Owl pellet, pandemics, prey report

I'll just place this here. There are protests. I hope you are well. We are managing, yet the stress is horrible. I'm having trouble reading, which drives me nuts.

I heard a CBC radio show, after getting up to clean up throw up at 4 a.m. (More on that below.) It was really interesting. How badly governments can mess up by denying illness. This has happened over history, i.e., cholera in 1892 (a miasma, or bad air), and a small town wouldn't let federal help whip them into shape. The German government was ruled by merchant elites who didn't want to close their borders. Of course, it's the poorest of the poor who suffered.  They lacked toilets and sanitation.

CBC Ideas Dear Leader

I found an owl pellet. They excrete the white mute, then throw up the pellet of fur and fine bones which could damage their digestive system. I'm going to save it for the girls, and see if they want to dissect it!



First daffy!



Soon it'll be time to put them outdoors, if it ever warms up!

Nutmeg is in the dog house. She is a wicked hunter. She brings them all to the doors to bring inside. The nuthatch she took into the office, where she feels safe. I brought a blanket with me, and tossed it over the bird. I released it out the back door.

Nutmeg has been horrid. This wee little kitten. She has been throwing up, too. It was 2 and 4 a.m. this morning, a couple of times yesterday. I'm  hoping it is something simple like worms. We'll have to phone the vet and see what we can do. They've been doing terrific curbside service. (Not that they have curbs in their rural parking lot!)



We had a parcel delivered from Lee Valley Tools. I bluebird house, and a new stand for my trailcam. The driver is a bit of a character. He told me that UPS is two weeks behind. They are trying to get them in to work Saturdays. He did a half-day, but then they wanted them to do a full 12-hour day. That is ridiculous. Apparently, people are ordering dog food and food from Costco, and they are totally backlogged. I told him that was ridiculous. Everyone needs a break.

He also told me that in this, the 7th week of self-isolation, people were suddenly out and about on the roads. We were, as well, doing my last chorus frog survey. That is done. (More on that later.) Lets see what happens in the next few weeks.

Heads up!

Clip15 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Feline critter captures – I've been keeping track

Dorah's capture

Dorah brought this one
onto the deck.
I released it – all 61cm of it!

I was curious about the prey the cats manage to snag.

Mine bring their prey home, often into the Muskoka Room, Dorah comes in through the cat door with her catches.

Dorah dumped another field mouse in the hall, including grass and dirt. She meows as she comes down the hall, proudly announcing her capture! Twice they've been alive, and I've put them back outdoors!

shrew

The other day she brought in a live field mouse, who escaped into the basement for a day. Hubby saw it run by when he was down there working out! They captured that one at night.

The other day, we were sitting watching a DVD, looked down and there between us on the carpet was a live deer mouse. I took it outside!

The American Bird Conservancy claims that they KNOW this:

We now know that outdoor cats are responsible for the deaths of far more birds than previously thought (up to 3.7 billion every year).

They've extrapolated from some data, and truly don't have actual data. Its intent is to rile up bird lovers, methinks. I questioned their 'facts.' Cats as predators; we're meat eaters, too
A UK study claims far fewer, 275 million prey (not just birds) per year in the UK. They just don't know. On our 16 acres, there are a lot of mice! This is a different situation than in a city, as well.

I had some dippy tree-hugger university biology student demanding I post her hostile, puerile, disparaging comments, after an insulting debate on a Facebook bird lovers site. I just wanted people to question the claims. I was blocked by the bird lovers page administrator on FB, as they didn't like reading my opinion.

This Kellie S. came to my blog and demanded I post her 12 rude comments. I've since deleted them, on my good friend Kay's advice. People would rather get angry over misinformation.
This dippie broad wrote 1000 words on one comment- explaining how an ecosystem works and how I am interfering with it. For heaven's sake!

Dorah is looking for her snake!

It was about 10"

I've been keeping track of critters, just out of curiosity and wanting some hard data.

They tend to bring them home, either on the deck, or right indoors, where prey cannot escape. I find some on the driveway, but mostly they bring them to the house. They are well-fed on expensive hypoallergenic cat food, but this is an instinct and cannot be denied.

Total 49 critters

Data

• The four cats have caught 49 critters; 40 mice, a vole, 4 snakes (Dorah), a baby rabbit, 3" caterpillar, and a chipmunk.

• They've caught 5 birds from June 29 -  Aug. 27, with two that I released.

Cedar waxwing

5 birds