Don't Cat spears are really anti-cat devices, but also work against squirrels. The incidence of squirrel attacks have diminished greatly after I installed these spears, as witnessed by Mr. Nonny Nu. After weeks of sustaining attacks, the plants were getting depressed. But, recently, buds started appearing (9 gardenia buds and 2 lily buds), so this was an especially critical time to implement a new plan. Don't Cat Squirrel Spears were immediately applied to the planter and nailed down tight.
I am very happy with this!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Squirrels II
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Backyard Petting Zoo (Trial Edition)
Oh, Nature! We are stuck in a hotel all day, but are we deprived of our outdoor friends? No, siree. Please say warm hello to Cow Moth:
Cow Moth has stayed with us for two days now and is officially adopted. He invited two of his pals, Furry Moth and Preying "Manty" Mantis, for a nightcap.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Happy Memorial Day!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
So long, Backyard Petting Zoo and Castle...
Well, it's official, the Nus are completely moved out of the castle and into a cottage alongside a meadow. I turn in the keys today to the landlord. It was time to go, but still makes me sad. I won't miss the castle all that much, but I already miss our Backyard Petting Zoo. I don't think I've been sadder to leave a place before. I kept telling myself that it would be fine, but now that the time is really upon me, I am close to tears.
Last week, as we were moving in earnest, Slim came around and demanded to know what was going on. (We had tried to tell him weeks ago, but he never really got the message until things started really disappearing from the rooms.) At the time, I was the only one in the house (here's the last time Slim saw the Nu Kitties), so I let him in and let him wander around (he had done that before back in Sushi's time). I think he got the picture when he saw all the furniture, and the bear and kitties gone. I spent some time with him and petted him. So sad. Skitty was there, too. After all while, they did their usual sunning, but Slim also put on a floor show to commemorate the occasion. It will be really sad to look out the window and not see my Slim boy there.
We will miss you Slim, Skitty, Blind Kitty, Not Blind Kitty, Neighborhood Kitty, Possum Family, Raccoon Family, Skunk, Beamer, Mascii, and all the other kitties who visited sometime. Take care of yourselves, and don't fight. But, Slim is the most special of them all. He was there from the beginning. We will really miss you Slimmy, and we will always remember you like this:
Take care.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Most Dangerous Thing About Rabbits...
...is that they like to silflay. Here is an account of what happens when kitties are removed from the environment and rabbits are left to silflay without interruption:
(From Yahoo!)
Removing cats to protect birds backfires on island
BANGKOK, Thailand – It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds.
But the decision to eradicate the felines from Macquarie island allowed the rabbit population to explode and, in turn, destroy much of its fragile vegetation that birds depend on for cover, researchers said Tuesday.
Removing the cats from Macquarie "caused environmental devastation" that will cost authorities 24 million Australian dollars ($16.2 million) to remedy, Dana Bergstrom of the Australian Antarctic Division and her colleagues wrote in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology.
"Our study shows that between 2000 and 2007, there has been widespread ecosystem devastation and decades of conservation effort compromised," Bergstrom said in a statement.
The unintended consequences of the cat-removal project show the dangers of meddling with an ecosystem — even with the best of intentions — without thinking long and hard, the study said.
"The lessons for conservation agencies globally is that interventions should be comprehensive, and include risk assessments to explicitly consider and plan for indirect effects, or face substantial subsequent costs," Bergstrom said.
Located about halfway between Australia and the Antarctic continent, Macquarie was designated a World Heritage site in 1997 as the world's only island composed entirely of oceanic crust. It is known for its wind-swept landscape, and about 3.5 million seabirds and 80,000 elephant seals arrive there each year to breed.
The cats, rabbits, rats and mice are all nonnative species to Macquarie, probably introduced in the past 100 years by passing ships. Authorities have struggled for decades to remove them.
The invader predators menaced the native seabirds, some of them threatened species. So in 1995, the Parks and Wildlife Service of Tasmania that manages Macquarie tried to undo the damage by removing most of the cats.
Several conservation groups including the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Birds Australia said the problem was not the original eradication effort itself — but that it didn't go far enough. They said the project should have taken aim at all the invasive mammals on the island at once.
"What was wrong was that the rabbits were not eradicated at the same time as the cats," University of Auckland Prof. Mick Clout, who also is a member of the Union's invasive species specialist group. "It would have been ideal if the cats and rabbits were eradicated at the same time, or the rabbits first and the cats subsequently."
Liz Wren, a spokeswoman for the Parks and Wildlife Service of Tasmania, said authorities were aware from the beginning that removing the feral cats would increase the rabbit population. But at the time, researchers argued it was worth the risk considering the damage the cats were doing to the seabird populations.
"The alternative was to accept the known and extensive impacts of cats and not do anything for fear of other unknown impacts," Wren said. "Since cats were eradicated, the grey petrel successfully bred on the island for the first time in a century and the recovery of Antarctic prions has continued since the eradication of feral cats."
Now, the parks service has a new plan to finish the job, using technology and poisons that weren't available a decade ago.
Wren said plans to eradicate both rabbits as well as rats and mice from the island will begin in 2010. Helicopters using global positioning systems will drop poisonous bait that targets all three pests. Later, teams will shoot, fumigate and trap the remaining rabbits, she said.
Some of the earlier critics are now behind this latest eradication effort, saying it should help the island's ecosystem fully recover because it would remove the last remaining invasive species.
"Without this action, there will be serious long-term consequences for the majestic seabirds which nest on the island including the four threatened albatross species, and for the health of the island ecosystem as a whole," said Dean Ingwersen, Bird Australia's threatened bird network coordinator.
"We believe that the process they are going to follow uses best practice for this type of work," Ingwersen said. "And that all possible ramifications have now been considered."
(emphasis added)
tsk tsk...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Crime Wave at the Nu Residence
Most troubling is the bad influence these degenerates have on the local children. One morning, I discovered that our happy home was burglarized and the criminal later returned to the scene of the crime. In an attempt to curtail further burglaries, the Nus now store their non-can items of interest on top of the fridge, out of the reach of certain individuals.
Finally, the Nus are also taking a proactive approach by profiling--individuals who are known to have a propensity for committing assault and battery are being detained indefinitely (67 at last count).
Monday, August 4, 2008
Happy Birthday, Skillet Girl!!
Please join me in wishing our favorite grey cloud a very very happy first birthday! I remember that fateful day when I went to the local kitty jail to bail *someone* out. She was a cutie pie from the start--look at that face! She and Kash became quick friends and are now inseparable.
Skillet still feels like she is made of cast iron, but I think that's just the way she is built. She's all muscle! She has always been an active kitty, so it has been difficult to get her to sit still for a good portrait:
Sometimes, though, she has graciously posed for the camera. Lately, her favorite activities have been the removal of the carpeting from the top of her play tube (where she likes to perch and people-watch), and to harrass her "birdie" (the green toy). Skillet likes to play fetch with her birdie. She will "bring back the birdie" if we throw it away from her! When we are busy, however, she will throw the birdie with her little paws and play fetch by herself, too. Either way works for her. Oh, I forgot. Skillet has a third favorite activity--catching bugs and eating them. So, here's a dream cake for our birthday girl:
Happy birthday, little Skillet girl!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Boston (Day 2)
Rise and shine! It's only 5:00am and we are already getting ready to go out the door. Yep, 5:00am EST. Now, what would get us West Coast night owls up at this time of the morning? Only one thing other than food--live reenactment of the Battle of Lexington! The Battle of Lexington is reenacted each year on April 19 to commemorate the April 19, 1775, battle that started the American Revolutionary War. And, it starts on the dot at 6am. We called the Lexington City Hall beforehand and they advised us to arrive by at least 5:30am to find parking. So, we hit the road a little a bit after 5am.
We were a bit worried that we wouldn't know exactly where the reenactment would take place. But, we needn't have worried. We drove into town as the sun was coming up, and we saw herds of people making their way in the same direction to Lexington Green. We parked and joined the throng of people, many of whom were carrying ladders. We figured out what the ladders were for when we got to the green.
The area in which the reenactment would be performed was roped off. It was a path that ran from a street onto the green and through the houses that bordered the green. It was kinda hard to find a good spot to see (since we didn't bring a ladder) but we finally found a pretty good spot right in front of a house. Unbeknownst to us, this turned out to be the center of a key scene in the reenactment. Of course, I failed to video that part.
Several colonists were hanging out in front of the house. All of a sudden, a colonist rode up on horseback and asked for the lieutenant living in the house. The lieutenant was summoned from the house, and the colonist on horseback reported that the British were coming! (Okay, he didn't use those words but that was the gist of what he said.) The lieutenant instructed the surrounding colonists to assemble on the green. A drummer appeared from the side of the house, started drumming, and led the way to a spot farther away on the green and out of our line of vision:
Not long afterward, we heard the drumming of the British and we saw the redcoats come marching down the green. They were even pushing a couple of colonists who had been captured along their route:
The redcoats marched passed us and there wasn't anything we could see anymore, but we could hear gunshots, shouts, and sounds of scuffling. MP and I moved to another location and got a better view of the battle:
What community participation! There were so many people walking with us and who were already there before us. It was really neat to be a part of such a group and you could really feel the energy in the crowd. We had such a blast!
When the Lexington portion of the reenactment was over (there was a similar reenactment in Concord), it was about 7am, a perfect time for Dunkin' Donuts. We got some kwawfee and donuts and drove to Concord. We went to Walden Pond State Reservation and made our way toward Walden Pond. What a wonderful idea, don't you think? Lexington battle, followed by an early breakfast walking along the trails surrounding Walden Pond. Here is the map, but it is unfortunate that *someone* lost the map while we were deep into the woods. Nevertheless, we charged on--we don't call ourselves "Thelma and Louise" for nothing.
Anyhow, let's just focus on what we saw before and after the map disappearance. We found Walden Pond. It was very tranquil and there was someone fishing. Apparently, the tide was still high. Even though it was mid-April, Spring was only just beginning to show up at Walden Pond. There was some vegetation that reminded me of my goal to have hot pot in our hotel room. There was also some moss that I had never seen before. We also saw some ducks who were building a huge nest. Then, MP commented that, only in America would the state run electricity into the middle of a forest so that a small shack could partake in the utility. We also found the site of Henry David Thoreau's cabin where the chimney foundation was marked. Here was the view that Thoreau would have seen from his cabin. When we got back to the parking lot, we saw a replica of Thoreau's cabin (inside), and we took a group photo.
What happened next in Salem can only be described as "uncomfortable." MP felt that all three spots that I had chosen to visit sucked (pirate museum, witch museum with reenactment, and witch museum 2). I will admit that the pirate museum was a dud. However, witch museum with reenactment was great. These people reenacted a portion of the Witch Trials directly from the transcripts, and they really got into it. However, because these two points of non-interest were so dull, according to MP, that we decided not to visit the third, even though we had already paid for it in a combo tour purchase. Now, this is a big deal ("this" = MP not consuming what she has paid for). So, instead, we went to visit Nathaniel Hawthorne's house and also the house upon which he had based his novel, The House of Seven Gables.
MP was unimpressed. We drove to visit a lighthouse of her choosing, but even though we didn't get to see the lighthouse, we saw some falcons for the movie, The Proposal, which was being filmed near the lighthouse at the time. (Those falcons were so cute--they looked like they were wearing pants!) We didn't see any stars, though. MP was so unimpressed with my planning that she made sure to set the agenda for Day 3 before going to bed that night (only she and Hermie talked it over and excluded me).
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Boston --- vacation of countless tours (all paid with money)
Day 1:
It really dwarfed the chicken feet 
that we ate for lunch.
who said "...taxation without representation...". We saw all kinds of colonial stuff and learned a lot of history. It was worth the price. He was really informative. Paul Revere didn't do all those stuff the poem says. We finished the rest of the unpaid tour on foot -- saw Bunker Hill and Old Ironside (I think). Interesting to know that there are still gaslights 
at certain really old part of Dunkintown.
. Each pane of glass is about 4-5 foot wide and about 2 stories tall. There were six of these. It was actually in memory of the victims of the holocaust -- the New England Holocaust Memorial. 
(OK, I can't claim authorship to this really nice looking picture. Its way beyong the scope of practice of my cheapo camera). http://nehm.org/design/ to learn more about this memorial. 
were the number (like a prisoner's number) of each of those died under Hitler's "maw jeung"...a very solem moment. "Maw Jeung"...Nonnynu, that could be your next Chinese idiom. Day2:
horses, the British Redcoats. middle-age men with real beer-belly and everything. Between watching people's butt cracks, back of their necks, top of their hair, we saw some of the parades and got the idea how the war for America Independence got started...I'm proud to be an American...Sunday, April 13, 2008
Under Siegeby sluggy (housebound, terrified and highly caffeinated guest blogger)
Scene: A beautiful cloud-free Sunday. The air is still and a balmy 65 degrees. Birds chirping, squirrels running about. The distant hills, the mountain bike in the garage, the muddy hiking boots next to the door all beckon. Sluggy, however, is trapped inside her house, quivering (1) with doors barricaded.
Let me start at the beginning.
One benefit of being Nonny Nu’s hiking companion (2) is enjoying the splendor of nature … au naturale. Whoa people, I mean nature in its natural state, not NN and I cavorting like naked nymphs in horse dung in the Phleger Estate! Minds out of gutter? (3) Please proceed.
As a lover of nature, my absolute favorite thing to do (4) is try to bring a little nature back to where others have left desolation in their wake. This would describe my yard… the ugliest part of which was a nasty side “alley” that barely separates my house from my neighbors.
Over three years, I have spent many weekends working to bring a little nature back to this wasteland and make it a palatable place to pass through and view from the kitchen window. (5)
On a postage-stamp sized lot, it is necessary to use every square foot wisely so I squeezed in some tomato plants (6) and a potted herb garden.
This morning, as sluggy toured the “estate” with coffee in hand, I paid a visit to the veggie and herb section. For no particular reason, the oregano caught my attention.
Sluggy welcomes suggestions for how to handle the next battle in what is sure to be an epic war to win back the veggie/herb section. The first tomatoes ripen in just two months, not to mention the precious potential visitor (10) whose safety is paramount.
(1) And not in that good, Fluff-induced way.
(2) A second, even greater, benefit is tempting Nonny Nu with bacon she will never ever get no matter how much she bitches about it. Too bad she canceled today’s hike because I had 12 precooked bacon strips ready to go in a fluffy cushion of shock-absorbing paper towels sealed in a ziplock baggie.
(3) Out of gutter for now. It is permissible for TWoNN dudes to retain the image in their “vault” for later use except, of course, Man from U.N.C.L.E. who may substitute the Rev. Dr. Terry Valentine for sluggy and Cl. Panic for Nonny Nu. Dung element optional. You know who you are.
(4) Even more than writing briefs and working all nighters, alas, ‘tis true.
(5) This involved stripping and staining the fence, building and staining a trellis, planting vines, watching the vines die in frost, crying, finding and planting new vines. The new vines are supposed to bloom various colors of white, yellow and red but have yet to do that. If they ever get around to it, there should be butterflies and hummingbirds a-plenty!
(6) Planting tomatoes in dry, nutrient-starved ground in a location that gets only a few hours of sunlight a day goes against conventional gardening wisdom, but last year the plants grew to over 8 feet!
(7) Sluggy is accustomed to idle references to salt attacks but this attack is coming from inside the homestead.
(8) Not unlike Bobby Peru. Well, actually, sluggy too. If there is a group salamander mating party, I promise to post photos for the prurient enjoyment of all except those subject to the freakishly puritanical Nu, Nu & Nu internet filter.
(9) Another similarity to Bobby Peru. I think I will name the salamander Bobby.
(10) Shameless excuse to mention most perfect niece and try to make footnotes exceed length of post.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Unicorn Meat
Long ago, unicorns were kept as pets by humans and were penned up near a tree because they like the shade. But, the advent of the teddy bear really got the unicorns in an uproar (they are narcissistic creatures and want to be the apples of their masters' eyes--one apple and two eyes per master, please). In the 1337 Unicorn Uprising, the unicorns relentlessly pursued the cuddly teddy bears and impaled them Vlad-style upon their horns. The public could no longer turn a blind eye to these blood thirsty creatures (one eye per public, please), and was forced to round up all the unicorns and exterminate them. Now you know why unicorns no longer exist in the world.
But, we at the Nu residence have brought back the unicorn with the help of linguistics and our own imagination. One of the restaurants that we like to order from is a Persion place that serves "koobideh," spiced ground meat that is shaped into a thin log, skewered, and then barbecued. At the Nu household, this dish is called "unicorn meat." Why? Because it is mystery meat that tastes good. That's the nuance that everyone should fully understand. Not all mystery meat can be unicorn meat. Only ones that taste good are elevated to the level of the unicorn.
Koobideh is often served with plain basmati rice (with a little saffron basmati for decoration) and roasted tomatoes. When we order the stuff, we get the rice, tomatoes, unicorn meat, yellow unicorn meat (from Asia), and actual chicken skewers:
Here's the completed plate:
Yum!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Look What I Can Do!!
(Bonus TWoNNCotY points go to the person who can identify the character I'm thinking of who says that^^.)
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Vail Tripby MonkeyPig (guest blogger)
I promised NN that I'd post my Vail picture last week. But, work had been busy.
. Some of the tracks were of two different prints -- one look like a deer (hoofed) and the other look like some kind of cats (lynx / bobcats) 
. You can see the cat tracks are circling around itself as it its sniffing out a scent. 
It was great! At time, its you and nature. 
.Saturday, February 23, 2008
Phleger Has Competition
Fall Creek is in Santa Cruz County so we expected to see many of its mascots there. Unfortunately, we only saw three banana slugs. But, there was lots more to see at Fall Creek. Some wild flowers had started to bloom. And, the really fun thing about the hike was that it wasn't just walking. We had to go over and under a lot of trees and also cross little foot bridges over the creeks. It was more of a scramble than a hike.
We started off along the creek:
Along the way, there were lots of stumps with exposed roots, some of which were growing through rocks. We saw many examples burnt out old stumps surrounded by new growth. One example was interesting in that the burnt out stump had fallen over and was held back from falling into the creek by the new growth. Another example had the new growth growing straight out of the old stump!
The area was very wet and the water wasn't restricted to the creek. In some parts, trees were cut down and their stumps formed stepping stones across wetter portions of the trail. As we started to move away from the creek, we came upon the barrel mill area. Fall Creek used to be the location where trees were cut down to create barrels for the local limestone quarry. The barrel mill area had old equipment strewn throughout. ["Look at those jagged edges. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen." --Stillman]
After visiting the barrel mill area, Stillman and I sat down for a bit of lunch. Stillman had a meatloaf sammich and I had a hoagie. Unlike the time when she kept all the bacon to herself, she offered to share her sammich this time. She passed the test!
When lunch was over, we got on our way and started moving away from the creek. We encountered a drier trail with shady lanes and woodlands. Unlike the old fallen trees we saw along the creek, a newly fallen tree blocked our trail here. This resulted in a couple of horses turning back along the trail. We went around the tree and went into a sunny area with a manzanita grove. The soil there had a yellow tinge to it.
Towards the end of the hike, we started to head back towards the creek. We saw a screaming tree! ["ooooohhhhh...creeeeeepyyyyyyy..." --Nonny Nu] The creek was alternately rushing along and relaxed. At the very end, passed over a proper bridge.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Backyard Petting Zoo* on Steroids
by cl. panic, the Dr. Doolittle of Guest Bloggers
The other weekend I made a trip down to San Diego, which is apparently known for having a quaint little zoo. My favorite adult associate and I signed up for an annual membership. And since that means I now own a little piece of the zoo, I get to call it my backyard.
Holy crap, is it a big backyard! Complete with tour buses and a sky tram (just like Michael Jackson's backyard)! But not even Mr. Jackson can compete with the sheer number of animals that the world famous San Diego Zoo has amassed.
While you might be able to see a dik dik in Mr. Jackson's backyard, good luck finding a takin.
* Note: You cannot pet the animals.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friskies Commercial
by Sushi Cat (Madison Avenue guest blogger)
Hello, everybody!
How are you? I am fine. I have been a very busy kitty. Friskies International recently hired yours truly to film a commercial for them. So, I sat down at a windowsill and tried to figure out what was the best place a kitty could be. I came up with two and couldn't decide which one would be best--at home with the kitty's momma and daddy, or in Pet Paradise. So, being the writer and director of the commercial, I decided to put both in! I found a male model named "Morris" to star in the commercial (he lives next door to me in Pet Paradise), and the rest of my pals also pitched in. Here is the commercial:
Morris as Himself
Written and directed by Sushi Cat
Produced by Cotton Doggie (Mr. Nonny Nu's doggie)
Cinematography by Mr. Jones (Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s kitty)
Sound by Happy (PurpleNiobe's doggie)
Catered by Jennie, Craft Service's PP representative (PurpleNiobe's doggie)
Hair and Makeup by Coco (3-Fish's and Freelance Midget's doggie)
Gaffer...Jazmine (PurpleNiobe's doggie)
Kitty Korner (1/19: Pet Edition)
Today, we have two new pets to introduce. One is my sister's, [insert name here]'s, new pet. Here he is being held by my niece. His name is Scottie:
What a cutie pie! He is also known as "Ah Dan" ("egg" in Chinese because he smells eggy). Unfortunately, there's a "gai gai squeezer" at his house (don't ask--I'm too embarrassed to even explain this).
Next up, we have a new installment at the Nu residence. Since I was on vacation for two weeks last Christmas, I brought Stubbie home for the holidays. At first, Mr. Nonny Nu disapproved because he thought I was imprisoning Stubbie against his will. Mr. Nonny Nu even started referring to Stubbie as "Captured." But as the days wore on, Mr. Nonny Nu's heart was stolen as he realized how happy Stubbie was whenever people walked by his bowl and said hello to him. On the day that Stubbie was set to go back to Nu Nu & Nu, LLP (here's Stubbie on his first day back at the office), Mr. Nonny Nu got a fishy of his own. Introducing Charles Waterhammer:
And, here is a video of Chuck enjoying his new home:
Oh, and here is a video of the Backyard Petting Zoo, Possum Division:
Finally, we have our two little love bird kitties, Kash and Skillet. These two are always together. They even do things in unison:
Isn't that crazy?? But, as invididuals, they each have their unique qualities. For example, Skillet will always show her analytical side, which is even more powerful when she turns on her laser beam eyes (she takes after Ca Loc). Here she is on top of Mr. Nonny Nu's amp and checking out a squirrel in the front yard. Kash, on the other hand, is a quiet fellow, who reminds me of the very proper Mr. Darcy.
since Apr. 2007.
