31 August 2011 - Feral amusements

The ferals provide me with hours of entertainment. They dash about the yard, play all sorts of silly chase and attack or sneak and attack games, not to mention their forays up the maple tree where they end up on our roof. 

This morning after I fed the cats and fixed my own breakfast, I went out on the deck with a cup of coffee.  I noticed the pear tree was shaking. What? Squirrels after the pears again? 

Big Fluff and Hughie were all cozied up together at the base of the tree, totally unconcerned, so I figured it couldn’t be squirrels.

 I watched the bouncing limbs and up near the top appears Little Fluff. 

She is really busy up there and I finally realize she is using the pears as toys. She’s boxing with them!  If she knocks a pear off the branch, she moves to the next pear.What a little brat!  She slowly works her way to the very top of the tree. 

 She was working over the pear right in front of her face when she lost her footing. There was some frantic scrambling before she was able to get back on top of the branch instead of clinging to it from underneath.  

She regained her footing and composure and took some more whacks at the pears hanging below her branch before she sauntered back down the tree.

Odd little cat! But this is the kind of behavior that makes me late for work. In the scheme of things, it is definitely worth being late for. And even better? It makes me laugh.

26 August 2011 - Feral colonies

I have often written about our feral cats. Here is a short history. The colony was started over 25 years ago when Sandy, who lived across the street, started feeding a couple strays. Whether they were truly strays, or ferals, or neighbor’s cats who liked the idea of more food, we’ll never know, but cats started showing up and staying. Kittens happened. Skunks, possums and raccoons happened, too.

Ten years later Sandy moves to Belleville. She traps a few favorites and takes them with her. She sells the house to Ann Mary and Suzanne. They are faced with a yard full of hungry cats. They continue to feed the colony. The cats thrive. More kittens. Sometimes disease or death on the road decreases the population. Sometimes the mothers are so young they don’t know what to do with their litter, and the kittens die. But mostly, we just have more cats.

Over the last four years, cats have started to move into our yard. It dawns on me that this coincides with our dogless state. Hmm. At first one or two mothers had kittens in our yard. We had two hollow trees that were perfect for kitten nests. We were not feeding these cats, so when it was time, the mothers moved the kids back across the street to Ann Mary and Suzanne’s yard. No real problem, yet.

This is Casper with the incredible blue eyes.

However, one starts to get attached to certain cats. In our case, it was Casper, a very pretty Siamese mix-- blue eyes and gray points. She had three kids in the hollow box elder. As they got older she moved them into Lyka’s old dog house.  We made the fatal mistake of naming them: Hughie, Louie and Dewey. Worse yet, because they were fall babies, we started feeding them. They were just getting to the really cute pouncy kitten stage when the snows came. How could we not feed them? Results? They stayed.

Next in the saga, Steve Wilson moves his family to Northville. Due to the economy, he can’t sell his house, so he rents it. The new family starts trapping the cats and calling Animal Control to pick them up. Louie and Dewey disappeared this way, as did many of the cats that the girls were feeding. One evening when Hughie didn’t show up for dinner, I found her in the trap. I had the new people release her and explained she was mine. (What was I thinking?)

Hughie gets pregnant. Four kittens. One dies within the first month, one disappears about 6 months old (see bad neighbors) and the other two, Big and Little Fluff mostly live in our backyard. Fast forward six months. Little Fluff gets pregnant, gives birth in freezing downpour and loses all the kittens. Hughie gets pregnant. Gives birth to five deformed kittens. One dies, the others get to the stage where they are eating dry kibble. Meanwhile Fluff is pregnant again. Five kittens. Robin and I came to the decision that we had to take the deformed kittens to the Humane Society. We ended up taking Hughie’s four and Little Fluff’s five. This was a hard thing to do, but necessary. You can see how quickly a colony can grow.

While at the Humane Society we learned about a new program for ferals: a trap-neuter-release program. Jack and I signed up for the class. A side benefit of the class was that you could get your ferals spayed or neutered for ten bucks each. Great! The class was Sunday, we went home with seven traps. The following weekend we were all set up and trapped seven cats and one very pissed off possum.

Tom, the patriarch of the colony

To my great delight, one of the seven was Tom: the current patriarch and defender of the colony. Every spring he would show up looking absolutely bedraggled. He would be limping, covered with sores and strips of fur hanging from gouges, all because he had to maintain his position and fight off the younger males. It was so sad. He had also started chasing Big Fluff away from the colony as well. Guess Big Fluff was getting old enough to become competition. Big Fluff and Tom were released back into the yard this morning. Hughie, Little Fluff and Tabico will be released tomorrow morning.

