OT - but I found it funny

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I fell about laughing this morning. The cat food is placed in bowls in the
utility room, and the outside door of the utility is kept open during the

day

Quoted message said:

as the cats have free access to the outside, and are free-fed, as that way

it

Quoted message said:

stops a certain one-eyed black-furred ladycat from stuffing herself full

in one

Quoted message said:

go and promptly throwing up.

Anyhow, this morning I wandered into the kitchen and could not believe

what I

Quoted message said:

was seeing in the utility room, via the glass door to it. There, perched

on the

Quoted message said:

side of Waffles's food dish, stuffing its face with Royal Canin dry

catfood

Quoted message said:

was... a robin! It then hopped over to Waffles's water dish and took a

drink!

Quoted message said:

Why do I not have a digital camera with me at all times!!!

Methinks this robin is taking liberties when it is actually coming into

the

Quoted message said:

house to pinch food from the cat bowls ;-)

Our local birds shy away when the cats look on through the glass walls of
the conservatory at them feeding in the garden, so your robin must have been
brave or stupid!

--
Simon M.

"Simon Mason" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I fell about laughing this morning. The cat food is placed in bowls in

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

utility room, and the outside door of the utility is kept open during

the

Quoted message said:

day

Quoted message said:

as the cats have free access to the outside, and are free-fed, as that

way

Quoted message said:

it

Quoted message said:

stops a certain one-eyed black-furred ladycat from stuffing herself

full

Quoted message said:

in one

Quoted message said:

go and promptly throwing up.

Anyhow, this morning I wandered into the kitchen and could not believe

what I

Quoted message said:

was seeing in the utility room, via the glass door to it. There,

perched

Quoted message said:

on the

Quoted message said:

side of Waffles's food dish, stuffing its face with Royal Canin dry

catfood

Quoted message said:

was... a robin! It then hopped over to Waffles's water dish and took a

drink!

Quoted message said:

Why do I not have a digital camera with me at all times!!!

Methinks this robin is taking liberties when it is actually coming into

the

Quoted message said:

house to pinch food from the cat bowls ;-)

Our local birds shy away when the cats look on through the glass walls

of

Quoted message said:

the conservatory at them feeding in the garden, so your robin must have

been

Quoted message said:

brave or stupid!

--
Simon M.

Robins can be particularly bold birds and will appraoch quite close
when you dig over the garden so as to catch any worms. More especially
if you're on "their territory". You'd imagine they'd be vulnerable to cats
being ground feeders but when we kept a cat the only kills were sparrows
and the odd starling. But thankfully never any "friendly" robins.
All brought to the back door for our inspection.

Curious

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:

Anyhow, this morning I wandered into the kitchen and could not believe what I
was seeing in the utility room, via the glass door to it. There, perched on
the side of Waffles's food dish, stuffing its face with Royal Canin dry
catfood was... a robin! It then hopped over to Waffles's water dish and
took a drink!

Why do I not have a digital camera with me at all times!!!

If you'd had one it wouldn't have been there. Golden rule of
photography!

Quoted message said:

Methinks this robin is taking liberties when it is actually coming into the
house to pinch food from the cat bowls ;-)

Robins are bold little fellas and if the cats were absent wouldn't think
twice about nabbing some free grub.

The GF's parents have a blackbird that regularly pops into the kitchen
for some cheese. Wensleydale is a favourite apparently.

Anyway, must go, England's just scored...

Frink

--
Doctor J. Frink : 'Rampant Ribald Ringtail'
See his mind here : http://www.cmp.liv.ac.uk/frink/
Annoy his mind here : pjf at cmp dot liv dot ack dot ook
"No sir, I didn't like it!" - Mr Horse

Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Robins can be particularly bold birds and will appraoch quite close
when you dig over the garden so as to catch any worms. More especially
if you're on "their territory". You'd imagine they'd be vulnerable to cats
being ground feeders but when we kept a cat the only kills were sparrows
and the odd starling. But thankfully never any "friendly" robins.
All brought to the back door for our inspection.

