Wonders of the natural world

Some very strange occurrences have been transpiring around here in the animal world lately... yes, the most strangest of things indeed... 

Yesterday morning when the Fisherman and I arrived home from a little rendezvous of a breakfast date we were confronted with a very strange scene like what you see here... 

Just like horses do, these two feral, 'Winter' and 'Tiger Lily', were found standing next to each other facing opposite ways in a frozen-like manner. I have never seen cats doing something like that... you? But the strangest of all things is how they remained in this position for the longest of time... not moving, never paying attention to the sounds of our approaching vehicle or our proximity... something I had never seen them do...     

Do you suppose they were being hypnotized by some invisible entities of the woods or something? Perhaps they were confabulating against me?  Again?  Oh oh oh nature forbids!  

You see, right after we got back home from our Florida holiday vacation I found the most disgusting and messiest of poopiest cat disaster ever in the whole wide world waiting for us in our front porch... the 'guilty party', Tuxedo.  The owner of our front porch...  so he thinks! 

There was cat poop all over the floors, furnishings and pillows, poop on and under the settee.  I even found cat's poop between the two shelves of the little country table I keep out there for my plants and lantern... how did this 'beast' of a cat managed to do this and why, it escapes my imagination...

Every pillow and fabric there had to be put into the trash...

A cruel war against wills, I supposed that's what it is... when night drew in I still could not stopped thinking of why this cat hates me so.... well, he's validating his space I guess, but so am I.

I must have some heart problems or something... going up this hill has proven me faulty time after time and out of shape in a big way... I either need to slow down or just die... but the nippiness in which the January mornings wake up wrapped in these days, it is most invigorating and you keep trying, wanting for more, more sunshine infused days and lovely crisp blue skies... 

Yesterday morning while out walking, I heard the most strange of sounds all of a sudden... I swoosh of a sound like a fast-moving train in the distance or some invisible something rushing pass me... when I turn around to look, I was amazed by the sight... a whooping mass of thousands of birds whirling just all above and around me... a mass aerial stunt that has continued on all day long today.... 

I did a little research and learned that these birds are European Starlings.  When starlings flock together, wheeling and darting through the sky in tight, fluid formations, they are referred to as a 'murmuration'.  And that's exactly the sound I heard... a murmur of birds... isn't this the most sublimes of names!

The answer to the 'hypnotized cats mystery' unfurled in subtle ways this morning...  These cats must have been working on a settlement or resolution of sorts between them before going into war... like some pre-war meetings or something... you see, this morning Winter showed up looking like a total mess.  I couldn't see any visible injury on him, but its lovely white fur was all muddy and he looked terrible. When he saw me, he stopped for a minute and looked straight into my eyes before disappearing into the woods... I haven't seen him since, but hope he's doing just fine wherever he is and will show up again real soon.... Tiger Lily did showed up too this morning!  

Guess we know who the winner was!

He's so beautiful...

Do you think he'll be offended if he finds out I call him 'Tiger Lily'?

Oh oh and one final tale before I say goodnight... this evening just before dusk, I spied on a cardinal eating some leftovers turkey bacon I left out for the cats...  boy, and I thought birds only fed on seeds and worms... this one most had been some opportunistic omnivore! Whatever is going on in the natural world? ;)

Do you have any tales of animals behaving in a funny, strange or unusual way in your part of the world?  Do share! ;)

This book here it truly is beyond words: "What animals think and feel". Check it out, if you want to learn some really cool stuff!