Ann Mary will be attending the September training session then trapping their remaining cats. As part of the program, the cats get ear tipped, which is a universal symbol of a spayed/neutered feral. The animal control people tend to look the other way when a colony is managed. We have our colony registered online, facts about the cats, and as part of being a colony caretaker, they organization asks that you keep the information on the site updated. Life, death, sickness and health are documented.

I am thrilled about this on many levels. No more kittens! A better life for all the cats involved! And on my own selfish side, there won’t be 17 cats lounging around the backyard when I’m trying to sell the house. I didn’t mention this but we did remove eleven babies. Enough is enough.

Left to right: Big Fluff, Hughie, Little Fluff

Meanwhile Hughie and Big Fluff have become quite dear to me and I fantasize about how to get them to Salt Lake. I know—don’t go there! But the thought was been rolling around in the back of my head for some time.

Oakland County received a $300,000 grant from PetSmart to help with the Trap Neuter Release program for feral cats. This is amazing. I will be supporting Pet Smart with my pocketbook because of this. We learned in the class that Oakland County alone has more than 200,000 feral cats.

We are doing our part to help.


Two weeks later:  Very sad addendum.  Big and Little Fluff as well as Tabico have disappeared. I can only think that the rotten people across the street trapped them and dumped them at the local park. I just can't bear to think about this.

16 August 2011 Spiders

I am not arachnophobic. Really. Well, to qualify this, I should say I’m not usually bothered by bugs, spiders, worms, caterpillars and such that often freak many people out. But this year?  I have had it with the spiders. I don’t think I have ever seen as many spiders in and around my house as I have this year, and I’m getting darned tired of it. 

Last week I walked into the garage, I was watching where my feet were going as it is worth your life walking into that maze, and wham! Face first into a big orb web. Adding insult to injury was the inhabitant  hanging off my nose. Normally I would have shrieked, but the initial intake of air could have resulted in the spider being sucked into my mouth.

Yesterday I walked out onto the deck and sat down at the table only to get tangled up in a line web, complete with spider. After divesting myself of that, I looked up into the umbrella and started counting just how many spiders were hanging from the stretchers. 

If a path goes through a small space or you walk between bushes or ferns you'll be walking through webs.

Here we have a male and a female spider on the same web strand. He is tentatively making mating advances to her. She isn't having any of it. This touch and retreat game went on for some time. Not sure if he got the job done or not.

The later it gets in the year, the larger the spiders get, which is fairly unnerving. My house is full of spiders. I think that when we had the new carpet put in, there must have been spider egg cases in it, although I'm sure the carpet people would deny that assumption. I have varieties of spiders that I have never seen before, and I am an observant person, especially when it comes to bug life.

Spiders are sneaky. There are webs all over and they appear overnight. You go out to the garden to pick some lovely chard for dinner, and before you know it, you have reached for the chard leaves, sticking your hand right through a web. If that isn't bad enough, the occupant is larger than you would like to be that close to.

The webs are harder to see than would appear in these pictures. I have set the photo up at just the right time for the sun to light up the strands. The webs blend in enough that you feel them before you see them. 

So far, all the two pictures are orb weavers. They will grow exponentially by the end of September. They look big now?  Just wait.

We also have many many wolf spiders. They live to startle me. Just about the time I have my hand on the spigot to turn on the water, they run up the wall from behind the spigot. No, wolfies don't play nice at all. Currently they are about the size of a 50 cent piece, so yes, I get startled.

Speaking of sneaky, these orb spinners can put up a web in a very short time. This spider managed to spin a large web in the porch overhang. It is the perfect spot to catch any unsuspecting human making the night trip to the garbage can. We normally don't turn on the porch light for a quick trip like that, but if you don't, it's a good opportunity to get webbed.

Shortly after the new carpet was installed in the living and dining rooms, I was happily ensconced on the couch with a book. Something caught my eye and I realized the ceiling above me was pretty much covered in baby spiders: literally hundreds of babies. They were cute: bodies the same size as a head of a pin; light golden color, but as I said—hundreds. I must admit, I got out the vacuum cleaner and sucked them up. I could not figure out where they were coming from. The walls and ceiling had been freshly painted, the floors were thoroughly cleaned before the new carpet came in. There were no nests in the angle where the walls meet the ceiling or floors. Trust me, I checked. But, the ceiling was covered with babies. I would vacuum them all up, lie down with my book again, look up 10 minutes later and there would be a whole new horde. Nothing on the walls—no babies crawling up or down—they just mysteriously apparated on the ceiling. Weird.