However, their territorial attitude can also be their downfall. They
tend to keep going back to the same place. Our cat once brought the same
robin home three times (We watched as it gradually lost tailfeathers!).
We managed to revive it twice (Shoebox, tissue paper, bird seed!) but
the third time she'd managed to kill it. Testament to the cat's ability
to keep the thing alive, but she must have been going back where she'd
caught it and just opening her mouth.

Ah well. Survival of the fittest an' all!

Jon

Jon Senior said:

However, their territorial attitude can also be their downfall. They
tend to keep going back to the same place. Our cat once brought the same
robin home three times (We watched as it gradually lost tailfeathers!).
We managed to revive it twice (Shoebox, tissue paper, bird seed!) but
the third time she'd managed to kill it. Testament to the cat's ability
to keep the thing alive, but she must have been going back where she'd
caught it and just opening her mouth.

No - she probably jumped on top of it.

Quoted message said:

Ah well. Survival of the fittest an' all!

Not so sure that applies here. If you stopped feeding your cat, and we
reintroduced wolves, then it might be a level playing field.

AC

Quoted message said:

Our local birds shy away when the cats look on through the glass walls of
the conservatory at them feeding in the garden, so your robin must have been
brave or stupid!

Our local birds effectively taunt my three (who all have collars with bells on
and rarely get birds, preferring shrews, mice, voles, the odd rat or rabbit).
In the winter I have bird feeding stations dangling off the hanging basket
supports at the front of the house. The birds seem to *know* the cats can't get
at them from behind glass - and will land on a feeder literally inches from the
cats' noses - albeit the cats' noses are behind a closed window. Keeps the cats
amused for hours.

Cheers, helen s

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Quoted message said:

Not so sure that applies here. If you stopped feeding your cat, and we
reintroduced wolves, then it might be a level playing field.

AC

Biggest killer of wildlife in the UK - by removal of habitat - is man. Cats
pale into insignificance compared to the amount of wildlife we humans take out.

Cheers, helen s

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On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:21:30 +0000, dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not so sure that applies here. If you stopped feeding your cat, and we
reintroduced wolves, then it might be a level playing field.

AC

Biggest killer of wildlife in the UK - by removal of habitat - is man. Cats
pale into insignificance compared to the amount of wildlife we humans take out.

I'm sure that's true. The real problem is that I'm a dog-person.

I'd still like to see wolves reintroduced here. We have any number of
charities dedicated to persuading other people to live with tigers,
elephants and rhinos - so it only seems fair.

AC

"Jon Senior" <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Robins can be particularly bold birds and will appraoch quite close
when you dig over the garden so as to catch any worms. More especially
if you're on "their territory". You'd imagine they'd be vulnerable to

cats

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

being ground feeders but when we kept a cat the only kills were

sparrows

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and the odd starling. But thankfully never any "friendly" robins.
All brought to the back door for our inspection.

However, their territorial attitude can also be their downfall. They
tend to keep going back to the same place. Our cat once brought the same
robin home three times (We watched as it gradually lost tailfeathers!).
We managed to revive it twice (Shoebox, tissue paper, bird seed!) but
the third time she'd managed to kill it. Testament to the cat's ability
to keep the thing alive, but she must have been going back where she'd
caught it and just opening her mouth.

That's certainly a deadly combination as the cat will be fixated too.
At least once it finds a robin. Ours was maybe just getting on a bit at
15ish. But since she died last year there have been noticeably more birds
in the garden, a whole family of robins, blue [censored] etc. There have always
been
nestboxes and feeders but the birds weren't so noticeable. Its a problem
choosing between the two because cats can be real characters and otherwise
do make good pets. IIRR according to one source (The Pan Book of Cats?) if
a cat is raised by a non birding mother it won't hunt birds itself either.
This so called "instinct" apparently needs to be taught.

Curious

Quoted message said:

Ah well. Survival of the fittest an' all!

Jon

anonymous coward said:

I'm sure that's true. The real problem is that I'm a dog-person.

I'm not sure /that/'s true; but then I thought werewolves were fictional too.

Geraint Jones said:

anonymous coward said:

I'm sure that's true. The real problem is that I'm a dog-person.

I'm not sure /that/'s true; but then I thought werewolves were fictional too.

