The Mystery of Cats

Posted on January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Or maybe I should say the mystery of one cat, Buddy.

I’ve lived with a long line of cats from childhood to my current advanced age. I really don’t recall being catless for any length of time.

My friends think of me as something of a cat whisperer, I may not be in the same league as Jackson Galaxy, but I come close. I watch his show all the time. I love trying to figure out how he is going to solve the behavior problems.

Little Joe, my rescued Persian cat gave me my biggest challenge. He had the number one reason cats get surrendered, litter box issues. One day I’ll have to write about the trials and travails of that cat adventure. But when I tell you I tried all of Jackson’s solutions and even some he hasn’t suggested it would be an understatement. It finally ended well but it took years of trial and error.

But Buddy is something else. Sometime I think he is schizophrenic. Sometimes I think he has a physical problem. You can be petting him, he’ll be purring and relaxed and then suddenly he’ll let out a yowl like he is in pain and go into vicious kitty mode.

He doesn’t like to jump. Rocky will jump anywhere,

the higher the better but Buddy will search and test until he finds a way to climb to where he wants to go. Minimal jumping required.

When he sharpens his claws he lies down to do it. Yup, I have never seen such a thing. Same with playing. He might do a little running around but mostly he flops down on the floor and only plays with what he can reach from his central position.

The vet said he’s just fat so he may be developing some arthritis.

I am feeding him about 1/2 the recommended amount of cat food and feeding Rocky on the counter so Buddy can’t steal food but it doesn’t seem to be working. ( I fully sympathize)

He can go from mellow sweet kitty to crazy, fixated kitty in 0 – 60 in a blink. I have many scratches and bites to prove it but I have noticed that his pupils get wide and he seems to become fixated when that happens. I’m not sure he’s even still in there!

I used to get out of Dodge until he calmed down but I recently took a fuzzy glove (made for cats to kick and bite) and to my surprise instead of attacking he calms down immediately! He lets me sit and pet him with that silly glove and all the wildness goes right out of him.

I don’t know his history and other than his weight problem I feel we are making progress. He bites less often than when I first got him . And he’s started giving affection more often. I love it when he comes for a cuddle at night when I go to bed or climbs up on my computer when I’m working and gives me kitty kisses.

There is clearly a sweet kitty trapped in that warped little kitty brain and somehow, someway I am going to find the key.

The Snowy Owls of Duxbury Beach

Posted on January 3, 2015January 3, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I’ve been hearing stories of snowy owls on Duxbury beach for years. I’ve seen photos from my fellow photographers to prove it. I’ve even tried to find them myself.

The Snowy Owls of Duxbury Beach are only seasonal visitors so you need to know where and when to look. Something I have only the vaguest notion of but let me start from the top.

The regal Snowy Owl is one of the few birds that can get even non-birders to come out for a look. This largest (by weight) North American owl shows up irregularly in winter to hunt in windswept fields or dunes, a pale shape with catlike yellow eyes. They spend summers far north of the Arctic Circle hunting lemmings, ptarmigan, and other prey in 24-hour daylight. In years of lemming population booms they can raise double or triple the usual number of young.

According to a Nat Geo program the birds that migrate south are usually the first year youngsters. Fully mature birds stay in the arctic all year long.

Mass Audubon is working to protect snowy owls. Norman Smith, Director of Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, has been studying them since 1981. As part of his research, he attaches bands and transmitters to snowy owls at Logan Airport, and then tracks their travels. He releases these trapped and banded owls at Duxbury Beach. So we end up with 2 populations in the winter, the ones that come down to visit on their own and the released owls from the airport.

Why stop at an airport with all it’s noise and activity? As snowy owls migrate north and south, they look for stopping places that resemble their home, the Arctic tundra. To them, the land around Logan Airport fits the bill. It’s low and flat, with short scruffy plants and grasses, and there’s an abundance of small mammals and birds to eat.

Logan airport has the largest known concentration of snowy owls in the Northeast.

The airport owls help by scaring away other birds that might endanger aircraft. Unfortunately, they are large enough to pose a threat themselves. To protect both birds and jets, Smith safely captures and relocates snowy owls each year.

This year I have outfitted myself with uber -warm clothing and a new camera and lenses. Today I booked a day trip with the Audubon Society. Sadly it is a bird watcher’s trip so I was told there won’t be time or spaces for lots of camera gear. I should plan to “Shoot” from the van.

With that in mind I’ll leave the tripod behind this trip and hope I’ll learn the best ways of locating these beautiful birds so I can round up some friends that are photographers and make a return visit with that much more knowledge.

Good Advice

Posted on December 31, 2014December 31, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I found this picture in an ad for QUIBIDS on Facebook but the advice is good even if you don’t use the bidding site. Great MEME Quibids!