The house itself is full of spiders. Most of them are what we call dust spiders, although I believe the more accurate name is harvestman. They vibrate when they are disturbed. I think every corner in the house has at least one of these spiders. Even in the closets you will see them down in the corners by the floor as well as up on the ceiling.  But lately there are new spiders in the house: big black hairy spiders that are not on my friendly list; spiders with the same shape as black widows; little jumping spiders- very cute, but enough is enough. 

Up until now I have had a laissez faire attitude with the spider kingdom. Spiders in sinks or tubs got washed down the drain. Spiders in corners were largely ignored. Spiders in the kitchen window were welcomed as they caught the annoying fruit flies that come in with produce.  But now?  I just feel crawly. 

I am planning a vacuuming campaign in all the corners tonight. With the house in such disarray, I am afraid they are breeding with no checks and balances. Both Jack and I have unexplained, extremely itchy bites in odd places. Are they getting in our clothes? Are we getting bitten when the fabric pulls tight? I don’t know, but I am going on a rampage. And not just inside, but it is time to take the broom to all the doorways and windows on the outside of the house. I’m turning into a monster!

But wait, some of them are really interesting! We get several varieties of metallic colored spiders in the garden. These guys are small and fast, making it very hard to get a decent picture.

Here is a metallic green striped spider. It is small enough that I would not have seen it, had I not been on my hands and knees watering and weeding, thus ending up eye level with it. But you have to admit, this is one pretty spider!

12 August 2011 - Say it ain't so

I had one of those moments today. The kind that stop you dead in your tracks. I took my first cup of coffee out on the deck this morning. The air was crisp and cool--wait, what? Crisp? Yes, crisp like the first hint of fall. I stood there in disbelief. Then as I was pulling out of the driveway on my way to work I saw a small sprig of leaves on the dogwood starting to turn red. My mind was screaming, "Too early! Please say it isn't so." It is only August.

In other news, we have the backyard rodent report. The biggest woodchuck I have ever seen is living in the culvert under Ann Mary's driveway. He often slithers under our fence and wanders through the new lot. I generally chase him off, firstly because I don't want him eating our veggies, and secondly, because it is really fun to watch him run. He humps like a ferret or weasel, but because he is so large it rather comical to watch. It's a   little hard to see in this picture, but his muzzle is gray and he has a lot of gray on his shoulders. He must be pretty old.

The other rodents that are showing up regularly are two black squirrels. They have discovered the sunflower feeder and spend quite a bit of time eating the seeds. The ferals are most interested and practice their stalking skills on the squirrels. 

They are smaller than the fox squirrels that have been in the yard since we moved here. I read some where that the black squirrels are aggressive and will chase the fox squirrels out of a neighborhood.

In addition to this, I have seen the occasional chipmunk on the front sidewalk. Where are they all coming from? Makes you wonder. On the upside, we have not had any gophers or moles this year. Could the ferals be keeping that population under control?  Don't know, but I know I appreciate not falling in tunnels when I walk across the lawn.

There are other entries to the backyard shenanigans: for example, this incredible gaping maw. I believe the parent is thinking "I don't want to go down that worm hole!"

This is the third sparrow brood in that bird house so far this summer. I'm pretty sure there is only one bird-chick in the nest. Wonder if the others fell out, were pushed out, or if a starling sneaked in and laid an egg for the unsuspecting sparrows to raise.

My garden angel is getting a nice patina after all these years of standing on guard. It doesn't matter what season of the year it is, whether he is surrounded by flowers or covered with snow, I am just happy to know he is out there watching over my little world.

I need to figure out how to get him back to SLC with me. 

Even though it is only August, I have fall plants blooming early.  The fall anemones are opening now.  The clethra is full bloom. It fills the backyard with a heavy sweet scent. I love it!  So do the big, black wasps and mud daubers. They swarm over the flower spikes and defend their territory from any comers. The purple berry bush is setting its berries now, too. It all seems too early.

August skies are very distinctive. Mornings will show off incredibly clear blue skies. By afternoon, the horizon will be covered with puffy, but flat bottomed clouds. Here's a typical August afternoon sky.

This is a daily sight on my way home from work. 

9 August 2011 - Pick it, pack it, or part with it

I'm tired!  After the last couple of weeks, the song running through my head is I'm Tired, as sung by Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles.  The pertinent lyrics are:


I'm tired,
Tired of playing the game
Ain't it a crying shame
I'm so tired
God dammit I'm exhausted.

Okay, so I'm not tired of love, I'm just bone tired. Robin came out for the last two weeks in July to help us pack up the house to prepare for moving. She arrived on a Sunday to chaos. Jack and I had spent the previous couple of weeks emptying out our bedroom and the library, then painting, stripping the carpets and padding for the arrival of new carpet on Monday. Our guest room, so to speak was packed full. There was a small path from the door to the bed, and not any room for her belongings.

