Water and fur, or one night with Irene
So, we survived Irene. Actually, as far as one night stands go, it was fairly lame... a lot of wet without much wild; we never even lost power. Our biggest concern was a tree getting blown down on our house, since we live pretty much in the woods; but that did not happen either, just a few large branches down, but nothing more.
We did get a few good wind gusts, and some amazingly torrential rains tho, but they were never so bad that I could not sit out on our front porch and watch them... I love watching a good storm!
We did take down all the hanging plants, as we did not want them to be damaged, or become missiles in the strong winds we had expected to have. I did not however, take down our hummingbird feeder, as one young hummingbird decided that the feeder was a good place to ride out the storm... smart baby bird! He clung bravely to the feeder as it swung around, and every now and then took sips of the nectar during the calms between wind gusts. It was amusing to watch how our front porch became a refuge for animals seeking shelter from the storm. There were dozens of tiny little tree frogs clinging to the supports and porch railings, while lots of moths and spiders hung out in under the roof and eves of the porch. There was even a skunk or raccoon or something that was hanging out underneath the porch, I could see and hear it moving around down under there in the lulls in the rain... it was an amazing little microcosm in and around our porch there for a while!
So yeah, I spent much of Irene sitting on my porch watching the rain or the critters... or reading, and not even by candle light.
Sadly however, not everyone escaped the storm unscathed. Just a few miles down the road in Brattleboro VT, they had some dramatic and dangerous flash floods! I know of one person that died in them, and a house or two was swept away.
Here is some footage from Flat St. in Brattleboro. I am very sad to see this, because I know that area well. On Flat street was the Flat Street Brew Pub, where I have spent more than a few very pleasant evenings chatting over food and pints. And also, at the end of the street in the video, is the Latchis Theater , a wonderful old Art Deco theater that they have been in the process of restoring for some years now... I hope it is not completely destroyed. I feel bad for Brattleboro, firstly in April a huge fire gutted one of their largest historic buildings near the upper end of their “downtown” section, and now these floods have ravaged the lower end. It's going to take Brattleboro years, if not decades to recover from this.
One other thing that Irene bestowed upon us other than lots and lots of water... was a cat.
Yup, a cat. You see, we have had a fairly dramatic attrition in our household cat population over the last few years, do to old age and the infirmities that come with it. When we moved up here several years ago, we had six cats that came with us, all but one of them were ex-ferals. We decided that six was the absolute limit! So, we adopted a “No more room at the Inn” policy whenever someone asked us if we wanted a cat, or we saw a feral cat, or whatever.
Well, we talked about it and decided that we now have a bit of “Room at the Inn”, So, we decided to see if we could catch one or two of the feral cats that hang out near our house, as we did not think that being out in a hurricane would be good for them; far to easy for them to drown if they were hiding near a river or in a low laying area, or get hit by a falling branch. So, I set out a plate of cat food and a have-a-heart trap. It did not take long, within ten minutes we had caught one of the ferals that frequents our back porch whom we have named Tux, because he is a black and white cats that looks like he is wearing a tuxedo. He has been frequenting our back porch for some 2-3 years now, so he is already beating the odds as far as the
An exclusively indoor cat that is properly cared for can live between 15-20+ years. I recently heard about a cat in the UK that was 23 years old and she was still in great health. Indoor/outdoor cats often have significantly reduced life expectancy because they can be hit by cars, poisoned, attacked by larger animals including domestic dogs. I believe that the life expectancy of an indoor/outdoor cat is somewhere around 5 years of age or so if they are properly cared for and well fed. There have been cases of indoor/outdoor cats living for 15+ years if their owners have proper vet care including sterilization which usually means that a cat won't stray as far from home or be as likely to fight. An indoor/outdoor cat doesn't usually live as long as an indoor only cat because of factors like parasites, road accidents, accidental poisoning, human cruelty and many other issues. An exclusively outdoor cat's life expectancy is usually around 18 months to two years especially if they aren't sterilized or owned and cared for. This is because a percentage of outdoor only cats aren't properly cared for. These cats face serious risks ranging from poisoning, human cruelty, being attacked by predators, dehydration, starvation and of course the elements. Depending on climate outdoor cats can suffer from heatstroke or hypothermia, both of these conditions have the potential to be lethal if left untreated.
goes. So, we managed to catch Tux, but the smaller black cat which also hangs around was nowhere to be seen... I hope she is OK. I was happy that we did not catch a skunk or 'possum in the trap, as releasing an angry possum in the middle of a tropical storm is not my idea of a good time!
So today is bright and sunny and clear, and I have the day off as they closed the plant down today because so many roads are washed out, that not enough people could make it in to work to make the place run. So yay!
So, Irene left me a wonderful day off of work, lots of branches in our yard, and one very large, angry feral cat who is currently quarantined in the upstairs bedroom. I think once we get him all vetted and such, he will eventually fit into our household, tho the adjustment promises to be a slow one, and will probably involve a fair amount of my blood being spilled. Oh well, its not like we didn't know what we were getting into... we have been taking in injured or sick feral cats for over 15 years now. And as to the blood loss that comes with the rescue of feral cats... eh, I can always make more.
