Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Lost and Found - Who Named This Cat?

It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat. 
He is a philosophical, 
methodical animal, 
tenacious of his own habits, 
fond of order and neatness, 
and disinclined to extravagant sentiment. 
He will be your friend, 
if he finds you worthy of friendship, 
but not your slave.
Théophile Gautier, Menagerie intime


There's been a bit of drama around here of late. Hobbes,* the menace of a yellow tabby who arrived at our house in 1999,** escaped while DH and I were preparing for a weekend of nature nerd training.*** We were scheduled to be out of town (although only 30 miles away) for a long weekend with day-long field trips added to each end. But on Thursday evening we noticed Hobbes was missing.

We had been loading the car for over an hour. I remember seeing an early attempt to sneak out, but foiled it. Of course I warned him, but Hobbes never listens.

We only realized he was gone because Hobbes always naps in one lap or the other in the evenings. [Resulting in unplugged computers or nonsensical sentences (typed by kitty paws) in the middle of an email as DH and I are often working on our laptops in the evenings.****] Anyway, Hobbes wasn't there. His food bowl was abandoned (as was the litter box).

When the dear boy has escaped in the past, he was always back by morning. He would sit on the back steps and yowl until someone let him in. And he would come back in like, "What? You knew I'd be back." 

So, when he wasn't on the back step when we got up, we expected the worst. There are two new toms in the neighborhood. We suspected that he was tired and went to ground as cats sometimes do or he had lost a battle with one of the toms. Still, we had already discussed how the cats had been especially distressed by their last boarding. I would come back home from the conference and check on the cats at least once a day. And that is what I did. I was home each morning. I walked the yard and called. I drove the neighborhood. Nothing.

On Monday we skipped our scheduled hike. We were exhausted and soul weary. I posted a photo and the story on the neighborhood Facebook page and called the girls. They handled the news so well - much better than I did. 

Tuesday morning brought messages on the FB page. Hobbes had been seen - first in our block and then three blocks away. We checked through the neighborhood and waited. Zelda (who loves everyone and sniffs every scent) walked with me towards the last place Hobbes had been seen. I encouraged, "Find Hobbsie!" And Zelda sniffed and sniffed and seemed excited (but if you know her you know she is always excited). [Little did I know, at this same time our neighbors had posted on the FB page that Hobbes was in her yard and asked for someone to get in touch with me.]

As we turned the corner we saw our neighbor sitting on her porch and her son playing in the yard - WITH HOBBES.

I stopped and stared. Was that really him? Yes, yes it was.

Now, nothing is easy with Hobbes. He would not let anyone catch him until - he was lured by a bowl of food - I grabbed him. Even though he balked at being caught he relaxed in my arms and allowed himself to be carried home where we fed him and took on the task of reverse notification of everyone. Yes, news of his demise was premature (and after I had written a wonderful obit).

He's been sleeping and eating and drinking - as if nothing happened. We suspect he may have tried to come home, but one or both of the toms chased him away. He found some people who fed him and so he waited. [DH got lost in the woods while hunting once. He said Hobbes followed his plan: If you are lost, find some friendly civilians who will feed you and wait.]

Playing solitaire
There is no lesson here except maybe LOVE is LOVE - even when you love a cranky, moth-eaten old cat who cannot find his way home without help from friends and neighbors and a lot of luck.


NOTES:

*If you know nothing of the cartoon "Calvin and Hobbes," you won't get it. In the cartoon Calvin (a busy little guy) and his toy tiger Hobbes go on adventures and get into mischief. Hobbes is alive to Calvin, but just a stuffed toy to everyone else. When the yellow Tomcat wandered into our house the kids decided he could only be named "Hobbes." It was the perfect name for this menace of a cat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes

**Yes. Yes, he is 19 years old. That's 92 in cat years if you care about such things. We do call him a cranky old man because he is.

***Texas Master Naturalist State Meeting. 

****...more so recently because, while the WiFi works, the cable has been out off and on since the last deluge. We have not missed it - much. The last time it magically came on I drew DH's attention to it. 

"It's on," I said, motioning to the TV set.
"What? The TV?" he responded. I nodded - he shrugged and replaced his headphones. We live an exciting life these days. Maybe that explains Hobbes' desire for a little adventure.



Tuesday, October 30, 2018

5 Crows, 3 Herons, 2 Spiders, 1 Hawk (spiders at the end)

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
 - Langston Hughes

This can be a peaceful start to the day - a walk along the creek.
On this first walk in the park in weeks (rain and absence - and a little "tired" - prevented us from our regular monitoring of wild things) there were three Great Blue Herons fishing away, five American Crows "mobbing" one of the Red-shouldered Hawks we watched "grow up" here all summer, and two spiders spinning large webs. There was much discussion of the wind and weather expected over the next few days as well as the time change coming up.