Robin, our self-professed fog flower, arrived in the midst of a heat wave accompanied by the requisite high humidity. I can't believe how hard she worked in such debilitating conditions. It was hard for me and I'm used to it. She did get both Jack and me drinking lots of Gatorade. I don't like it, but it does stop the nausea and light-headedness brought on from working in the heat. We had almost two weeks of temps from 98 to 101. Brutal. 

Sunday, we dismantled the water bed in anticipation of the new carpet and discovered it had some leaks and decided to pitch it. On Monday, not only did we have the carpet people in, but the pod was delivered. We quickly loaded the two apothecary cabinets, which freed up some floor space for working and packing in Robin's room. Then Robin and I went out bed shopping. We found a perfect bed (soft enough for Jack and firm enough for me) which would be delivered the next day. At least that was the plan. Due to some unexplained circumstances, the bed wasn't delivered until Friday, but after sleeping on the floor for five nights, it felt great! Still does.

Because Jack and I have already taken two full 17 foot U-Haul trucks to Utah, the stuff that is left is hard--really hard to deal with. Not only is every item fraught with pitch, pack or give away decisions, much of it is just the detritus of living. Stuff you need and want, but don't know how to deal with. It is draining.

The mission for these two weeks was to fill up a POD and have it shipped to Salt Lake. We packed everything in sight and the POD is only half full. Amazing. Everything took much longer than I thought it would. We packed a couple of type cabinets. Sounds easy, right? Oh no. For example, Robin carefully cut cardboard to fit the many different types of cases. We snapped the cardboard over the type then wrapped the case in stretch wrap. One case could take up to 20 minutes, and it took two of us to handle the case and stretch wrap.

Robin made a gallant effort to live up to her nickname, Robin the Ruthless, but she was in clean out mode and I was in the I-still-have-to-live-here frame of mind. Hard on both of us. But even so, I can't believe how much progress we made in spite of ourselves. The biggest piece, I think is that the attic is completely empty. Amazing.  It just kills me that I didn't take a before picture.  It took Robin and me two days to empty the attic. Everything went out of the house.

The three P's. Pick, pack or part with it. Lots of stuff went straight into the garbage. It is astonishing to see how much stuff you keep just because you can. Even more stuff went into the metal pile for the scavengers. Halfway decent stuff went into the driveway for a freecycle free-for-all. The deck was covered with boxes to deal with. Jack's pile, my pile and a muzzleloading pile. Stuff that needed individual decisions.

The majority of the contents of the attic went into the free-for-all. I put it on the freecycle list with a long list of items and said opens at 10 am. We had people showing up at 9. When we threw our hands up in the air at 10 it was total mayhem. Everything was gone in 30 minutes. The three of us were running around crazy, answering questions and hauling stuff. Our heads were spinning!

We also pulled the aquariums out of the garage for the free-for-all. Unfortunately, no one wanted the big ones, (a couple of the 20 gallons walked out with people), so we put them out for the garbage, and to our amazement, our guys picked them up! Yay!

Cats. It was hard to get going in the morning as we were highly entertained by our feral colony: my three favs, Hughie, Big Fluff and Little Fluff, plus Hughie's four kittens which were in the starting to pounce phase, and the occasional visits from Tabico and her two kids. It was a zoo, and fun to watch. The second week that Robin was here, Little Fluff had a litter of five. We gathered up the five, plus Hughie's four (all of whom had some sort of deformity) and took them to the animal shelter. While we were there we discovered that Oakland County has a spay and release program. All you have to do is attend a class, sign up your colony, then spay and neuters are only $10. Wow.  Jack and I will take the class in August, and try to get Hughie, Big and Little Fluffs fixed. I'm afraid they are already back in heat.

Back at the ranch, Jack rented a power washer and cleaned the deck, the siding, the gutters, and also sprayed all the loose and peeling paint off the garage. We have paint for the garage and sealer for the deck, but haven't had the weather for it yet. And during all the packing, there was lawn to mow, gardens to water, japanese beetles to battle.

We had some great wildlife. Whilst picking the dreaded Japanese beetles off my loosestrife, I found a bee (hornet? wasp?) that was totally new to my yard. Bright orange, black wings, and huge back legs. Most bees are a golden color, wasps tend toward yellow. This orange was definitely a bright orange.

I did a preliminary google search to find out who it was, but came up empty. Need to spend more time at that. 

Yet another morning, having coffee on the deck the sun was slanting through the maple at just the right angle to see a perfect orb web.

The way the sun sparkled on the strands it almost looked like a CD suspended in the air. 

The architect is smack-dab in the middle dealing with her latest catch.