Happy New year!

In Search of Next Year’s Christmas Card

Posted on December 28, 2014December 28, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Yes, you read that right. Christmas is barely past and I’ve turned my thoughts to next year already. Truth be known I started thinking about next year’s card as soon as I cracked open the boxes of decorations. You see the images I use for my Christmas Cards are always taken in the previous season. If I waited, I’d never get the new cards made and in the mail on time.

So far this year I just haven’t gotten a picture that gives me a “WOW” factor.

I heard that the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA was including photos with Santa’s Reindeer as part of their Zoo Lights celebration and that caught my attention.

I debated with myself if it was worth a trip because I’d have to drive through Boston at night to get there. The price of admission wasn’t too much, only $7.00 and tickets could be ordered on line.

I debated all December but didn’t break down until yesterday. I made a last minute decision, printed a ticket and headed out.

It was unseasonably warm and I thought that being a Saturday maybe, just maybe, the traffic wouldn’t be too bad. Wrong. 🙁 Traffic through Boston does not take the weekend off.

Once there I was told the parking lot was filled to capacity but to cruise around and maybe I’d get lucky. At least the parking was free and eventually I did find a space. I noted the location by the wolf at the end of aisle.

Santa’s Castle was gorgeous but it was roped off and apparently closed. Santa must be resting up from his long ride.

I couldn’t get over the people trying to see the animals in the dark. Silly people. After asking a few people I finally got directed to the Reindeer Encounter. A $5.00 donation was requested for the opportunity to take your picture with your own camera with the Reindeer. A bench was in front of the reindeer (caribou) enclosure and two handlers stood in the enclosure with the animal.

I waited in the long line. The way it snaked around did not let me get a good look at the lighting until it was my turn. I made some quick guesswork on camera settings, paid my $5.00 and stepped into the lights. The handlers got the animal to raise his head and I snapped away.

After my moment I retreated to another bench to check the result. The ones with the faster shutter speed were too dark

and the ones when I switched to aperture priority were properly exposed but the shutter speed was too slow and I got camera shake.

With nothing usable I put the camera on the tripod and got back on line to try again. The line had grown and was now huge, snaking around the enclosure. As I debated if I really wanted to stand in line that long there was a break in the brush around the enclosure. The reindeer was lying down now and looked like it was about to go to sleep.

I pushed into the little break and shot off a series of quick photos. I didn’t get what I wanted but maybe I’ll have better luck next year. The search for next year’s card photo continues…

Rocky’s Antics

Posted on December 27, 2014December 27, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Rocky must have been feeling left out since Buddy was getting all of the attention. I had to protect the tree didn’t I?

So while Buddy attacked the Christmas tree, Rocky went missing. I saw him head into the bedroom but he usually doesn’t spend much time there if Buddy and I are in the living room so when he didn’t come back I began to get a little concerned. After all, he’s no spring chicken at 13.

I tried calling him..no luck . Not even an answering meow. I looked under the bed, in the closet, even opened the bottom drawers of the dresser. No cat. Buddy was at my feet but he wasn’t any help unless tripping me counted.

The tree box was standing on end at the bottom of my bed. I took a chance and peaked in the tree box and there was a little ginger face looking back at me. He got in and couldn’t get back out. I tipped the box on its side and Rocky flew out like he was shot from a cannon. Once out he gave himself a lick and a shake and walked off as if nothing happened.

Today Rocky gave me my Christmas present. A little late but no less sweet.

Rocky and I used to play fetch. He could go at the game for hours. The rules were simple. Rocky would bring a mousie to me and I’d throw it. He would retrieve it and bring it back and I’d throw it again. I was always careful to follow the rules because if I changed them he’d quit. He’d quit if Smokey decided to join in too. It was a very sensitive balance.

Smokey

Since Smokey passed over the rainbow bridge Rocky hasn’t once brought a toy mouse to me to play fetch. Oh he plays with the toys but like a normal cat. I tried to get him to play a few times and he’d just walk away.

Well today he brought me a toy mouse and laid it at my feet. I picked it up and you could see his body tense, a sure sign he wanted me to throw it. So I did and held my breathe. Yes! He took off after the toy, caught it and proudly brought it back. We played like that for about 10 minutes until the mouse took a bad bounce and escaped under the china cabinet.

In spite of my best effort to rescue it the momentum was lost but for a few minutes we’d enjoyed a fun game that I thought was in the past.

Thanks Rocky 🙂

(The cat picture with the mouse in its mouth isn’t mine nor is it of Rocky. I have never been able to capture that shot but this is exactly how Rocky looks. The same look in his eyes. Nice shot whoever took this.)