We’re not getting a pet anytime soon. There are plenty of critters around here to keep us amused and/or annoyed. This is some sort of turkey-type bird who wandered into our yard one morning. It seriously gobbled like a Thanksgiving turkey.
I didn’t tell Dr Washam that it was in the yard because he makes threats about eating the doves that Aliza feeds. “Keep feeding those birds, Yaya. That one over there is getting really big.” They’re probably idle threats, but you can never tell with him.
And this next photo is a hoopoe. I didn’t get a very good shot of this one, so here’s a better one so you can see his long beak and his crest.
And then there’s Garbage. Garbage is the collective name of the feral cats that stalk the birds that Aliza feeds in the backyard. They’re not very good bird-catchers, so they eat our garbage instead and drag it all over the sideyard. They walk along the walls surrounding the villa and make that awful growl/whine noise whenever they see one of us. On an almost daily basis I run upstairs thinking I can hear one of the kids crying at naptime only to discover the noise is Garbages fighting or romancing each other outside.
One of the Garbages snuck into the house and Katie chased it out. Norah is the only one of us who seems to appreciate them. She squeals and points, “Kee Ka! Kee Ka!” Aliza corrects her, “No Norah, we say, ‘Shoo Garbage! Leave my birds alone and don’t eat our garbage!’”
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Do all of those feral cats remind you of Denton? : )
What an interesting yard!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmeted_Guineafowl
I feel the same way about cats…all of them
I totally thought the hose in one of the pictures was a snake and it actually freaked me out.
Kasey, you hit it right on the money. In fact, we also have a small patch of our yard that sits over a sewage manhole and the grass and weeds are growing beautifully. I’m going to print a sign and name it “Low Maintenance Wildflower Area” ala Willis Library.
Thanks to those cats…, you won’t have mice.
I have friends in Rabat…, they have a few cats walking around. Their cats are making sure that the mice are staying away from the yard, and their villa. It works…, but…I am sure that these cats don’t visit the vet for their shots…grrrr….