There are a LOT of feral cats in our neighborhood. Every time a female goes into heat, the night-time hollering, howling, and wailing is enough to drive a person out of one's mind. Sleep is an impossibility. The start up at around 11:00 p.m., just when you ting you are asleep, and carry on for a while. then, they start up again around 5:00 a.m., when you want that last little bit of sleep. They destroy an 8-hour sleep, turning it into a 4 or 5 hour sleep. That gets old after a while.
Now, compound that numerous times with the presence of many, many female cats. On the other hand, there is the issue with the male cats. Some of them probably belong to residents -- people who don't accept responsibility for their animals, leaving their tom-cats to roam the neighborhood at night. The toms fight. They compete for the females. The holler and howl. They "talk" to each other face-to-face, sounding like a child who is being mercilessly beaten. They destroy sleep and sanity.
So, I trap cats . . . and take them to the animal shelter. . . . and hope for sleep. I also wait for the day that tom-cats don't piss all over my motorcycles in the process of marking their territory. When they do, it ruins the clear lacquer on the wheels. Cat pee can destroy most anything, it seems.
If you have a cat, neuter it. There are too many cats running around. It is estimated that there are half a million (give or take 100K or so) feral cats in this city. That's too many, by a loooong shot.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ring-Necked White Dove
A couple of people have viewed this photo on my flickr page and told me that ring-necked white doves are rare in the wild. I guess that makes me a fortunate person in that I watch them frequently on my back fence. I quietly take position inside the house. The doves are very cautious -- more cautious than the other birds. There is a bird feeder in the patio next door. Other birds zoom straight in to the feeder. The doves land on the roof of our building and scope the scene from two stories up. Sometimes, they move to the carport roof to survey it a little closer. They know the cats might be there (yes, the feral cats). Then, they move to the fence to check out access to the feeder. The fence gives them a good view of the area. While they are taking their time on approach, I can get good shots of them thru the window. They are aware of every shutter click. That causes them to look in my direction, even though I'm in the house with the doors and windows closed. I have to move slowly so that I don't spook them. This bird raised his head and looked in my direction as a result of a shutter click, giving me a much nicer "pose".
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