Ghetto Kitty

Well, well, well. Yesterday my hubby came in from outside with the news that the cardinal babies are no longer in the nest - most likely victims of feline famine. He pointed out however that her endeavor was most likely aided by the strategic placement of a ladder right near the nest. It went something like this:
Mom - "You left the ladder out?"
Jman - "Well, you didn't say I should put it away."
Mom - "Ok. Well let's cover some other things too. You shouldn't put knives up your nose, you shouldn't lay down in the middle of the street with a blankie and a book, and you shouldn't leave a ladder next to a nest full of baby birds."
Jman - "ok"
My husband remarked that Charlie is probably telling all her neighborhood kitty friends what great owners she has. "See, I broke my leg last year but my owners love me so much they left a ladder out so I could still get my cardinal treats!"
It's a possibility that the discovery of the nest prompted them to move the babies but I highly doubt it. I am worried that they won't come back. It's so nice to look out the kitchen window and watch them while I do the dishes.

Nature Study in the Ghetto: Cardinals

We found them! Yes we did! We found our Cardinal babies. This spring we were ecstatic when our Cardinal pair came back to us. Last year they had a rather disagreeable incident with our Charlie and left. Watching them in the backyard we have been saying for weeks that they must have a nest around here. Every once in a while we wondered if there might be eggs. And through our keen observational skills, our vast knowledge of nature and animal behavior we found it. It went something like this:
Mom "Geez. Those Cardinals are really going nuts." (long pause) "Hey! Charlie's over there in the bushes by that corner!"
JMan "The nest!"
And the hunt began. Once JMan spied the nest we grabbed the ladder and started climbing. It was perilous but worth it.
Those three little heads in there are older and bigger than the ones from last year. We are hoping Charlie will behave herself this year. That little accident she had (involving a car driven by two angry cardinals?) might have been just the experience she needed to leave those poor birdies alone. Well, we'll see.

Tonight we also found this little beauty sitting right on our patio. As if it was dropped there. According to my incredibly reliable sources (google searches) this does not appear to be a Cardinal egg. So does it look like evidence of hatching or homicide? We'll let you be the jury.

Further incriminating evidence (as if it was needed):









We also found this little treasure chucked over our back fence. Just proof that we do, in fact, live in the ghetto.

And another reason I don't blog as often as I think about it is because it takes FOREVER to load these photos!

Nature Study in the Ghetto, snails

Last night we went on an after dinner walk. Here in South Texas we have already entered that part of the year when the ONLY time you can take a walk outside is very early morning or late evening. But it has been raining a lot this week and it was particularly nice. My keen eyed daughter spotted the first one and found eight more. Miss A was willing to sacrifice her little bag to carry the snails while we finished our walk. Temporarily we are keeping them in an aquarium which we quickly set up with dirt, grass, sticks and potato peels. (See I knew I had a reason to keep that aquarium). I don't know what we plan to do with them other than the snail races, but I let the kids know we could eat them. They seem unconvinced. Any other ideas?
(I have 3 more good snail pics I wanted to add but can't seem to get them to upload)
(ok, scratch that - I was able to get them on one at a time. Boy is that a pain!)