konrad: Thanks. I've noticed quite a few red-tails sitting in trees on the side of Route 1 in Chester County, PA (Route 1 is a 4-lane lightly used road here). The hawks stare into the grass median, and when they see something, they are quite focused on their prey. In fact, I had to slow down to miss one that was flying into the median. Claire: I remember reading a post here about bluebirds going to a window to ask for food. That was when I first started watching the birds. Well, I thought it was someone's imagination--until I realized it wasn't. There was a time when a mother mockingbird kept screaming at me until I chased a cat from near her nest. When I was feeding the birds regularly, the white-throats, upon seeing me, would jump up from the brush, land in the bushes, and sing to me. Probably the most amusing was when the male and female red-bellied woodpeckers--whom I always call red and rosie--landed in a tree on the side of the house and started shouting at me. I looked at the feeder with mixed nuts and saw it was empty. Once I filled it with their mixed nuts (they like the white ones and always search for them), they left me alone and ate their nuts. Here is something you may wish to try with mockingbirds. While in the yard, I may discover a mockingbird nest by observing the parents repeatedly going towards the same general area. The parents will first land on a nearby branch and look at me. This is where I must obey their rule. When the parent looks at me, I must turn away from the parent. I usually turn my back to them. Then, the parent heads for the nest and I hear the happy chirp of the chicks being fed. I don't know if this is a learned mockingbird trait or if it is instinct. However, the parent will fly away unless I look away while they go to the nest. I've been obeying their rule for years now.

LOL hideglue! Last year I had a pair that I had been giving waxworms along with the mealworms. They only ended up with one baby too, out of four eggs. One had a deformed leg and died, the other two died due to a bad blowfly infestation in which I had to do a nest change for the remaining baby. Anyway with just that one mouth to feed the Blues stopped eating any mealworms and would only come for the waxworms, if there were no waxworms they would find their own food. Talk about being picky. This years pair since I had been giving them crickets/mealworms and waxworms (because I thought I would have a lone female) is a little less picky. They of course will eat the crickets or waxworms first but will slowly eat the mealworms too. I only give them so many crickets or waxworms a day though. Since the babies hatched though they are busy and don't always come for the free food, I think once the babies are bigger they will though. I am having a hard time with them coming to the deck too, so far they will only come to about 20 feet of it. I am going to try again tomorrow to put the feeder on the deck. I figure as the babies grow they will get more demanding and maybe the mom/dad will give in and come all the way up to the deck for the free food. LOL! Donna

OMG, this is so funny! The exact thing happened to me. We found a tiny kitten walking in our back yard. We took "her" in, even took it to our vet for check-up and the vet pronounced our cat a female. We gave her a unisex sounding name "Suki". But Suki then grew two furry things on her back end and started to "hump" blankets and even acted very affectinately toward our female (spayed) dog. It was so funny. But we explained to our kids and everyone "got it". It wasn't a shock. Don't worry. Just be honest. It's hard to tell when animals are so young. Even a vet can make a mistake.

Unfortunately, this is all too common an occurrence with male cats. Three of my boys have suffered complete blockages in the past. It is incredibly painful and quickly life-threatening without prompt veterinary intervention. Your boy is very lucky that you got him back to the vet in time. I have to ask, though, did the vet check a urine sample under the microscope during either of the first two appointments? If so, it seems odd that (s)he wouldn't have seen the crystals in Max's urine before they caused a complete blockage. In any event, it's extremely important that you keep syringe feeding Max until he starts eating on his own again, and you must keep close track of his urinary output. Cats frequently reblock soon after the initial blockage, so you have to make sure he is still passing urine and get him back to your vet immediately if he is not. Hopefully once Max heals up, he'll return to using the litterbox, but sometimes a previously blocked cat associates the box so directly with the pain of the blockage that he refuses to ever use the box again. Hopefully that won't be the case with Max. The best thing you can do for Max, both now and from now on, is to do everything possible to increase his water intake. If he's currently eating dry food, switch him to canned, then mix the canned with hot water to create a warm canned food soup. Put extra water bowls all around your house, and keep the water in them fresh. If Max likes to drink out of the tap, let the sink tap trickle anytime you and Max are in the bathroom together. Consider buying a pet fountain waterer. Many cats seem to love the running water of a fountan. The bottom line is that the more water you have flowing through Max's system, the more crystals will be flushed out before they have a chance to clump together and create blockages. It's not uncommon for blocked cat to experience kidney issues. Blocked cats become toxic very quickly, and that strains the kidneys. Hopefully Max's kidneys will recover fully. Extra fluids will help that process, too. Give poor Max a snuggle from me. He's lucky to have such a dedicated caretaker to help him through his recovery. All the best, Laurie