Tonight on the way home both Mom & Dad Goose were at the pond. One was on the lawn and the other was in the water looking at the decoy like “don’t you do anything else besides sit there?” My guess it was Dad in the water, but hey… how do you tell a male from a female? I don’t think the decoy is going to stop them from having thier eggs there. Which is good. That’s the Goose Watch for now.
Archive for March 2008
Let’s start with… I trim my cats claws. I always have. It’s not hard to do. Just grab a pair of nail clippers – the kind you would use on yourself and just nip off the ends. If the claws are light you can see the quick and go a little higher for a lasting trim. If the claws are dark… just take of the really pointy part.
Needless to say I don’t do it frequently enough. Our guys & girls really don’t claw at the furniture. We have many scratching posts (3 in the bathroom (they’re small) , 3 in the living room (they’re big) , 1 in the craft room (off the top of my head)) that they can use and get “goooooood kitty” rather than a sharp clap and a “HEY!”
David and I have surmised that cats have biorhythms just like us humans. We’ve been trying to figure out the duration of the Emotional (lovey dovey must sit on your lap), the Physical (psycho running insanely aroung the house wrestling with the others) and the Intellictual (figures out how to open the treat jar without opposible thumbs) lengths. We have a spreadsheet that we’ve been keeping … somewhat sporadically. We really have to get serious if we want to figure it out. Which leads to Archimedes – Psycho Kitty.
I would say I haven’t cut the Mede Man’s claws in a month or so. He doesn’t like it. And so I either have to catch him asleep and cut or have a kitty struggle complete with pathetic “Your killing me” meows. So day before yesterday I should have known something was up with Archimedes (http://www.taciej.com/kitties/supremes/archimedes4.jpg). I couldn’t walk without tripping over his little black butt. Although he’s about 15 lbs. right now and not fat so his butt is anything but little. Anyway, he was all over me like a cheap fur suit. I sat down on the edge of the bed to get ready for work. Up hops Mede-Man. He lays on my knee hi’s. Which I then must extract out from under him without a) getting runners or b) getting clawed. The game has begun! I managed a and a little b. Then I put my clothes on the bed. There was a string in the pants. Fun! Fun! I managed to extract my clothes and put them on. But this is now a full fledged game. Archimedes the grabs my arm… full out teeth and claws to play. Talk about OW! Once claw actually dug in and left a bruise! So I grabbed hime by the scruff of the neck, swung him around to face me, said “Ow! No!” in my most stern “you hurt me” voice, and plopped him uncermiounously on the floor. Well I guess because I did the Mom thing of grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, he “apologized” by looking contrite and rubbing on my leg. This lasted for all of 10 seconds. I gave him a little pet and he grabbed my leg for some more play time.
Needless to say… his nails have been cut. Let the games continue!
Ok. The house is for sale. And it there is a decoy in the shallow end of the pond. It was the one goose I kept seeing in the morning. I don’t see the pair in the AM. I guess they don’t get up before 10 am. I don’t know if they current owner’s are trying to drive off the geese of attract them. They do make a terrible mess. They don’t know how to use a litter box. Or in other words they “poop at will.” Fertilizer factory comes into mind. but on the bright side, I’ve never seen greener grass.
But the geese are still there. Last night on the drive home the kids were swimming in the pond. They were a bit distracted by the decoy… but they didn’t seem to be afraid of it. They kept looking at it like… do we go over and welcome him or what? I hope it doesn’t discourage them from nesting in the pond. And I hope the new owner’s are as wildlife friendly as the current owners. I didn’t get a real good look because there was a car behind me – and I mean RIGHT behind me. So… that’s the update for now. Maybe there will be more tonight.
What is FEAR?
Fear is…
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
from http://www.honoryourauthenticself.com/index.htm
On my way to work on Oak Tree Road there is a house that has a pond in the front yard. For the last 2 years (at least) there have been a pair of Canadian Geese who make their spring & summer home there. They raise their chicks and then leave to wing their way where ever it is that geese go in the summer. I was wondering if they were going to make it back this year and last night on the way home… Tah-Dah! There were Mom & Dad goose in the pond swimming side by side. Now comes the fun part… watching the nest building, egg laying and chick raising. Two years ago after the chicks were hatched I stopped and Dad “attacked” my car. Head down, wings up and hissing like a snake. It was kind of amusing to have a 20 lb goose attacking a 2 ton car… but he did in defense of his family. I moved on so I wouldn’t cause him too much distress.
This morning on my way to work, they weren’t doing anything yet… they were sleeping or eating in the shallow end of the pond. I didn’t get too good a look… I had a car behind me. I was starting to worry that Mom & Dad weren’t going to make it back this year. They are a bit late. I think.
David (founder of www.kalarhythms.com) made a funny last night. We were talking about the geese and he said I wonder if the father’s name is Lou. I said I haven’t named them and I’m sure the family who owns the pond has named them… but Lou? He said… that way when the egg hatch and if there’s a boy in them he’d be… ready for this… it’s corny…. Louis Gossling, Jr. Well…. I think it’s funny. So now we have a name for Dad, we just need a good name for Mom. Or I could just keep calling them Mom & Dad. More later on The family Goose.
Oh… and there is no Day 1. I didn’t write anything last night – which would have been day 1.
I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969)