fitting help (man's shirt)

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 10:04:11 -0400, Jean D Mahavier wrote (in message ):

LOL - I thnk though we'd better not take Puddin' camping with us - I'm just not sure an 8 lb cat could chase off the elk in the area. We were glad we hadn't taken him on a recent trip when, despite many years of outdoor experience, we made the cardinal neophyte camper error of leaving our food out of the car overnight. luckily all that got in it was martens (a type of weasel), none of the area bear visited us. Judging by how the martens were sounding off at each other at 1 am, Puddin' would not have prevailed against them!

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 5:42:01 -0400, Kay Lancaster wrote (in message ):

Heh, he likes it, but only when he's in the mood for it. Naturally, he is a

*cat*! LOL He has taken over our favorite snuggly fleece piece in the living room.

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 18:02:53 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote (in message ):

But by then I'M too worn out to do anything! I have to get better at teh tough love thing with him. Right now I'm too soft-hearted to shut him away from us for long.

The svelte twelve-pound yellow-and-white rabbit-eating cat who once brought home a beagle. I just barely got the other door open in time to keep the dog from going out through a closed window.

Erica settled for chipmunks; Al has never killed anything but the strings we tie to his stick.

Joy Beeson

Jean

I would never advise a person with severe cat allergies to attempt to adopt a so-called hypoallergenic cat. Allergies are about proteins. An allergic person has a hyperactive immune system that reacts to harmless substances as if they were dangerous alien invaders.

It's not just the dander and/or the fur. Cat saliva is extremely allergenic. Cats - all cats, "low dander" and hairless included - lick themselves, the saliva dries and ends up floating in the air as dust where it is breathed in by everyone in the household. That's why I tell friends with cats not to bother locking the cat in the bedroom when I visit; the air itself is already saturated with essence of cat. I just pre-medicate and don't stay very long; an overnight visit would be simply out of the question.

Worse yet, the allergens linger long after the cat is gone. If you get a cat, discover you can't tolerate it and have to re-home the animal you'll still be coping with symptoms for weeks if not months after he or she leaves the house. Especially if you've got carpeting and curtains (hard surfaces are much easier to contaminate). It can get into the ductwork, too, and be nearly impossible to remove. I wouldn't even consider purchasing a house that had belonged to long-term cat owners (or smokers).

And then there's the heartbreak of having to give up a pet that you've bonded with, that has become a member of the family, because you simply can't breathe any more.

Nope, don't do it. If you or a member of your family are seriously allergic to cats don't let anybody talk you into bringing *any* kind of cat home. It's not worth it.

Kathleen "The Voice of Experience" Hansen

There are semi-feral cats in my neighborhood. A man on the next street feeds them. The females also try to hunt. I don't think well-fed cats are particularly good hunters, but they make a stab at it. The males are only interested in the females. They don't hunt. Fortunately, it looks like the man has had the females spayed because despite the males' best efforts, there are no kittens this year.

Our SPCA has a feral neutering project -- they will neuter ferals and re-release them into their old area, figuring that they are doing well, why mess with success. They keep the rodent populations under control.

I would have no problem if *all* they brought down were rodents. However, they seem here to delight in stalking and catching *numerous* songbirds. Yuck! Many of my neighbors seem to think everyone else welcomes their non-feral cats into our yards to use as kitty toilets...nope!

Beverly

Ah, this is true. These cats would like to catch a bird....they sit for hours and study them, make abortive dashes at them under a feeder... I am sure I can hear the birds laughing. I don't have much in the way of songbirds - chicadees, sparrows, goldfinches, warblers, robins, mourning doves, quail, starlings, a woodpecker, two scrub jays (my peanut planters), and an occasional visit from a flicker. I did have a crow's nest in one tree and a fledgling fell to the ground. While he was around, the crows kept cats out of the yard. Unfortunately, they kept us out, too. I was wondering if I could negotiate with a crow to become a yard bird.

Last year we had a pair of crows that nested on a lone dead tree branch that stuck out over our smaller veggie garden. The hatchlings were hungry constantly and made a horrible ruckus, especially when we ventured into the garden. But it was interesting to see how devoted both parents were, constantly flying back and forth to keep their young ones fed. This year we have a pair of Canada geese that visit the garden and one lone turkey. Usually we have at least several males that hang around in the shade on one of the patios and a few females who bring their broods to catch what falls under the feeders. I love to watch them in the lower (larger) garden, marching down the beds with their heads popping up & down until they venture in the wrong direction and the deer scarers go off and spray them with water. Turkies fly so much better than you would think. But this year I have seen only one lone female. I have a feeling the labs across the road have something to do with that....

*aack* I read up on crows while they were here, and was amazed at what I found. I'd always thought them "undesirable" but it turns out that they are beneficial and have strong family values! The youngsters leave the parents, but come back to visit once or twice a year. Mother's Day? Father's Day? Thanksgiving? All crows will come to the aid of a crow in need, whether related or not. Orphans will be adopted and cared for, too. Crows are usually monogamous. Their "song" is not melodious, but I have developed an appreciation and admiration for them.

I am particularly fond of the quail, with their little topknots. The males and their question mark, the females with their exclamation point. Then I have a pair of scrub jays who come and call to me so that I will toss them some peanuts. They also eat some of the feed that falls from the feeder. The little rascals who eat at the feeder always throw some down. My yard must be full of buried peanuts by now, since the jays usually "plant" them rather than eat them. But it's addicting to me, to have this little relationship with them. I have wondered if they ever ask each other why I don't plant my own *(^*!! peanuts and not rely on them to do it for me. But if there are no peanuts out there for them, they call at the window.

My troupe includes: American goldfinches, red-breasted nuthatches, black-capped chickadees, cedar waxwings, starlings, robins, varied thrushes, chipping sparrows, rufous-sided towhees, mourning doves, flickers, western bluebirds, downy woodpeckers, orange-crowned warblers, Oregon juncos, common bushtits, Bewick's wrens, Audubon's warblers, purple finches, Steller's jays, scrub jays, fox sparrows, black-throated gray warblers, western meadowlarks, Brewer's blackbirds, lesser goldfinches, water pipits, Townsend's warblers, house wrens, red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, Bullock's orioles, black-headed grosbeaks, evening grosbeaks, white-crowned sparrows, pileated woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks, barn swallows, tree swallows, violet-green swallows, and at least three varieties of hummingbirds.

And these are all the ones I've sighted in my own backyard. I keep several seed-feeders and three hummingbird feeders going all the time. My life list includes many water birds from near here and at the coast.

Sewing is one hobbey, bird-watching is another.

Beverly

You not only have more species than I, but you're also a dab hand with the Petersen Guide! LOL! I need to get new glasses, too. When you are here, you might be able to point out some of the finer points. I notice that a lot of my birds are wearing flashier than usual plumage, which I suppose may fade to brown after breeding season. Sometimes it's surprising to me to see what looks like a sparrow, wearing a soft orange-red instead of the usual - or is it a different bird? I do love the downy-headed woodpecker and the flicker - there's no mistaking them. I've had a red-tailed hawk come down off a telephone pole and take a dove on the wing. It rained feathers for hours.

My husband walks to work, and one week he felt that he was being watched as he went along one street. After a few days of this, he looked around carefully -- and spotted a rather large owl that was spotting him. I'm glad the owl decided he was too big for dinner.

Actually, my favorite guide is still the "A Guide to Field Identification - BIRDS of North America", c.1966, published by Golden. My original copy is falling apart, my second one has yet to be updated with all my sightings (place, date, etc.). I also have a couple of other field guides, but I find the drawings, and descriptions, and range information in the Golden to be the most useful.

I have several pair, scattered around the house so I can get a good look from where ever I happen to be when I spot one.

Delighted to be of assistance. ;-) I have turned my younger DD on to birdwatching, too, she and I call each other often with a new sighting.

Oh, agreed! They are both such spectacular birds. The flash of orange when the flicker takes off is beautiful. The silly downy woodpeckers came right up to the window where I had a peanutbutter pinecone hanging, so I got a really good view.

Yikes! The hawk here was possibly injured, he sat in the big maple out back for several hours without moving. After a while he just disappeared.

LOL! Watch his back!

Beverly

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 1:56:17 -0400, Scare Crowe wrote (in message ):

hmmmm, sounds like a very good use for those old pairs of pantyhose that my ailing thumbs refuse to pull up any longer! I may get that pantyhose drawer in my dresser back for other usses now.

Those sparrow-looking birds can be found in your guide under Purple Finch. Yes, I know, it must be a misnomer you think, because it's more rust than purple. Someone must have been colorblind. Since they cut down so many trees in our area to build a development behind us, most of our other birds have found better pastures. The Purple Finches stayed on and are constant visitors at our feeder. Several years ago they suffered with conjunctivitus. I'm glad they still come.

Most entertaining to watch owls. Reminds me of an old joke.

One spring evening a farmer called a vet out to help a young cow calve. The vet set up his gas lantern and went straight to work. An owl was flying past and perched on a branch overhead to watch. As the vet worked intently, the owl watched intently unaware that he was breathing fumes from the lamp. The vet was startled when the owl passed out, fell off the branch, and landed at his side. Once he finished pulling the calf, the vet checked out the unconscious owl and decided to fix owlie's sore throat and hemeroids. When the owl came around, the vet had finished up and gone.

Several nights later the owl was flying around with another owl when they noticed a light down below among the trees. The second owl wanted to go down for a look-see. First owl said, "No way. I did that the other night. Ever since I haven't been able to * worth a hoot or hoot worth a * ."

I know, it's a long way to go for a groaner.

Sharon

Ha! Ha! It was worth the wait!

Thank you. Added to my Amazon Wish List.

My DH gave me the Peterson Guide and a small pair of binoculars. It's put me in a quandary. To use the binoculars, I have to take my glasses off, and my eyes are so bad that I still can hardly make anything out, plus the problem of finding what I'm trying to see....binoculars are not "homing" devices. I have to find something I recognize and then work right or left, up or down from there and by the time I get there, whatever is likely to be gone. Frustrating.

I am drawing the line at making a list. Haha. What comes, comes, and I just try to enjoy the visit. I still smoke, but not in the house, so I spend some time on the back porch, which is the old kind that's closed in with windows all around. I have a stool by a window, and unlatch the screen to toss out my peanuts. I got a huge Rubbermaid container with wheels that is outside, and I keep the feed in there. When it was in bags on the backporch, some mice helped themselves, despite the feline presence. The container is mouse and raccoon proof, so far, anyway. I am spending a bit on birdfood, though. Little devils eat and drop food to the others on the ground, and go through the feeder in a day. I must be offering them too good a smorgasbord. I have two feeders - one with thistle for the finches and wrens, another with mixed feed of millet, corn, sunflower seed and I don't know what else. In the winter, I put out a suet cake and another cake of compressed feed. Then there's the birdbath...

Yes, I think you're right! I found the picture in the guide, and that's what they look like. The color isn't quite right and there's a lot of detail in the book that I can't make out on the birds themselves, but it makes sense, and I think you've identified my pretty little birds!