Questionable

"Why god gave women two boobs"

Quote from J as he took this picture of me (with his crappy cell phone) this morning.

Spring means birds

I've been having a pretty good time this spring seeing interesting migrating birds, but the most fun was this past Saturday at a park in Bloomington. The St. Paul Raptor Center had their annual raptor release. They brought along their education birds in addition to releasing three hawks. Complete photo coverage can be found via the link up to the left. But, here are a few good shots followed by video evidence.

Two years with the kitties

It has been two years with the kitties. KC continues to grow old before our eyes. He is 13 now and had his last dental this week. I refuse to put him under anesthesia again. He has terrible teeth and they've pulled all the ones that look bad. I just want him to be comfortable for his last years.

Ratty got her spring shaving and looks ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, that I think I am going to enter this picture in the Jones Soda LOLCat contest.

Ratty was freezing after she was shaved. She actually shivered until she crawled on my lap and I put the blanket over her.

This is what they looked like yesterday while KC slept off the morphine and Ratty kept warm.

Eagle vs. Crane

Remember when I told you to read Bird Chick's Blog? If you didn't check it out then, you must now. She has up breathtaking pictures and a harrowing story of an eagle attacking a sandhill crane. At one point, the crane is hanging from the eagle. Here's another shot of the same thing. If you didn't regularly read her before, you really need to now.

Good thing I'm not superstitious

Last winter our yard was visited by a long-haired black cat. I suspect it was my neighbor's (indoor) cat, but she wouldn't own up to it and I haven't seen that cat in a long time. We've also been periodically visited by a short-haired black cat. Mama Shorty now has two kittens. All three have started visiting our yard almost every day. My yard is fenced and there is a shed to crawl under, so they are pretty protected. They are all too timid to come to me and the mama is particularly skittish, but I can get one of the little ones to talk to me, back and forth we meow. I love, love, love cats, and these fully black ones are particularly cute, especially when the two kittens wrestle. However, they need to go. They are not fixed and they are killing the birds. It is just cruel for feral cats to be forced to fend for themselves all winter with no regular food source, no water, and no shelter. So today I bought a live trap. I am going to keep feeding them and hopefully catch each of them over the next few months. My ultimate plan would be to take them to a no-kill shelter. If that isn't possible, I'll try the humane society to see how long they'd have there. Someone suggested neutering/spaying and then leaving them go in my yard while continuing to feed and setting up a better shelter. What do you think?

Urban birdlife

I have a few different walking routes, but one of my favorites is in Como Park. I walk twice around Como Lake (total 3.2 miles). One of the reasons I like this walk so much is because there are so many different bird species that live there or migrate through in the spring or fall.

Throughout this year I've seen a great blue heron, a great egret, a snowy egret, a black-crowned night-heron, and a sandhill crane. (But all the herons, heron-like birds, and the one stray crane are gone now.) I also see ducks, geese, gulls, and numerous birds of prey. Right now is coot season and the lake is full of them. There is also another water bird hanging with the coots that I can't identify. It might be a female black scoter, but that would be unusual and it doesn't look quite right.

My spring started with a bald eagle sighting and I had another one today. In fact, there were two eagles. One hung out in a tree while the other swooped around looking for something to munch.

Support your local peregrine falcon

Readers of this blog know that I like birds. It is not an obsession of mine, and I don't regularly bird peep, but I do pay attention to the birds around me and can identify more than the average person. Thus, I regularly read the Bird Chick's blog. She's a local gal and her posts, complete with pictures and video, provide great insight into the birds we see on a daily basis.

Some of her best work has been her recent posts about an injured peregrine falcon. She describes PF bruising (green), leg injury recovery, bumblefoot, and even has a video of it eating after surgery. If you don't have time to regularly follow her writings, I encourage you to just read the following posts (in reverse chronological order).

And, if you are really moved, think about supporting the Raptor Center at the University of MN. We'll be making a donation there this year.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse

Slime came home today to find his younger cat (about 11) dead. He had been losing weight, but the vet couldn't find anything specific wrong with him. There is some speculation that it was cancer, but who knows.

Rest in peace, little Oscar (kitty on the left).

If bad things really do come in threes, this is the last one. No more crap for my brother, please.

Birds do it, bees do it...

Mysteriously, I have been unable to grow anything in half the pot shown below. I've replanted the dead half twice this summer. But, as you can tell, nothing has survived. I've given up trying to grow anything new, but I have been curious as to what is causing the plant death. Until last week when I saw the plant-killing culprit. Or, should I say, culprits.

Two squirrels engaging in amorous activity in my pot! And, if you look at the half-flattened Spike in the middle, it is likely one of them (ahem, male squirrel) took a little nap after they finished.

And then there are kitties

How can these pictures not bring a smile to your face?