We did not see too many folks walking and running. They may have adjusted their outings based on the darkness. There was a police patrol that surprised us (it was nice to see them, but also made us wonder if there had been an incident that led to their presence).

Floods have left their mark, but the birds and park cats didn't seem to mind.

Neither cell phone nor good camera can take much of a photo in the dim light. We would revisit this GBH on the way back.
Under the Penelope Street bridge this GBH was having good luck.

I was distracted by a spider, but tried a few more shots of this bird. See how beautiful the water is right now - clear and flowing.
I promise I am going to take some classes with this camera.
Snail
This is that first GBH we saw in the almost-dawn light. I sometimes forget how well camouflaged they are.
Can you see it now?
How about now?
As we approached the Second Avenue bridge we were stunned by the amount of flood debris piled around the base of the bridge.
I wonder if there will be an effort to remove this snag.
Another view.
I mentioned to VM that we had not seen crows yet. And there they were.
First we saw one on the phone line.
Then we saw 5 mobbing* the Red-shouldered Hawk. It was strange and disturbing behavior. But these guys were part of it. Do not believe their feigned innocence.
Three times the crows chased the hawk away
This was the first perch we saw.
It came back and was chased (sorry, I missed the crows in this shot).
This was the second perch.
We love this bird - last seen fleeing across the creek. Check out the link below to learn about crow mobbing. All is well.

This GBH was down below the footbridge on the northern-most part of the park. How it could fish in this spot, I do not know.
They are such stately birds.
NOTES:

*http://archive-srel.uga.edu/outreach/ecoviews/ecoview110320.htm



*** SPIDER WARNING ***

These are two orbweavers. Spiders are tough. I am not sure about one and think the other's identification is correct. One never knows with spiders...
 
Under the Penelope Street Bridge. I couldn't get a good focus.
It's appropriate to find spiders this day before Halloween.
This spider was beautiful! And you can see from the disheveled web that it had been successful today.
 

Monday, October 29, 2018

The Butterfly Bush

“Don't be afraid. Change is such a beautiful thing," said the Butterfly.
~ Sabrina Newby


We have a shrub* in our garden - our ignored and overgrown garden - that blooms a smelly white flower. The fragrance of these blooms, fills the air with a sweet overwhelming scent. The shrub too wants to take over all the space in the garden - sending out long  gangly, brittle branches that shade-out smaller plants below. 

There has been a 20 year battle between us. I break off the branches, attempting to train the wayward plant and it sends out more - almost sneakily below and above the other plants. It refuses to cooperate and I refuse to give up.

But then it blooms. And when it blooms at just the right time, the butterflies come.**

Right now the bush (we call it a snowball bush, but aren't sure if that is the right name) is full of blooms and butterflies. It's also full of bees, flies and other pollinators. It happened over the weekend. I saw a few when I came home to check on kitties.***  Then it exploded.

Cold weather is threatened by Wednesday. I plan to visit and revisit the garden and see what other creatures visit before time is up. And this post will remind me to be gentle when I remove those twigs.



How many butterflies do you see?




They didn't all stay with the snowball bush.
Every now and then a decent shot
A Painted Lady I am told.

It's a webworm moth. I wish it wasn't. I think it is lovely, but I'm not fond of webworms.


This photo was marked for reporting as there is another "bug" just to the left.

There are many flies and bees on the blooms, but they often move to fast for even a bad photo.
Queens




I love the way the light and shadows impact the view.
Ailanthus Webworm moth
How can you tell a Queen from a Monarch? One way is that the white spots on a Monarch are completely surrounded by black. Not so on a Queen.

American Snout

Fiery Skipper
Ladybug, ladybug...
...fly away home! [Seven-spotted Ladybird]
Another type of webworm moth, but there is dissent in the database.
Locust Borer Beetle - it's probably a menace, but it is lovely.
The Ladybug you really don't want.

Another Queen (they almost always seem to pose)
Queen and Monarch
Another webworm moth

American Snouts
Another Monarch
Yellow-collared Scape Moth
You are new here - a Bordered Patch

NOTES:

*We got this shrub about 20 years ago from the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas.

**My favorite story about this bush and the butterflies: Years ago, right after the bush was well-established and blooming like crazy I was leaving for work when I saw a neighborhood child standing at the edge of the road next to the flowerbed with a huge pickle jar full of butterflies. As I walked over to her she apologized and said that she was planning to take the butterflies to school, but that she would "let my butterflies" go. I told her they weren't my butterflies and that she could take them to school, but she should release them after she showed her class. We talked about how important the butterflies were to all of us. Then I told her to try and leave the butterflies in the future, but that she could pick my flowers because I planted them so that we could all pick them.

***Neither of the cats responds well to boarding so we left them at home and I commuted once a day to feed and check on them.