We did get a few good wind gusts, and some amazingly torrential rains tho, but they were never so bad that I could not sit out on our front porch and watch them... I love watching a good storm!
We did take down all the hanging plants, as we did not want them to be damaged, or become missiles in the strong winds we had expected to have. I did not however, take down our hummingbird feeder, as one young hummingbird decided that the feeder was a good place to ride out the storm... smart baby bird! He clung bravely to the feeder as it swung around, and every now and then took sips of the nectar during the calms between wind gusts. It was amusing to watch how our front porch became a refuge for animals seeking shelter from the storm. There were dozens of tiny little tree frogs clinging to the supports and porch railings, while lots of moths and spiders hung out in under the roof and eves of the porch. There was even a skunk or raccoon or something that was hanging out underneath the porch, I could see and hear it moving around down under there in the lulls in the rain... it was an amazing little microcosm in and around our porch there for a while!
So yeah, I spent much of Irene sitting on my porch watching the rain or the critters... or reading, and not even by candle light.
Sadly however, not everyone escaped the storm unscathed. Just a few miles down the road in Brattleboro VT, they had some dramatic and dangerous flash floods! I know of one person that died in them, and a house or two was swept away.
Here is some footage from Flat St. in Brattleboro. I am very sad to see this, because I know that area well. On Flat street was the Flat Street Brew Pub, where I have spent more than a few very pleasant evenings chatting over food and pints. And also, at the end of the street in the video, is the Latchis Theater , a wonderful old Art Deco theater that they have been in the process of restoring for some years now... I hope it is not completely destroyed. I feel bad for Brattleboro, firstly in April a huge fire gutted one of their largest historic buildings near the upper end of their “downtown” section, and now these floods have ravaged the lower end. It's going to take Brattleboro years, if not decades to recover from this.
One other thing that Irene bestowed upon us other than lots and lots of water... was a cat.
Yup, a cat. You see, we have had a fairly dramatic attrition in our household cat population over the last few years, do to old age and the infirmities that come with it. When we moved up here several years ago, we had six cats that came with us, all but one of them were ex-ferals. We decided that six was the absolute limit! So, we adopted a “No more room at the Inn” policy whenever someone asked us if we wanted a cat, or we saw a feral cat, or whatever.
Well, we talked about it and decided that we now have a bit of “Room at the Inn”, So, we decided to see if we could catch one or two of the feral cats that hang out near our house, as we did not think that being out in a hurricane would be good for them; far to easy for them to drown if they were hiding near a river or in a low laying area, or get hit by a falling branch. So, I set out a plate of cat food and a have-a-heart trap. It did not take long, within ten minutes we had caught one of the ferals that frequents our back porch whom we have named Tux, because he is a black and white cats that looks like he is wearing a tuxedo. He has been frequenting our back porch for some 2-3 years now, so he is already beating the odds as far as the
An exclusively indoor cat that is properly cared for can live between 15-20+ years. I recently heard about a cat in the UK that was 23 years old and she was still in great health. Indoor/outdoor cats often have significantly reduced life expectancy because they can be hit by cars, poisoned, attacked by larger animals including domestic dogs. I believe that the life expectancy of an indoor/outdoor cat is somewhere around 5 years of age or so if they are properly cared for and well fed. There have been cases of indoor/outdoor cats living for 15+ years if their owners have proper vet care including sterilization which usually means that a cat won't stray as far from home or be as likely to fight. An indoor/outdoor cat doesn't usually live as long as an indoor only cat because of factors like parasites, road accidents, accidental poisoning, human cruelty and many other issues. An exclusively outdoor cat's life expectancy is usually around 18 months to two years especially if they aren't sterilized or owned and cared for. This is because a percentage of outdoor only cats aren't properly cared for. These cats face serious risks ranging from poisoning, human cruelty, being attacked by predators, dehydration, starvation and of course the elements. Depending on climate outdoor cats can suffer from heatstroke or hypothermia, both of these conditions have the potential to be lethal if left untreated.
goes. So, we managed to catch Tux, but the smaller black cat which also hangs around was nowhere to be seen... I hope she is OK. I was happy that we did not catch a skunk or 'possum in the trap, as releasing an angry possum in the middle of a tropical storm is not my idea of a good time!
So today is bright and sunny and clear, and I have the day off as they closed the plant down today because so many roads are washed out, that not enough people could make it in to work to make the place run. So yay!
So, Irene left me a wonderful day off of work, lots of branches in our yard, and one very large, angry feral cat who is currently quarantined in the upstairs bedroom. I think once we get him all vetted and such, he will eventually fit into our household, tho the adjustment promises to be a slow one, and will probably involve a fair amount of my blood being spilled. Oh well, its not like we didn't know what we were getting into... we have been taking in injured or sick feral cats for over 15 years now. And as to the blood loss that comes with the rescue of feral cats... eh, I can always make more.