Unexpected cat "toy"

I have several problems with nuisance birds. Sparrows that roost on the
ledge over my front door, and recently, a woodpecker has been hammering
the siding or the roof. So once the woodpecker started I had to get
serious about taking action. I bought a plastic great owl with a bobble
head (scared the crap out of Rhett when I took it out of the box and put
it on the table while reading the directions - his eyes were bigger than
the owl's eyes) and some metallic bird flashing streamers that reflect
sunlight and make noise in the wind. So far, effective, though the
woodpecker moved to another spot of the house so I have to get some more
flash streamer stuff for that side. The roosting sparrows haven't shown
up since the owl's been on duty.

Anyway, the side effect is the colorful flashes of colored sunlight
reflected off of the bird flash streamers! Scarlett is mesmerized! You
never know where the light will show up so she's running around each
time she gets a glimpse. Priceless!

Another in the same theme of cat toys, I bought a couple of those balls
with various sized holes in it that you put cat treats in. My guys will
hoover up Temptations so now they have to work for them. Scarlett is
the smartest of the group and quickly figured out how to get treats out.
Bonnie just waits for Scarlett to move the ball so that treats come
out, so she's sort of figured it out, but doesn't understand yet how to
get them herself. Rhett ate a few after I rolled the ball and a few
came out, but hasn't tried to get any out himself. Shamrock hasn't
bothered. If it isn't shrimp or crab, he doesn't really eat treats.

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
I have several problems with nuisance birds. Sparrows that roost on the
ledge over my front door, and recently, a woodpecker has been hammering
the siding or the roof. So once the woodpecker started I had to get
serious about taking action. I bought a plastic great owl with a bobble
head (scared the crap out of Rhett when I took it out of the box and put
it on the table while reading the directions - his eyes were bigger than
the owl's eyes) and some metallic bird flashing streamers that reflect
sunlight and make noise in the wind. So far, effective, though the
woodpecker moved to another spot of the house so I have to get some more
flash streamer stuff for that side. The roosting sparrows haven't shown
up since the owl's been on duty.

Anyway, the side effect is the colorful flashes of colored sunlight
reflected off of the bird flash streamers! Scarlett is mesmerized! You
never know where the light will show up so she's running around each time
she gets a glimpse. Priceless!


I have a glass three dimensional prism thing; it's hollow and is meant to be
filled with water. When the sun shines through it it reflects rainbows like
that. I have it suspended over the back door from a fine fishing line. If
I spin it around a few times then let the prism go the rainbows dance all
around the room. Persia goes absolutely crazy chasing the rainbows And
to think I bought it because I thought it was a cute little gee-gaw. I had
no idea I was buying a cat toy!

Jill

On Mar 27, 2:33*pm, Cheryl wrote:
I have several problems with nuisance birds. *Sparrows that roost on the
ledge over my front door, and recently, a woodpecker has been hammering
the siding or the roof. *So once the woodpecker started I had to get
serious about taking action. *I bought a plastic great owl with a bobble
head (scared the crap out of Rhett when I took it out of the box and put
it on the table while reading the directions - his eyes were bigger than
the owl's eyes) and some metallic bird flashing streamers that reflect
sunlight and make noise in the wind. *So far, effective, though the
woodpecker moved to another spot of the house so I have to get some more
flash streamer stuff for that side. *The roosting sparrows haven't shown
up since the owl's been on duty.

Anyway, the side effect is the colorful flashes of colored sunlight
reflected off of the bird flash streamers! *Scarlett is mesmerized! *You
never know where the light will show up so she's running around each
time she gets a glimpse. *Priceless!

Seeing this brought to mind some good bird stories from my childhood.

This one bird kept seeing his reflection in one of the tall front
windows. and he would suddenly fly at the 'intruder' and smack into
the window with a THUNK!
Then he would fly to another branch, regain his composure and try
again. THUNK!!

So imagine getting ready for school and suddenly hearing this THUNK!
(pause) THUNK! (pause) THUNK!! And going "What the heck is that?"

This went on every day for a while, and we were surprised the poor
bird hadn't broken his neck or knocked himself silly. Then it
stopped, and we went on with our lives. Then a few weeks later,
THUNK!!


There was this family of birds that bored into the wall and under the
roof. They were shared a wall with my sister's bedroom. Their
constant chirping used to drive my sister crazy, but then the baby
birdies got old enough to fly away and my sister enjoyed the peace and
quiet.

But the following spring, she came to breakfast all bleary eyed. "The
damn birds are BACK!"



