Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘indoor cats’

No Fast Food In Our Yard!

Posted by terrepruitt on July 10, 2017

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitWe have yard animals. I like to feed the animals that come in the yard. I like to feed them because I feel bad that all of the land that is around our house and neighborhood that was once orchards and fields is now developed. I feel bad that the animals have no home and no place to forage for food. So I feed them. Also, it is great entertainment for our cats. I feel bad keeping cats as “indoor only” even if I believe it is for their own good. I wish they could go out and play and chase animals . . . but I really don’t want them to catch them. Anyway . . . I like to have yard animals to help entertain the girls. I love having hummingbirds. And, if you have ever read any of my yard animal post you know I LOVE (LOVE , LOVE , LOVE ) when birds bathe in the bird bath. I like to think of our yard as an animal oasis. So when I saw the hawk in the yard, I was so happy. It was exciting to me that a hawk would visit the yard. I didn’t notice the squirrel right away. When I did I thought, “Oh how sweet!” (Eyes rolling!) Then is dawned on me! AAAAAACCCCCKKKKK! This hawk is thinking our yard is like a fast food joint where he could grab a quick meal. Then I really thought about it, and although I could be wrong . . . I figured this hawk couldn’t get the squirrel. And either the squirrel was totally oblivious, totally dumb, or figured the same thing that I did.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitI think the hawk needs to attack from air. They don’t just jump on their prey from the ground. They use their speed to help attack. Well, our yard is way too small for an aerial attack from this size of bird. He tried a few positions on a couple of rocks in the yard. He sat there watching the squirrel. Then he jumped to the fence and sat there for a bit. The he flew to a rooftop. I think he was really trying to figure out how to get the squirrel. He was determined. But, I think he concluded the same thing that me and the squirrel we so confident in. Our yard is too small. It has to many things in it for him to be able to spread his wings. He would never be able to fly down and attack. He sat there on the roof a bit, then he left.

This was quite a long time ago. In 2008. I hadn’t thought about it in a long time. But I was going through some stuff on my computer and I found the pictures. They make me laugh because I really did think, at first, that our yard was an oasis where animals could be together in peace. Yeah, as soon as my mind completed the thought I got it.

I think this is Cooper’s Hawk. We used to have a lot of them around. I think they used to nest in the trees near by. But as I said, there is no land around us any longer. There are no hunting grounds for birds of prey so they have gone. Now we just have a lot of people, housing, cars, traffic, and all that goes with it.

At least I have my pictures. And since I am sharing them . . . you do, too!

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Posted in Birds, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Assessing The Threat Level – Can It Eat Us?

Posted by terrepruitt on August 16, 2011

Our cat is an indoor cat. She does not go outside. I honestly feel that cats should be able to go outside. There are so many fun things for cats to experience; butterflies, grass, fences, frogs, lizards, flowers, etc. They do belong outside, able to roam, but unfortunately there are also many dangers. In addition to believing that cats really should be allowed to go outside, I feel that people must take responsibility for their pet(s) and that can come with a heavy price tag. Neither my heart nor my wallet could afford having to fix my cat if one of those outside dangers were to injure her. In our neighborhood we have raccoons, opossums, dogs, cats, cars, and sometimes the worst danger of all . . . other people. Not everyone is an animal lover or they might not enjoy a kitty fertilizing their garden — understandable. So we keep our cat inside. She, like a lot of indoor animals, LOVES to sit by any open door or window. She can sit there for hours. She stares and sniffs, and sniffs and stares. She will often go from door to door as if patrolling her yard. My hubby and I feed birds and squirrels in our yard in hopes that they will serve as entertainment for the cat. We have learned that we are overly entertained by our yard animals too. As I have posted before, the animals often distract me when I am doing a Nia routine or working out.

My hubby and I also have animal protocol, if there is an animal in the yard and we are on our way out to the yard, we stop and wait for it to settle or be gone. If we are in the yard and one comes in we freeze and let it do what it is there to do then we proceed. We often will stop what we are doing (pause a DVD, pause our conversation, etc.) to watch the various critters that come to visit. They are very entertaining. They eat, they play, they drink, they take baths. It is all very fun to watch. They can be quite silly.

We used to have blue jays come with their babies every year. They must have nested in our neighbor’s yard, because one year he drastically trimmed the trees and the babies that visit now are not nearly as young as the ones we used to have. So I believe the birds are having their babies elsewhere and sometimes they come here to eat or bath, but they are not here over a period of months as they once were. It is interesting and very amusing watching “babies” learn new things.

I believe the video included in this post is a group of “baby” hummingbirds. They are either babies or they are adults new to our yard and they have not seen the “house” that we allow our cat to go outside in. The hummingbirds swarm around the house to see what exactly is the threat of the animal inside. It is quite entertaining. They did this just a few times and have since learned that she is no threat and they act as if she is not there. The squirrels often check her out though. They climb on the table and peer in at her. She just looks back at them, rarely does she rush at them. She knows she can’t get them, but I don’t think they are always so sure.

On this video you can hear the birds making their little chitter noise. I imagine them saying, “What is it doing?  What is it?  Can it eat us?”

Posted in Birds | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments »