Roo and the Squad Car helped me draft the gallery Christmas email card and we sent it out day before yesterday. They were very happy with the message and are hoping to see some old friends stop by the gallery, have a glass of wine and a sprig of catnip.
Another routine that both of them have come to love is the open window policy. When it gets nice enough, I open the back window and put a wooden box by it so then get up into the window and check out the great outdoors. After the loving, eating, and playing in the morning, they both stand in front of the window waiting for me to open it. They jump up on the box and their noses go crazy. So many smells, so little time. They both spend a lot of time laying on the window sill or the box. Sometimes there is a territorial dispute that I have to referee, but for the most part, peace is the word of the day when the window is up.
They are both having a good time and enjoying the window, but I thought a little more stimulation would be good for them. I stopped by the pet store and picked up a small bird feeder. Can you see were I am going with this? I hung the feeder about twenty feet from the window on a piece of wire strung between two poles and loaded up the feeder with good wild bird food. It took a couple of days for the local feathered population to realize there was a free soup kitchen in the neighborhood. When word got around about the free chow, there were numerous mid-air collisions and a lot of near misses. I Have to fill the feeder every two days now.
What was the effect on Roo and Squad Car? I imagine they had both seen birds during their childhoods and had a vague recollection of what birds were for - stalking and eating. The first day the birds started showing up in large numbers, the two of them were a little intimidated and spent a lot of time running from the window when a huge, dangerous sparrow would swoop down and land on the feeder. But, their courage did return by the second day and the cat posturing took over. the crouching , the sneaking and pouncing ran amok. I am glad I installed heavy duty screens. They loved this new diversion.
The other action I got see was "bird talking". A lot of cats will "talk" to the birds and I have no idea why they do this. They don't even sound like a bird, but it seems to make them believe they are enticing the birds closer and closer. The sound is a series of high pitched squeaks caused by rapidly opening and closing their mouths. It is really funny watching their whiskers quiver as the are doing their bird calls. Squad Car does her bird calls all the time. Even if she on my lap and a bird flies by, the calls start. Roo is not as crazy about doing bird calls but if a juicy bird gets too close, the bird calls will start. They spend many happy hours now as little ornithologists. It is a shame they don't make little cat binoculars. They think the bird feeder is a huge success. Here is a recent photo of the two ornithologists at the back window trying to identify a new species.
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