Well, some of my ancestors were called 'Wolfe' so you never know. Granted,
what I really meant was that I get on better with dogs than with cats.

AC

Quoted message said:

The GF's parents have a blackbird that regularly pops into the kitchen
for some cheese. Wensleydale is a favourite apparently.

Many years ago, back in the days of the pre-industrial revolution, when I were
a young lass, at home we had a thrush that recognised when the back door was
opened it was a cue for it to hop down and be fed raisins and sultanas. It
never actually came in, but hopped around just outside. It would take food from
my mum - only inches from her hand.

Cheers, helen s

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Quoted message said:

Well, some of my ancestors were called 'Wolfe' so you never know. Granted,
what I really meant was that I get on better with dogs than with cats.

AC

Well, you'll know you've inherited canine genes if you get uncontrollable urges
to sit in the middle of the road and lick your... 'nuff sed ;-)

Cheers, helen s :-D

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"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not so sure that applies here. If you stopped feeding your cat, and we
reintroduced wolves, then it might be a level playing field.

AC

Biggest killer of wildlife in the UK - by removal of habitat - is man.

Cats

Quoted message said:

pale into insignificance compared to the amount of wildlife we humans take

out.

Quoted message said:

Cheers, helen s

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off--

Well I have to agree with that. The way we are going on the planet will be
uninhabitable within 50 years. Cats - like all other creatures - need to
eat. Like the heron I saw recently which plucked a duckling from the canal.

BTW What on earth has this to do with cycling? Except in the sense that
cycling is green. OK I know you said it was OT. Tried rec.birds - or even
alt.pets.cats?

Brian

Quoted message said:

BTW What on earth has this to do with cycling?

Bugger all, which is why it was clearly marked OT.

Quoted message said:

OK I know you said it was OT.

Yup - and if you don't want to read it, it's easy to ignore as it's so clearly
marked OT.

Quoted message said:

Tried rec.birds - or even
alt.pets.cats?

It wouldn't be OT there ;-)

Cheers, helen s

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Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

That's certainly a deadly combination as the cat will be fixated too.
At least once it finds a robin. Ours was maybe just getting on a bit at
15ish. But since she died last year there have been noticeably more birds
in the garden, a whole family of robins, blue [censored] etc. There have always
been
nestboxes and feeders but the birds weren't so noticeable. Its a problem
choosing between the two because cats can be real characters and otherwise
do make good pets. IIRR according to one source (The Pan Book of Cats?) if
a cat is raised by a non birding mother it won't hunt birds itself either.
This so called "instinct" apparently needs to be taught.

Our cat was taught by its mother. The particular inventive owners built
a "run" in the garden with a connection to the catflap for the house and
another one which only opened for the mother (Collar-mounted magnet).
The mother consequently brought small animals home and taught her
kittens to hunt. When she reached hunting age, our cat was responsible
for regular decimation of the local wildlife (Or those too stupid to get
away!). Her crowning achievements include taking a sparrow out of the
air from a standing jump. The live moorhen that she not only caught, but
brought through the catflap. And the time when she spent 2 minutes half
in, half out of the catflap before shooting out. She returned about 10
seconds later with a shrew.

She's calmed down a bit in her old age (About 16 now IIRC) but is still
a better hunter than the adopted thing which we've acquired. His
speciality is bringing in animals that other cats have caught. And his
crowning achievement was the flat pigeon with tyre marks on its back. He
was really proud of himself aswell!

Jon

"Jon Senior" <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

That's certainly a deadly combination as the cat will be fixated too.
At least once it finds a robin. Ours was maybe just getting on a bit at
15ish. But since she died last year there have been noticeably more

birds

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in the garden, a whole family of robins, blue [censored] etc. There have

always

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

been
nestboxes and feeders but the birds weren't so noticeable. Its a

problem

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

choosing between the two because cats can be real characters and

otherwise

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

do make good pets. IIRR according to one source (The Pan Book of Cats?)

if

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a cat is raised by a non birding mother it won't hunt birds itself

either.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This so called "instinct" apparently needs to be taught.

