The tailless lizard resting on my garden monk's head is a tragic victim of my neighbor's roaming cat. The cat has become braver now, showing himself in my garden during the day. He's chased off most of the hummingbirds, and now he's going for the lizards. We now have a mesh screen for the fire pit he was using as a litter box. It seems that thwarting him from using the litter box has caused him to act out. I've sent a letter to the neighbors asking them to keep the cat out of my garden. (I don't know them--they don't seem to be home most of the time. These are huge properties, and their yard is beyond my back eight-foot wall. Besides the errant cat, they have about six dogs, or at least that's how many I suspect, from the dogfights coming from their back yard every morning about 5 a.m.!) On to more pleasant things. I've found a few garden related websites that may be worth a visit. The first is TerraCycle, a company that turns trash and waste into usable garden products. They have organic potting mix, worm poop and many other interesting products, and use recycled bottles and things to package them. Learn2Grow is a site sponsored by Lowe's that has a ton of garden info and even garden courses to take--but not free. There are forums for gardeners and just a myriad of things to learn. Then, if you need info on the various insects in your garden, there's Bug Bios and Bug Guide. I've found these two sites invaluable when trying to identify a new bug in my garden. Another site is Backyardgardener.com, which has a wonderful list of plants by botanical and common name. The site also has hundreds of other interesting categories to peruse.
5 comments:
Hi Aiyana
I have heard of Terra Cycle ( Ed Beagley ?Jr. had them on his show) Backyardgardener .. found that site about 3 years ago and love it !
I hope you don't hate all cats because of what has happened .. it is the owner, who sounds like , well I won't say what .. not nice in any case .. I have had cats all of my life and they have been "indoor" pets .. it is ridiculous in this day and age to let them roam .. for everyone's sake and mostly the cat's safety ..
I'm sorry you are having such a rough time with these neighbors .. do you have "by-law" officers ? or enforcements ? .. reporting officially can some times help .. especially if they are fined MONEY!
Joy
Oh...can you call the animal control folks and have them pick the cat up...or trap it? The owners would have to pay each time to get it back!!! It is an effective way to deal with it. As for the dogs...call the police every time you hear them bark after the cut of time in your noise ordinance. If there are enough calls, they will take the dogs away.
Thanks for the sites...will love to take a look.
The photograph of the lizard on the monk's head is great. I hope the cat gets bored and moves on to better pastures.
Some really good links. I'll have to peruse them a little more to see if they have info for my region.
Poor little lizard.
Another thought about the cat. If the owners are irresponsible (and it sounds like they are) perhaps some well placed tuna. If the cat is hanging out in your yard, he's probably looking for company. Be his buddy, put a bell on him and he'll follow you and tell you all his stories and won't have time to pull the tails off the lizards. When a lizard does catch his eye, you'll be there to intervene.
Post a Comment