uneasiness.

[DeLurker]

Sir Robin is not particularly concerned with the vacuum, but Kokuma is.  As soon as he sees me getting it out, he is making tracks for whatever is the floor of the house without a vacuum out.

[SuprSuprElevated]

I was sure I had read that we shouldn't stop feeding birds when the winter weather breaks.  I feed mine year round, though I will admit that I don't fill the feeders as often, or use as much variety after winter's close. I need to work on this.  I typically will not offer suet during the warm months, mostly because it's messy and melty, and I don't think they need the fat for insulation in warm months.    

Here are a couple of links pertaining to 'backyard' bird feeding, that you may find helpful.

http://www.audubon.org/news/to-feed-or-not-feed

http://www.10000birds.com/when-is-it-time-to-stop-feeding-birds.htm

[theredhead77]

The kitten-cat will wind up and fully on punch the vacuum when its running. The cat-cat makes a beeline for anywhere the vacuum isn't. He does the same thing when I turn on the stove fan. He must have had a bad experience before I became his hooman.

[ABay]

Thanks for the links @SuprSuprElevated. Although now I'm worried that the house finch who spent a very long time sitting at one of the feeders yesterday might be sick. 

Also, thanks to those who offered vacuum advice. I will postpone buying one until this one dies or I use up all of the bags.

[Maharincess]

My car Trixie doesn't mind the vacuum at all. When it gets pulled out she goes halfway up the stairs and sticks her head through the rail to watch it.  Kaylee always tried to herd it. 

[emma675]

Bonnie considers the vacuum a mortal enemy and tries to attack at every corner. She also chases me around barking at it, which is super fun. She kept going after the hose attachment so much I finally let her bite it, thinking the suction would scare her. Nope, this was considered a full fledged assault and the war rages on.

[Maharincess]

Out of the 3 dogs the only one who hates the vacuum is Granny and she can't hear it. She only freaks out about it if she sees it moving so I try to get it done when she's on the other floor of the house.  Murphy is my husband's road dog so he's used to the big, loud truck engines and Bunny seems to think that the vacuum signals feeding time. 

[riley702]

My kitties stay in the bedroom until I'm ready to sweep the bedroom. I'll turn it off, but roll it in and they will take off before I turn it back on. I then vacuum the bedroom and turn it off for good before bringing it back to the hall closet.

[bilgistic]

6 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

The kitten-cat will wind up and fully on punch the vacuum when its running. The cat-cat makes a beeline for anywhere the vacuum isn't. He does the same thing when I turn on the stove fan. He must have had a bad experience before I became his hooman.

This made me laugh! Kitty so fierce!

My girls are scared of the range hood fan, too. The coffee grinder is evil incarnate.

I always warn them before something's going to be loud by saying, "Loud noise!" but it has never worked to quell their fears.

[MargeGunderson]

The good thing about senior Kitty Gunderson going deaf is that she is no longer scared of household appliances that make noise. I vacuumed the couch yesterday and she just watched with mild interest. Back in her full hearing days the doorbell - real or on TV - would scare her out of a dead sleep. We had to remember to mute commercials during football games in case of a Domino’s Pizza commercial. It’s also why I couldn’t watch Frazier - so many doorbells every episode!

[Jaded]

For any other fans of Foster Dad John's The Critter Room he just lost a 2nd one of his personal cats in 48 hours. Kougra crossed the bridge on Saturday and his sister Sabby crossed it today. People donated over $8,000 after finding out about Kougra. He didn't start off asking for any but people wouldn't quit asking him if they could donate. He planned to give the rest of the amount after Kougra's emergency vet costs to Purrfect Pal's Tipper Fund that pays for medical services for cats in their care. People are still donating to him through Paypal and to the shelter directly in Kougra's name and I guess will be doing so in Sabby's name too.