A lot of good questions have come up in the comments of recent posts, and we thought the questions were worth answering where everyone could see the answers. So welcome to our first ever Mailbag Q & A!
What kind of bird was that? It’s huge!
The bird in that post is a Florida sandhill crane. They grow to about 4 feet tall, though our friend is not quite full sized. Although it’s illegal to feed them, many people do, including some of our neighbors, and this guy pecks at our windows in part to get attention, hoping for a handout. They also peck at windows when they see their own reflections, but it’s obvious that he was not just looking at his reflection, since he was paying close attention to us, too. Our local sand hill cranes have been known to chase humans through the neighborhood who look like they might be about to offer something to eat. Being chased by a couple four-foot-tall birds is scary even to a full-sized human!
They are usually seen in mated pairs, so we’re hoping that our bird buddy will get a girlfriend soon and not come around as often to stare at us. It’s our job to stare at him.
Does Pierre always act that way when you’re making the bed?
Pierre usually huffs or sighs to show his annoyance when the bed is being made, but when he is feeling territorial about something like the sheets and the head peep doesn’t pay attention to his lashing tail of warning, he will eventually hiss and swat to get his message across. If she walks away and leaves him with no one to oppose, his hostility melts and he is back to his friendly self in minutes. He was soliciting attention in the living room only moments after that video was shot. The head peep’s hand, on the other hand, will have band aids for several more days.
The head peep wants to add that she would not have been smacked with Pierre’s claws if she wasn’t filming because she wouldn’t have pushed him quite as hard in the first place before walking away, and because she would have been able to see what her hand was doing rather than watching the viewfinder. While she did capture a glimpse of Pierre behaving badly, she knows it wasn’t the best idea, and she doesn’t recommend doing it to anyone else.
Do you ever see alligators on your cat TV?
We have in the past, but the most recent was four years ago. There aren’t any resident alligators in our pond, but up until a few years ago, it wasn’t unusual to see one during breeding season, when they are most active about moving around.
These are photos from the last time we saw the alligator, in 2010. They were taken with a point-and-shoot, which at that distance is a point-and-see-what-comes-out. The head peep wasn’t going to take close-ups of this guy without a telephoto lens.
