Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts

Friday, 29 August 2025

Neighborhood Cats in Stealth Mode

Our neighborhood cats have been acting rather stealthily, of late. It has been interesting to observe them and speculate about their doings.

Case 1

In case 1, I was outside hitting golf balls into the backyard net one summer evening, when it occurred to me that I should double-check the car doors, to be sure that they were locked. When I went out back to the parking space near the alley, I noticed a medium-brown furry mass under the car. Mindful of the possibility of skunks (yeah, I know, the colour wasn’t right) or coyotes (probably too small, but it could be a young one), I looked at it warily. Suddenly, the mass of brown fur turned around and looked at me, before scooting off. Sure enough, it was one of our neighborhood cats.

So, I went back to hitting golf balls. Some minutes later, I happened to look up, towards the car. A young woman with jet black hair was peeking over the car, curious about the sounds of the ball-striking. Upon noticing me look, she skedaddled.

Was neighborhood cat shape-shifting, I wondered? That comes up a lot in science fiction and supernatural lore. Weren’t there at least two Star Trek episodes with that trope – the Gary Seven episode and a Halloween episode? I mean, if it’s good enough for Star Trek, you just never know, right?

Case 2

Case 2 is rather more naturalistic. A few days later, I happened to look out the back door window one hot afternoon, and noticed neighborhood cat #2, down the sidewalk, beside the small door into the garage. It was the black cat version of neighborhood cat this time.

I watched for several minutes as it stared at the door, with its ears twitching noticeably at times. Clearly, it thought that there was something interesting in there. Well, you never know, there have been mice in there, on occasion. That is one of the reasons that I feel fairly positive about the presence of neighborhood cats. That and their generally intriguing nature.

After several minutes it moved on slightly, to a pile of weeds and related greenery that I had cut down and still needed to bag. It showed a similar interest in that mass of composting vegetation, once more with the ear twitching and nosing about. After some time, it carried on further around the back of the garage. On this occasion, it moved rather stealthily, obviously on the hunt for something.

Eventually, I gave up and went downstairs to continue my work on the computer. A cat on the hunt has infinite patience – me, not so much. When I came back upstairs and checked out the door, I noticed that it had edged its way closer to the house, keeping up that slow stealthy maneuver. But after a few minutes, even it got bored, and scampered off to the side of the house to explore new territories.

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Given the above text, I can’t help but plug this short story by Helena Puumala:

The Summer Cottage Mystery

Here's a nice children's story by Science Fiction and Romance writer Helena Puumala. Yes, she does kid's stories too. Read it to a younger child (pre-school, elementary or early junior-high), or read it yourself to bring back memories of those long, lazy childhood days at the lake, during summer vacation, when your biggest worry in life was a lost kitten. Note that this is a short story of about 8500 words.

It is just 99 cents U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and is sometimes on free promotion. And, of course, it’s on Kindle Unlimited.

It is available on Amazon, at the following:

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Sunday, 13 July 2025

Magpies Getting Very Excited (July 2025)

The magpies were getting pretty excited yesterday afternoon. My wife Helena said that they were arguing and getting very angry, whether at each other or something else, she wasn’t sure. She said that it seemed like one “dropped out of the air”, after which the birds went kind of nuts.

We do have a large nest in a tree near the house (it has been named “the condo”), which seems to have had babies in it this year. Perhaps a fledgling tried its luck flying a bit too early?

However, I have seen some hawks around lately, so it could be that which got the magpies going. In addition, I encountered neighborhood cat on our back porch yesterday, when I went out to hit some golf balls into the backyard net. So, perhaps the cat got the magpies excited, earlier in the day.

Edmonton declared the magpie to be winner of the vote for “official city bird” a few days ago, so maybe they were celebrating that.

Friday, 13 June 2025

The Zoo Hypothesis or The News of the World – A Science Fiction Story, Now on Audiobook (Amazon)

A lighthearted, but also kind of serious, look at why we don’t hear from all the aliens that must be out there. The people that we tested it out on, found the audible version to be quite amusing - plus, includes intelligent dogs and who doesn't like that?

The Zoo Hypothesis or The News of the World

We present a story giving a possible scenario for the so-called Zoo Hypothesis, an explanation similar to that known in Star Trek lore as the Prime Directive. It’s an explanation sometimes given to account for a mystery in the Search for Intelligent Life, known as The Great Silence, or Fermi’s Paradox.

