Crazy mockingbirds

Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when
we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our
very large balcony and these birds would dive bomb Vino, swooping down and
taunting him. He would get so excited and chatter away, but he never got
one. Oh, maybe once he got one. Anyway, the birds would then congregate on
the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us
and chirp sassily at Vino. *******s!!! ;-)
--
Britta

Poor, tormented Vino. Birds *are* awful to cats. I don't know what kind they
were, but there was some black birds that used to hop along the top of the wood
fence & sass Cherokee. They'd finally lure him to the top, and being old
tubbycat that he was, he'd fall off. I'm absolutely certain birds can laugh.

Sherry

Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when
we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our
very large balcony and these birds would dive bomb Vino, swooping down and
taunting him. He would get so excited and chatter away, but he never got
one. Oh, maybe once he got one. Anyway, the birds would then congregate on
the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us
and chirp sassily at Vino. *******s!!! ;-)
--
Britta

Poor, tormented Vino. Birds *are* awful to cats. I don't know what kind they
were, but there was some black birds that used to hop along the top of the wood
fence & sass Cherokee. They'd finally lure him to the top, and being old
tubbycat that he was, he'd fall off. I'm absolutely certain birds can laugh.

Sherry

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:42:55 -0400, Zorin the Lynx
yodeled:

So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my
place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting
insane. They jump along the fence, chirping loudly, even going as far as
to fly up and land on one of the terrace ceiling fan's blades right near
the window!

I was wondering why the birds were behaving so strangely; afterall this
was not normal nest-building behavior, and those loud chirps are not
normal mockingbird song. Eventually I correlated Lynxie's presence on
the windowsill with this behavior!

Yep, Lynxie's mere presence, relaxed and sleepy on the windowsill,
lazily watching the birds through a CLOSED WINDOW, causes them to go
into fits of insanity, even though the nest is like 40 feet away!


Mockingbirds are *extremely* territorial. I wouldn't want to be a
mockingbird, it's too nerve-wracking-- they are on the defensive ALL
THE TIME.
If they're not fighting each other, they are dive-bombing innocent
bypassers. Cats are especially vulnerable. Your cat thought he was a
mighty hunter? The mockers have another idea for him. A pair of
mockers can reduce the cockiest cat-of-the-walk to a quivering trauma
victim. Dogs too.
If they have babies, then multiply that by about 100.

That, BTW, is the very reason why they are singing *all the time*--
and why if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of them, you will see
them on top of antennas, trees, telephone poles, in the highest places
they can find, singing their little faces off. They are really good
singers, and unlike many other songbirds, they often don't stop as
darkness falls, but go right on. They are telling all the other
mockers to back off, and stay away.

Blue jays-- much the same story, although they don't sing as nicely.

Your kitty should be glad she has the glass between her and the crazy
kamikaze birds. They have no fear.


http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...ceilingfan.jpg
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...tches-bird.jpg
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...rd-closeup.jpg

Great pictures! Aren't animals a stitch?


Theresa
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:42:55 -0400, Zorin the Lynx
yodeled:

So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my
place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting
insane. They jump along the fence, chirping loudly, even going as far as
to fly up and land on one of the terrace ceiling fan's blades right near
the window!

I was wondering why the birds were behaving so strangely; afterall this
was not normal nest-building behavior, and those loud chirps are not
normal mockingbird song. Eventually I correlated Lynxie's presence on
the windowsill with this behavior!

Yep, Lynxie's mere presence, relaxed and sleepy on the windowsill,
lazily watching the birds through a CLOSED WINDOW, causes them to go
into fits of insanity, even though the nest is like 40 feet away!


Mockingbirds are *extremely* territorial. I wouldn't want to be a
mockingbird, it's too nerve-wracking-- they are on the defensive ALL
THE TIME.
If they're not fighting each other, they are dive-bombing innocent
bypassers. Cats are especially vulnerable. Your cat thought he was a
mighty hunter? The mockers have another idea for him. A pair of
mockers can reduce the cockiest cat-of-the-walk to a quivering trauma
victim. Dogs too.
If they have babies, then multiply that by about 100.

That, BTW, is the very reason why they are singing *all the time*--
and why if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of them, you will see
them on top of antennas, trees, telephone poles, in the highest places
they can find, singing their little faces off. They are really good
singers, and unlike many other songbirds, they often don't stop as
darkness falls, but go right on. They are telling all the other
mockers to back off, and stay away.

Blue jays-- much the same story, although they don't sing as nicely.

Your kitty should be glad she has the glass between her and the crazy
kamikaze birds. They have no fear.


http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...ceilingfan.jpg
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...tches-bird.jpg
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...rd-closeup.jpg

Great pictures! Aren't animals a stitch?


Theresa
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:42:55 -0400, Zorin the Lynx
yodeled:

So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my
place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting
insane. They jump along the fence, chirping loudly, even going as far as
to fly up and land on one of the terrace ceiling fan's blades right near
the window!

