Author Topic: A random thread for the wildlife stuff - you know the drill (Read 134880 times)

Pingu · « **Reply #350 on:** 09 December, 2017, 10:35:12 pm »

Quote from: hellymedic on 09 December, 2017, 10:25:59 pm

Our kitchen door is made of clear glass.
Sometimes there is cat food on the mat by the door.
Hungry cats knock at door...

We do not have a cat flap. Our pair knock on the door when they want to come in.

PaulF · « **Reply #351 on:** 11 December, 2017, 03:55:16 pm »

There's a flock of fieldfares feasting on the fruit from fallen the tree in my garden

hellymedic · « **Reply #352 on:** 16 December, 2017, 04:08:33 pm »

Being new to this pet lark (and I'm not sure the hordes of cats we feed are 'ours') I've been reading up about which foods are harmful to our four-legged friends.
The cats we feed get only Sainsbury's cheapest tins, the odd salmon skin and some dry kibble they eschew unless desperate.

It seems most Christmas goodies are Really Bad for cats and dogs.

More for us!

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #353 on:** 16 December, 2017, 06:01:59 pm »

Basically, don't give them human food.... (though an occasional treat of boiled white fish or chicken will make you BFF)

hellymedic · « **Reply #354 on:** 16 December, 2017, 08:24:51 pm »

We don't give them human food.
I just realised just how unsuitable Christmas treats are.

hellymedic · « **Reply #355 on:** 21 December, 2017, 03:39:58 pm »

If dairy products are unsuitable for cats because the lack lactase, is lacto-free harmful or harmless?
Just speculating...
Our chompions only get Sainsbury's Cheapest cat foods.

They appear happy¹ and healthy to this untrained observer.

1) Family frictions excepted

hellymedic · « **Reply #356 on:** 06 January, 2018, 10:23:26 pm »

I don't think Big Tom is related to the kittens who live here. He bears no resemblance to any of them.
I don't know if he is a tom or entire but is an excellent surrogate parent, making sure the kits get fed and calming them in the presence of their ever-more-hostile mother.

Big Tom is HUGE, gentle and has long, thick mottled brown fur,
Mother cat is tortoiseshell.
Kittens were one short-haired tabby, two black & white & three short-haired ginger.

Pingu · « **Reply #357 on:** 06 January, 2018, 10:27:25 pm »

Yup, cat genetics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_genetics

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #358 on:** 06 January, 2018, 10:52:56 pm »

'Big Tom' could be father to all, some or none of the kittens.
Also, are you sure it's a male? Could also be a half sibling from a previous litter. I'm not aware that males usually hang around for kitten rearing duties.

hellymedic · « **Reply #359 on:** 06 January, 2018, 11:03:11 pm »

Quote from: Mrs Pingu on 06 January, 2018, 10:52:56 pm

'Big Tom' could be father to all, some or none of the kittens.
Also, are you sure it's a male? Could also be a half sibling from a previous litter. I'm not aware that males usually hang around for kitten rearing duties.

I said I didn't know anything about sex or integrity of 'Big Tom'.
Facial features appear 'masculine', making the eyes seem small in a big, hairy face, though I appreciate this is not diagnostic. Two of the ginger kittens appear to be male, from what I've seen.

I would estimate Big Tom's volume/mass to be at least twice that of the queen, with the kittens now around 70-80% of her size.

David is very fond of them all...

Ham · « **Reply #360 on:** 07 January, 2018, 09:31:39 pm »

Most gingers are male. (not quite 100% afaik, but close to, I believe)

hellymedic · « **Reply #361 on:** 07 January, 2018, 09:39:24 pm »

I think David did some reading and around 1 in 4 gingers are apparently female.
Anyway, Mama Cat now HATES her kits and won't eat in their presence. Kits scram when she snarls at them but reappear once she's gone.
Though kits can beg effectively for their own food, Big Cat sometimes leads as has louder call and More Presence. Biggie seems to be a kind and gentle giant.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #362 on:** 23 January, 2018, 06:18:24 pm »

I met a cat called Megatron.

hellymedic · « **Reply #363 on:** 28 January, 2018, 10:06:41 am »

Since Cat Protection visited Last Wednesday, we are left with only Blackie and Big Tom.
We were never sure of Blackie's sex and CP thought Blackie might be female.

David was SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED to see Big Tom humping Blackie this morning. He tried to stop this naughtiness. I told him this isn't possible.
CP should be back tomorrow...

Wowbagger · « **Reply #364 on:** 02 February, 2018, 09:18:38 am »

The tragic life of Nigel the Gannet

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/02/nigel-lonely-new-zealand-gannet-dies-concrete-replica-birds

David Martin · « **Reply #365 on:** 15 February, 2018, 03:45:05 pm »

That was my banana

Maylaysia by David Martin, on Flickr

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #366 on:** 18 April, 2018, 12:15:30 pm »

You don't wanna mess with an angry badger, right enough.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-43808574

Kim · « **Reply #367 on:** 18 April, 2018, 02:27:02 pm »

Quote from: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 18 April, 2018, 12:15:30 pm

You don't wanna mess with an angry badger, right enough.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-43808574

Shoddy BBC journalism. No mention of whether jam sandwiches were used to entice it out...

Basil · « **Reply #368 on:** 19 April, 2018, 09:10:32 am »

I've been enjoying watching a wren carrying nesting stuff into a previously unused bird box in our garden.
So I was saddened to find it fallen to the ground yesterday morning. It was a very old box but I got a ladder out and managed to attach it back in place with a couple of nails.
Overjoyed this morning to see the wren popping in and out again as if nothing had happened.

Pingu · « **Reply #369 on:** 27 April, 2018, 11:32:43 pm »

I had to remove a cat claw sheath from Pumpkin's nose this evening

T42 · « **Reply #370 on:** 30 April, 2018, 08:09:56 am »

We're hoping that our bats will reappear before tiger mosquitoes arrive. They're already back in NI and it's a lot warmer here. Maybe the neonicotinoids have got them - after driving back from the Rhine last week there were only half a dozen insect splats on the windscreen.

T42 · « **Reply #371 on:** 10 May, 2018, 07:41:42 am »

They're back. Last night when I took the dogs out I stood in the garden with a torch pointing straight up. A moth flew through the light, and as I followed it with the beam a bat zoomed in and took it. I kept the beam pointing up and the bat kept orbiting, taking the bugs it attracted.

Start of a beautiful friendship?

David Martin · « **Reply #372 on:** 10 May, 2018, 11:13:48 pm »

Moths? What sort of bat? Brown Long Eared for moths in UK.

T42 · « **Reply #373 on:** 11 May, 2018, 09:54:07 am »

No idea. Moth might not have been a moth but was maybe 1" across and flight was typical.

matthew · « **Reply #374 on:** 17 May, 2018, 10:35:52 am »

My Parents cat, rescued from an aunt*, has now gained enough confidence in himself to want to explore outside.

Unfortunately his preference is the front door to the road rather than the back door to the garden.

It's only taken over a year.

*Two cats in a small flat and very much indoor cats with no outside access. The poor mog was getting highly stressed due to bullying from the other cat, had lost a lot of weight and fur etc. He has now gained a lot of condition and confidence. He will demand attention, face rubs head scratches belly rubs etc., but he is yet to become a lap cat and do not attempt to pick him up else he will become a wriggling ball of claws.