Lastly, there was this robin that liked to nest atop one of the
supports of our deck roof. BIG robin, and she would get all fuzzy
when Leia and Jaina, the family d-things got too close with their
sniffing. Nothing like a huge robin flying down to chase two small d-
things who run away in fear to send an entire family into peals of
laughter.


hope you enjoyed,

Kristi

Mischief wrote:
On Mar 27, 2:33 pm, Cheryl wrote:
I have several problems with nuisance birds. Sparrows that roost on the
ledge over my front door, and recently, a woodpecker has been hammering
the siding or the roof. So once the woodpecker started I had to get
serious about taking action. I bought a plastic great owl with a bobble
head (scared the crap out of Rhett when I took it out of the box and put
it on the table while reading the directions - his eyes were bigger than
the owl's eyes) and some metallic bird flashing streamers that reflect
sunlight and make noise in the wind. So far, effective, though the
woodpecker moved to another spot of the house so I have to get some more
flash streamer stuff for that side. The roosting sparrows haven't shown
up since the owl's been on duty.

Anyway, the side effect is the colorful flashes of colored sunlight
reflected off of the bird flash streamers! Scarlett is mesmerized! You
never know where the light will show up so she's running around each
time she gets a glimpse. Priceless!

Seeing this brought to mind some good bird stories from my childhood.

This one bird kept seeing his reflection in one of the tall front
windows. and he would suddenly fly at the 'intruder' and smack into
the window with a THUNK!
Then he would fly to another branch, regain his composure and try
again. THUNK!!

So imagine getting ready for school and suddenly hearing this THUNK!
(pause) THUNK! (pause) THUNK!! And going "What the heck is that?"

This went on every day for a while, and we were surprised the poor
bird hadn't broken his neck or knocked himself silly. Then it
stopped, and we went on with our lives. Then a few weeks later,
THUNK!!


There was this family of birds that bored into the wall and under the
roof. They were shared a wall with my sister's bedroom. Their
constant chirping used to drive my sister crazy, but then the baby
birdies got old enough to fly away and my sister enjoyed the peace and
quiet.

But the following spring, she came to breakfast all bleary eyed. "The
damn birds are BACK!"



Lastly, there was this robin that liked to nest atop one of the
supports of our deck roof. BIG robin, and she would get all fuzzy
when Leia and Jaina, the family d-things got too close with their
sniffing. Nothing like a huge robin flying down to chase two small d-
things who run away in fear to send an entire family into peals of
laughter.


hope you enjoyed,

Kristi

Thanks for the great bird stories. There was an old superstition that
if a bird flew against a window, some was going to die. (Probably the
bird IMHO) Best wishes/MLB

On 28/03/2011 00:33, Cheryl wrote:

Anyway, the side effect is the colorful flashes of colored sunlight
reflected off of the bird flash streamers! Scarlett is mesmerized! You
never know where the light will show up so she's running around each
time she gets a glimpse. Priceless!

LOL! Hilarious. This reminds me of how my Dad used to play with
Thompson, our elderly catlady. He'd take off his glasses and move them
around under the ceiling light, so there were two small reflections
running around the floor. Thompson would go mad.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

On 29/03/2011 05:12, Mischief wrote:
Seeing this brought to mind some good bird stories from my childhood.

This one bird kept seeing his reflection in one of the tall front
windows. and he would suddenly fly at the 'intruder' and smack into
the window with a THUNK!
Then he would fly to another branch, regain his composure and try
again. THUNK!!

So imagine getting ready for school and suddenly hearing this THUNK!
(pause) THUNK! (pause) THUNK!! And going "What the heck is that?"

This went on every day for a while, and we were surprised the poor
bird hadn't broken his neck or knocked himself silly. Then it
stopped, and we went on with our lives. Then a few weeks later,
THUNK!!

And this reminds me of one cat my sister had before Linus. His name was
Svarta Pantern (the black panther) and he was my Frank's dad. One
spring, my sister and our Mum went to the island for the first time that
year. They walked around our headland to see what winter had done to the
grounds. Pantern was following them around. At the sauna, they found a
dead bird beneath a window and deduced that it had flown against the
window.

Some time later, Mum and sis were back at the cottage when Pantern came
strutting from the direction of the sauna, proudly carrying the dead
bird. I forget what kind of bird it was, but something pretty big, that
a cat would not be likely to be able to kill. But Pantern thought he
could fool Mum and sis into believing he had taken down the huge bird
all by himself.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.