Basically, Enrico Fermi argued (quite convincingly, to many observers), that there had been ample time for an alien intelligence to colonize the galaxy since its formation, so where are they? The Zoo Hypotheses says that they are out there, but have cordoned off the Earth from contact, until we are sufficiently evolved or culturally advanced to handle the impact of alien contact.

This story takes a humorous tongue in cheek approach to that explanation. It also features dogs and sly references to Star Trek. Talk about man’s Best Friend.

It is only 99 cents U.S., equivalent price in other currencies. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is sometimes on a free promotion.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B076RR1PGD

Saturday, 26 April 2025

The Summer Cottage Mystery, now on Audiobook – A nice gentle kid’s story,(Amazon)

The Summer Cottage Mystery – A nice gentle kid’s story, now on Audiobook (Amazon)

It’s great to read a story out loud to a child, but every now and again that’s not practical. In such a case an audible book can fill in. You can give it a try, with The Summer-Cottage Mystery.

The Summer Cottage Mystery

It is just 99 cents U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and is sometimes on free promotion. And, of course, it’s on Kindle Unlimited.

It is available on Amazon, at the following:

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00N0B4TYY

Friday, 19 July 2024

Magpies and their Babies in the Back Yard

Things seem to have settled down now, but for a few weeks the back yard was very active with magpie goings-on. There are two tall Manitoba Maple trees in the back yard, both of which have magpie nests in them.

Magpie nests are surprisingly large and complicated structures, given that magpies aren't actually all that big. One of the nests is large enough that my wife calls it "the condo", the other is more modest. They build them high up, when possible, and obscured by leaves. They are very obvious in the winter, late fall and early spring, but not easy to see in the summer.

Nonetheless, we had several weeks of magpie babies calling for food every few hours. During the in-between periods, though, they were surprisingly quiet. I suppose that is just natural for them, in order to not draw attention. Still, it is rather impressive. Most human parents would love to have new-borns that are so quiet, when not requesting a meal.

The adults remained rather busy, flying away with food in their beaks to feed the young ones. They also performed a sort of guard duty. There were usually a few hanging around, watching the yard, sometimes taking turns in regards to their duties. During this time they were also more wary of people (i.e. us). At other times, they are pretty tolerant of our presence, especially when we leave them some left-overs that we couldn't eat ourselves.

We have some squirrels as well. Squirrels and magpies don't get along too well. During this time, the magpies were very disinclined to allow the squirrels anywhere near their nesting trees, for fear that they have bad intentions towards the eggs and/or babies. One day, as I was hitting golf balls into my backyard net, I noticed the squirrel edging its way towards the nesting tree. It was playing it coy, pretending that it had no real interest in that tree, just sort of exploring. But the magpies weren't having any of that - they chased it away in quick time. To be fair, the squirrels have a legitimate concern that the magpies will make a meal out of their babies, if they get the chance.

A little while ago, the magpies must have fledged, leaving the nest. For a little while, I would see two magpies in close company exploring the lawn. One was obviously older and the other was smaller and evidently younger (it's feathers were still very pristine in appearance). Sometimes the older one would appear to be feeding the younger one. The picture is from Google images, but that's what it looks like.

The older one also seemed to be teaching the younger one how to peck the ground, looking for insects. It wold peck, and the younger one would imitate that behavior. I don't know if the young one was aware of the purpose of the pecking, but I suppose it caught on when it got the odd insect or two.

A few years ago, there was a hawk nest in a tree across the alley. Those eggs hatched and the young hawks grew up, eventually leaving the nest themselves. We observed that during a Covid lock-down summer. Those hawks seem to have returned to the area, though perhaps it is a different bunch. They wheel around in the sky at times, making that weird scree noise (like a Saturday morning cartoon of a pterodactyl).

Perhaps the magpie activity has become less overt because of that. Or maybe it is the heat - it has been well into the 30s Celsius for a week or so (that's 85 to 95 in Fahrenheit). At any rate, things have gotten quieter.

But then, the other night, a family of skunks were wandering around the back yard and apparently camping out under the neighbors deck. Neighborhood cat had been acting a bit funny lately, hanging around and looking at me as if I was supposed to do something for it (it is usually a bit skittish). I guess it knew about the skunks before I did. Hopefully we can all coexist.

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And here is a book recommendation: