Yesterday after lunch, Speedy and I were having coffee in the bedroom. The sliding door leading to the garden was open and I had a good view of the portion of the garden where the two sili (chili pepper) plants grow. One of the two sili plants, the taller one, is propped up with a piece of wood because it keeps bowing down which I always thought was the result of the heavy rains and gusty winds over the past year. Then, came this bird.
You can see him right there where he alighted after feeding on the sili (leaves or fruits, I didn’t see that close). Now, this wasn’t some small bird. It was twice as large as the common maya, long plumes at the tail, white breasted and with a long thin beak.
There, you can see its beak. When it alighted on the thin branches of the sili tree, the branches looked like there would break. I didn’t shoo him away though. I like to see birds in the garden.
So, I took photos. And I told Speedy, Look! What a pretty bird! And he left his chair, came by the door and looked. But since he was looking at the entire garden while I was focusing on the bird through my camera, he saw something else that I didn’t.
One of our cats was slowly inching his way toward the bird. But the bird was smart. It flew off before the cat got dangerously near. And the cat looked angry for losing his prey. He stayed in that spot for a few minutes, probably hoping the bird would come back. But it didn’t.
So, the cat went back inside the house. It stayed by the door for a long time. Waiting. For a prey that never returned.
It was nature unfolding, of course. Cats are hunters by nature and birds are among their favorite preys. Nature. Natural. Just as it is part of a male cat’s natural behavior is to roam (I call it prowling), fight with other male cats and to spray urine (territorial marking, a trait likewise exhibited by male dogs). Neutering (surgical removal of the testicles) is said to alter these natural proclivities.
This particular tomcat from Pepper’s second litter and her only surviving offspring (whom Speedy and I call Psssst! but whom Sam insists on calling Cute) exhibits all these inclinations. When stray cats enter the garden, he fights with them (Alex’s tomcat, Maki, by contrast simply runs away and hides –weird because he used to be the aggressive one). And, sometimes, the fights are carried on inside the house. So it isn’t uncommon to wake up and see a lot of fur on the stairs. In some cases, there is the smell of urine and, in really bad cases, feces probably excreted at the height of a fight. And Psssst! even has cuts on his face sometimes. And I’ve wondered more than once if having him neutered would prevent all of that from happening. Or, at least, make them infrequent and less violent.
But. BUT. Would neutering make him lose that swagger that comes so naturally to male cats? That daring-do attitude? That devil-may-care look? Like stripping him of his personality, for lack of a better word.
So, I sit here wondering if we’d be doing the cat a service or a disservice by having him neutered.
In case you’re wondering why Maki, the other tomcat, is not part of the neutering consideration, that’s because Sam and Alex are still hoping that Maki would mate with Pepper. Pepper is a Persian (see photo), Maki is part-Persian and part-Himalayan (see photo), and their offspring will probably look gorgeous. And although Maki used to be the very aggressive one, he no longer is, for some reason. Without surgery whatsoever. So, perhaps, behavior can change too without surgical intervention.
Ganyan din yung ibon na nakikita namin sa garden namin sa QC. At sa min di lang yung mga sili yung kinakain nila, pati mga atis at kamias.
Would you know what it’s called?
Parang Maria Cafra.
I Googled “Maria Cafra bird” and “Maria Capra bird” and found no images. Is there another name?
Connie,
Not sure if you heard about this and DSWD…
http://mabuhaygirl.multiply.com/journal
Originally from http://www.ellaganda.com which has now exceeded her bandwidth.
Yes, I came across it on Facebook. I’d check the reliability of the original source first before jumping to any conclusion.
UPDATE: GMA News has a report about it.
Hi Connie,
I believe it’s a Yellow Vented Bulbul. Very common in the Philippines. Don’t laugh at the name, it’s true! Hehehe…
Your cat looks really unhappy but still cute.
Yes, I think that’s it — Yellow Vented Bulbul! Thanks, Mia. Now that I have a name to search for, I got the following:
Whatta name! LOL
Yes, meron rin ganyan na pumupunta sa garden namin… maganda rin ang huni nila… in fact I think they’ve built a nest for their family in one of our caimito trees…and it is good to just watch them.
BTW, your cat is so cute! Ano naman ang name ng cat nyo?
Ah the same bird might be the ones building nests in the mango tree!
The cat… ah, we call him Psssst! Minsan, Kuting. Wala pangalan eh. Anak ni Pepper yan pero yung tatay eh pusakal.
Hi, Connie. So, you are a a cat person. If you have extra kittens to give away, don’t forget me. Gillian, my daughter, and I love cats. I will even go to your house to get them… Our cats are great bird catchers, too, as well as snake and rat killers.
Ay good! Sige, if Pepper gives birth again, I’ll let you know. You can come over and choose.
I think children benefit a lot from having pets.
It’s great to always have camera on hand….you can capture some precious moments.
Pero,natatawa talaga ako dahil matagal ko ng hindi naririnig o nababasa ang word na
“pusakal.”
There was a time when I thought we were the only ones that called stray cats “pusakal” as an extension of the term “askal.” Then,we found out other people use the term too. LOL
our cat Merrill was neutered pero matapang pa din sya. when we had another male cat in the flat, inaaway nya and appeared to be territorial. that other male cat had to be given away kasi daig siya ni Merrill; he always ended up with wounds. maingay si Merrill pag he wants to be fed na and let in inside the flat. so i guess, neutering only changes the sex drive pero not the other cat temperaments.
noong hindi ko pa fully nababasa yung entry, akala ko continuation noong honeymoon suite entry, he he.
Asus, na stimulate ba masyado imagination? LOL
Re neutering: Well, that’s good to know. Kasi, ayaw kong mag-iba yung character nya.
I also see this bird in my neighborhood. With regards to neutering, I really wanted my late cat to be one. Kasi, he change from a sweet cat to a very noisy, pardon the word, oversexed cat. Di nawala ung paghahanap nya ng mate. Di na rin sya nagstay sa house for longer periods after mating season.
Also, one of the advantage is that he will not get sick with Feline AIDS.
Yup, it’s the YVB. You might like to see a couple of posts about it on the quasi-ornithology blog Celebrity Sound Alike has (accidentally) become: http://hedcen.com/ericsaints/2009/03/04/zooming-in-on-the-yellow-vented-bulbul-sans-sigmonster-or-photoscope/ and http://hedcen.com/ericsaints/2009/03/16/the-yvb-again/
Btw, see you Wednesday at Internet Education class for your talk!
Wow, I like the one with the tamarind tree. Or is that ipil-ipil?
I always get my cats fixed. They are just so much more enjoyable and lambing that way.
super love cats too… love people who loves them..