Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Here, Kitty, Kitty





  Since I am still catless, I have to get my cat fix where I can. This house on my morning walking route provides a constant supply of cat cuteness! An elderly man lives here and feeds all who come to the table. I counted 12 waiting this morning. I think he leaves the watermelon on the left for the fox family that lives in the woods next door. 

 
  We recently spent time with my mom at her care home in Florida where indoor and outdoor sitting areas allow the human residents to enjoy the wildlife — raccoons, egrets, squirrels, ibises, and this Sandhill Crane family.  The guy on the right with its beak open is a youngster still being fed by the parents. 


  Besides the animals, the grounds are beautiful with huge 400 year old oak trees draped with Spanish moss along a large creek. The craziest thing though — the prettiest view is reserved for the smokers, which seems very unfair to Mom and to us! 

  She isn’t always happy to be there but she does love being able to take herself outside and enjoy nature.




  On the drive back home we spotted this interesting cloud towering in the sky. 









  


  The top appeared indented and bowl-shaped.  
  Never seen one like it before. 





  Meanwhile, the South Carolina summer does not disappoint those who love heat and humidity. 

And here’s how I handle it! 

A fair bit of complaining and …


😎 😎 😎

12 comments:

  1. Glad your mum is able to see something of the natural world from her home. We are having to learn to cope with higher temperatures in the SE of England. We have had no rain for 7 weeks now so a hosepipe ban will be in place soon. No more watering the garden or cleaning the car ( not that I do either of those).

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  2. Anthropogenic threats, such as collisions with man-made structures, vehicles, poisoning and predation by domestic pets, combine to kill billions of wildlife annually. Free-ranging domestic cats have been introduced globally and have contributed to multiple wildlife extinctions on islands. The magnitude of mortality they cause in mainland areas remains speculative, with large-scale estimates based on non-systematic analyses and little consideration of scientific data. Here we conduct a systematic review and quantitatively estimate mortality caused by cats in the United States. We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality. Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals. Scientifically sound conservation and policy intervention is needed to reduce this impact.

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  3. Odd for me to see cats outside as most people where I live keep them inside so they don't get run over or kill birds etc. It must be lovely for your mum to be able to get outside and see some wild life. Take care.

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  4. Sounds like your Mom is recovering well. Heat arriving here today but only for one day. We are off to Lake Ontario for a week vacation with whole family on Saturday. Should be pleasant by the water.

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  5. Wow that is a bunch of feral cats. I hope he took some in to be spayed or neutered. We have a nightly visitor and we could put out food but I am sure it would share with a skunk! Instead it will take care of mice and voles:) Those are some pretty Sand Hill Cranes! I hope your Mom is doing okay!

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  6. Oh I love the house with all the kitties. I LOVE folks who feed all the animals. I also love and look forward to your posts. Cynthia, I think about you often, wondering if you have adjusted to the hot humid South Carolina summer weather. Glad your Mom has a nice home where she can enjoy the outdoors and wildlife. There's nothing like those big old trees hanging in Spanish Moss.

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  7. Dear Cynthia, I can't imagine what the elderly man living in the "cat house" must spend on food for his daily visitors. It speaks to his generosity and deep love of all life that he feeds all these strays. Albert Schweitzer would recognize him as a truly mature human being who sees the Oneness of all created being.

    Thank you, Cynthia, for the comment you left today or maybe yesterday on my most recent blog posting. And yes, I so agree with you that Ruby reflects, in her values and creativity, her fortitude and her common sense her mom. May peace, pressed down and overflowing, come into our lives from surprising deep wells of those who would be the "bridge over troubled waters." And . . . finally, have you made a decision about living with another cat? Coming to that takes time. Peace again from Dee Ready

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  8. Read on Facebook about a homeless man who had 47... yes, 47.. cats in his car !!

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  9. Haha I do like the thought of the bird blowing on the worm. I can tell you this little wren has found the UK this summer hot enough to blow on the worms too! I love the indoor cats watching the outdoor cat parade!
    Have a great weekend
    Wren x

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  10. Actually that cloud reminds me of an atomic bomb cloud. Shudder. That crane is a youngster? It's huge!

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  11. Oh my that's a lot of cats. I would think leaving food outside would cause some nasty rodent problems. I agree with Kay above the cloud reminded me of an atomic bomb as well. Sounds like your Mom's care facilty is nice; but it's too bad the best view is for the smokers. Popped in from a mutual blog friends blog. It's always nice to meet new blogger, hope you'll swing by for a visit.

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  12. it seems funny to hear how the heat is a bother when we are cold, although today is beautiful spring weather but another cold snap is on the way. Your Mum's home sounds lovely except for the smokers benefiting. Those cats shocked me because we are not allowed to have cats free. Feral cats are a huge problem for our native animals.

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