Our cat was taught by its mother. The particular inventive owners built
a "run" in the garden with a connection to the catflap for the house and
another one which only opened for the mother (Collar-mounted magnet).
The mother consequently brought small animals home and taught her
kittens to hunt. When she reached hunting age, our cat was responsible
for regular decimation of the local wildlife (Or those too stupid to get
away!). Her crowning achievements include taking a sparrow out of the
air from a standing jump. The live moorhen that she not only caught, but
brought through the catflap. And the time when she spent 2 minutes half
in, half out of the catflap before shooting out. She returned about 10
seconds later with a shrew.

She's calmed down a bit in her old age (About 16 now IIRC) but is still
a better hunter than the adopted thing which we've acquired. His
speciality is bringing in animals that other cats have caught. And his
crowning achievement was the flat pigeon with tyre marks on its back. He
was really proud of himself aswell!

Jon

Both real characters by the sound of things, and a nice story.

Cheers.

Curious

"BrianW" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

BTW What on earth has this to do with cycling? Except in the sense that
cycling is green. OK I know you said it was OT. Tried rec.birds - or even
alt.pets.cats?

Brian

As you're posting in Outlook Express if you go to the Outlook Express
Main Window

on the Tools Menu Choose Message Rules
Choose News
Choose New Rule
Choose "Where the subject line contains specific words"
double click on the blue underlined "contains specific
words" in the bottom panel
enter "OT" in top panel of the box which then appears
tick to delete it
click ADD, OK and OK again
And I won't add - "what could be simpler ?"

and you never ever need be troubled by flagged OT messages ever again

Curious

Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

"Jon Senior" <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dr Curious [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

That's certainly a deadly combination as the cat will be fixated too.
At least once it finds a robin. Ours was maybe just getting on a bit at
15ish. But since she died last year there have been noticeably more

birds

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in the garden, a whole family of robins, blue [censored] etc. There have

always

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

been
nestboxes and feeders but the birds weren't so noticeable. Its a

problem

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

choosing between the two because cats can be real characters and

otherwise

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

do make good pets. IIRR according to one source (The Pan Book of Cats?)

if

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a cat is raised by a non birding mother it won't hunt birds itself

either.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This so called "instinct" apparently needs to be taught.

Our cat was taught by its mother. The particular inventive owners built
a "run" in the garden with a connection to the catflap for the house and
another one which only opened for the mother (Collar-mounted magnet).
The mother consequently brought small animals home and taught her
kittens to hunt. When she reached hunting age, our cat was responsible
for regular decimation of the local wildlife (Or those too stupid to get
away!). Her crowning achievements include taking a sparrow out of the
air from a standing jump. The live moorhen that she not only caught, but
brought through the catflap. And the time when she spent 2 minutes half
in, half out of the catflap before shooting out. She returned about 10
seconds later with a shrew.

She's calmed down a bit in her old age (About 16 now IIRC) but is still
a better hunter than the adopted thing which we've acquired. His
speciality is bringing in animals that other cats have caught. And his
crowning achievement was the flat pigeon with tyre marks on its back. He
was really proud of himself aswell!

Jon

Both real characters by the sound of things, and a nice story.

Great cats. Sadly they live with my parents which is 350 miles south of
me. And a second floor flat opening onto an A road is no place for a
cat. One day I'll get back out into the countryside and own my own
small, cute predator.

The latter of the two is a real hopeless case. We adopted him (Or was it
the other way around) because he was the only cat that Suki (The
original) would tolerate in the garden. He's terrified of nearly
everything, and once went rigid in my friend's arms, ears folded back
and a fixed stare into the middle distance. He is fat, and can't corner
so his back legs tend to swing out when he tries to run around the
house! Our neighbour at the time suggested that we call him Rover and
the name stuck. It just adds to the image really. Oh yeah, when you pick
him (He prefers to be held upside-down!) he purrs so much that he
salivates and has to swallow continuously to prevent himself from
dribbling (He frequently forgets and just dribbles onto your lap). All
in he is the most sorry excuse for a cat I've ever seen and compared to
Suki who looks like the one of the Egyptian cat statues, he barely even
counts as feline.

<Sniff> I miss them now. I want a cat!

Jon