I was wondering why the birds were behaving so strangely; afterall this
was not normal nest-building behavior, and those loud chirps are not
normal mockingbird song. Eventually I correlated Lynxie's presence on
the windowsill with this behavior!

Yep, Lynxie's mere presence, relaxed and sleepy on the windowsill,
lazily watching the birds through a CLOSED WINDOW, causes them to go
into fits of insanity, even though the nest is like 40 feet away!


Mockingbirds are *extremely* territorial. I wouldn't want to be a
mockingbird, it's too nerve-wracking-- they are on the defensive ALL
THE TIME.
If they're not fighting each other, they are dive-bombing innocent
bypassers. Cats are especially vulnerable. Your cat thought he was a
mighty hunter? The mockers have another idea for him. A pair of
mockers can reduce the cockiest cat-of-the-walk to a quivering trauma
victim. Dogs too.
If they have babies, then multiply that by about 100.

That, BTW, is the very reason why they are singing *all the time*--
and why if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of them, you will see
them on top of antennas, trees, telephone poles, in the highest places
they can find, singing their little faces off. They are really good
singers, and unlike many other songbirds, they often don't stop as
darkness falls, but go right on. They are telling all the other
mockers to back off, and stay away.

Blue jays-- much the same story, although they don't sing as nicely.

Your kitty should be glad she has the glass between her and the crazy
kamikaze birds. They have no fear.


http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...ceilingfan.jpg
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...tches-bird.jpg
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kitten...rd-closeup.jpg

Great pictures! Aren't animals a stitch?


Theresa
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 10:09:28 +0700, "badwilson"
yodeled:



Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when
we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our
very large balcony and these birds would dive bomb Vino, swooping down and
taunting him. He would get so excited and chatter away, but he never got
one. Oh, maybe once he got one. Anyway, the birds would then congregate on
the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us
and chirp sassily at Vino. *******s!!! ;-)

Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or
any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off,
or even flee.
Here in NYC, we have a famous family of red-tailed hawks who live on a
building overlooking Central Park. The male had to take refuge there
because he couldn't actually live *in* the park. Crows and blue jays
double teamed him constantly-- he could never sit, never eat, never
nest. He found a safe perch on the building, where he can scan the
scene, then enter the park on a need-to-hunt basis. It's a pretty
sweet setup.

It's very disconcerting when your prey is so aggressive.

Theresa
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 10:09:28 +0700, "badwilson"
yodeled:



Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when
we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our
very large balcony and these birds would dive bomb Vino, swooping down and
taunting him. He would get so excited and chatter away, but he never got
one. Oh, maybe once he got one. Anyway, the birds would then congregate on
the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us
and chirp sassily at Vino. *******s!!! ;-)

Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or
any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off,
or even flee.
Here in NYC, we have a famous family of red-tailed hawks who live on a
building overlooking Central Park. The male had to take refuge there
because he couldn't actually live *in* the park. Crows and blue jays
double teamed him constantly-- he could never sit, never eat, never
nest. He found a safe perch on the building, where he can scan the
scene, then enter the park on a need-to-hunt basis. It's a pretty
sweet setup.

It's very disconcerting when your prey is so aggressive.

Theresa
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 10:09:28 +0700, "badwilson"
yodeled:



Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when
we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our
very large balcony and these birds would dive bomb Vino, swooping down and
taunting him. He would get so excited and chatter away, but he never got
one. Oh, maybe once he got one. Anyway, the birds would then congregate on
the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us
and chirp sassily at Vino. *******s!!! ;-)

Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or
any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off,
or even flee.
Here in NYC, we have a famous family of red-tailed hawks who live on a
building overlooking Central Park. The male had to take refuge there
because he couldn't actually live *in* the park. Crows and blue jays
double teamed him constantly-- he could never sit, never eat, never
nest. He found a safe perch on the building, where he can scan the
scene, then enter the park on a need-to-hunt basis. It's a pretty
sweet setup.

It's very disconcerting when your prey is so aggressive.

Theresa
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

"Kreisleriana" wrote

Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or
any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off,
or even flee.

And you probably thought swallows are sweet little birdies. Just ask Frank
what *he* thinks. There he was, ambling along the cliff minding his own
business on the island last summer, and suddenly a swallow swooped out of
nowhere and dove at him. Frank ducked and got away, but the look on his face
was priceless. "Mummy! They're picking on me! I wasn't doing anything!"

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki

"Kreisleriana" wrote

Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or
any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off,
or even flee.

And you probably thought swallows are sweet little birdies. Just ask Frank
what *he* thinks. There he was, ambling along the cliff minding his own
business on the island last summer, and suddenly a swallow swooped out of
nowhere and dove at him. Frank ducked and got away, but the look on his face
was priceless. "Mummy! They're picking on me! I wasn't doing anything!"

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki