Cats and Hummingbirds

[Peter W.]

We are blessed both at our main and summer houses with an abundance of hummingbirds. As you may know these are utterly fearless birds and do not take 'no' for an answer. They will also raise up to three clutches per season, and often, but not always will make a new nest for each clutch. Clearly, they are nesting now.

Our younger cat was asleep on the veranda (cat-proof fencing) when a hummer dive-bombed him for some fur. That woke him up! Then another, and another. Finally, he realized that they were not going to hurt him so he started to try and catch them. No luck of course. I did not have a camera with me at the time.

So, that evening, I brushed out both cats and left the fur in several locations around the yard. I guess it would be about 2 cups of very loose fur in all. That was Sunday.

This morning, only a few bits remained. We are bringing some fur to the summer house this weekend to see what happens.

Guys and gals, if you brush out your cats regularly as we do, either compost the fur or leave it out for hummers and other soft-nesting birds. Long-hair fur seems to be more attractive than short fur as it happens.

We have found that dog hair has much less appeal to nesting birds. That, we compost.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[reilloc]

Post by Peter W.
We are blessed both at our main and summer houses with an abundance of hummingbirds. As you may know these are utterly fearless birds and do not take 'no' for an answer. They will also raise up to three clutches per season, and often, but not always will make a new nest for each clutch. Clearly, they are nesting now.
Our younger cat was asleep on the veranda (cat-proof fencing) when a hummer dive-bombed him for some fur. That woke him up! Then another, and another. Finally, he realized that they were not going to hurt him so he started to try and catch them. No luck of course. I did not have a camera with me at the time.
So, that evening, I brushed out both cats and left the fur in several locations around the yard. I guess it would be about 2 cups of very loose fur in all. That was Sunday.
This morning, only a few bits remained. We are bringing some fur to the summer house this weekend to see what happens.
Guys and gals, if you brush out your cats regularly as we do, either compost the fur or leave it out for hummers and other soft-nesting birds. Long-hair fur seems to be more attractive than short fur as it happens.
We have found that dog hair has much less appeal to nesting birds. That, we compost.
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

That'd have made a great video. I might put some of this spare fur
outside and see what happens.

LNC