Tang in Catnip
Tang has claimed this catnip plant and - well - several square feet around it. While he was lounging there, I managed to finish adding compost to the other beds. So, I'm pretty much ready to plant as soon as I can count on frost free weather. Peas, lettuce, spinach and onions are already growing. The plan this year is for more flowers, fewer vegetables. Maybe just tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers and squash. And dahlias, glads, marigolds, calendula, zinnia, poppies, nasturtiums and probably more I can't think of at the moment.
Jack-in-the-pulpits are blooming in their own discreet way. Fritellarias are still in bloom and Japanese primroses will be out in a day or two. Violets and veronica everywhere in the lawn! And the hummingbirds are back.
I have finally figured out how to add links to the sidebar. And I started with Living in Dryden where Simon, bless his heart, spares me the need to read the Ithaca Journal by summarizing any local news I might want to be aware of. He also writes about local government and community events. Thanks, Simon.
1 comment:
Why do our cats sometimes suddenly snap at us when we’re petting them? When cats flatten their ears, twitch their tails or growl when we're petting them, they’re warning us, in the only way they can, to “back off.” If we don’t listen and keep annoying them, all they can do is lash out or bite to make us understand.
Some cats never learned the difference between fighting and playing. In an article by Dr. Marty Beaker, for the Knight Ridder News Service, experts remind us that social skills develop at different times in kittens, the same as with children. If people bring a kitten home too soon, assuming it will bond better with them, it’ll miss lessons that can only be acquired by being with its mother and litter mates longer.
An eye opener for me was that, even with cats that dearly love us, if we stroke them too rhythmically (or with my cat, on his back near the base of the tail), this stimulates some cats sexually. Their natural response is to act as they do with other cats, whether or not they’re neutered. Males grip a female’s neck with their teeth and hold her with their front paws. Following sex, a female may lash out with her claws.
So if your cat warns you to stop petting him and you refuse, don’t blame him if he lashes out. Whatever his reason may be, he’s following his natural instincts.
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