Hermitette

purring cats, good books, nature, peace, cats and a few dogs too. Seeker of everyday magic. 🌻
Introvert. At the blue place as Hermi. Staying here as possible.

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady I'm glad you saved each other 🐈

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@Marilyn05123210 I'm so glad the treatments are helping you!!!! That's the best news!!!!!! 🌻🌻🌻

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady Will they have a shelter at their new place?

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady I am so sorry. Just take care of your humans and kitties. We understand. 🫂

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

The skunk waddling across your yard at night is a pacifist who really just wants to eat your pests.

Skunks are grub specialists. They go for the larvae of Japanese beetles and June beetles, the same grubs that kill grass from the roots up, and they'll dig up a yellowjacket nest and eat the whole thing too. Those little cone-shaped holes in your lawn aren't vandalism. They're a skunk telling you that you had a grub problem, and that it's handling it.

And the spray? It's a last resort, and they really don't want to use it. A skunk is slow, near-sighted, and mild-mannered, and before it ever sprays it will warn you over and over: stomping its front feet, hissing, arching its back, lifting its tail, even making little fake charges. It's an animal begging you to just back away.

So if you see one trundling through your yard at dusk, you don't have a problem, you have a slow, gentle, near-blind exterminator doing a lap of your yard. Give it space and let it work.

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@annamaria1word Thanks for the update, I was getting pretty worried! Hopefully it's just a temporary setback 🌷🪻🍀🌼

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@Marilyn05123210 Back pain is awful, I'm sorry you're dealing with it...we all do those things and then regret
...Hopefully you're back on your feet asap!

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

In 2009, dozens of cedar waxwings dropped dead in a Georgia yard. A lab opened them up and found their stomachs packed with one thing: bright red berries picked off the shrub by the porch.

That shrub was nandina, sold all over the South as "heavenly bamboo."

It's not bamboo, but an Asian barberry relative, and its berries contain cyanide compounds. A bird that eats a few is usually fine. But cedar waxwings don't eat a few. They descend in flocks and strip plants bare, and in late winter, when those berries are one of the few foods left hanging, a whole flock can swallow a deadly dose in minutes.

The Georgia birds were found dead beneath the shrubs they had been feeding on. It's happened since, including more cedar waxwings found dead at UNC Chapel Hill.

The berries are also how the plant spreads. Birds eat the fruit and scatter the seeds. Nandina has escaped gardens into woods across much of the South, from Virginia to Texas.

It tolerates deep shade, which means it doesn't stop at the trail edge. It can establish in intact forests and crowd out native plants. State after state lists it as invasive. It's still sitting on the shelf at the big-box nursery.

It's easy to recognize. An upright evergreen shrub three to eight feet tall, with lacy leaves that turn red in cold weather, clusters of white flowers in spring, and bunches of glossy red berries that hang on all winter.

So yank it. Get the roots, because it resprouts. If you can't remove the whole thing this year, at least cut off every berry cluster before the birds find it.

Then plant something that actually feeds them: winterberry, American beautyberry, chokeberry, or native hollies.

The birds deserve better.

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@davidsupercat I am so sorry to hear this, I was so very much hoping that he could have more time with you 💔🫂

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady It's getting harder and harder. But luckily, both jobs can be a little flexible if/when emergencies happen. Like you know (more than most) you do what you have to do in order to keep the kitties happy and healthy ..there is no nice car or fancy house, just Chewy and vet bills!

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@davidsupercat I'm glad to hear he had a comfortable night, but the rest of your update was sad and discouraging..your heart must be breaking and I'm sorry you both are going through this 💔🫂

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady Oh, and Alley Cat Allies had good information on how to socialize feral, if you need help finding that, I can help you (I don't remember if I saved it or just read it)

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady The rescue i worked with was fine with socializing/fostering the feral kittens but would not accept mama unless I provided a video of her being handled and picked up. But now I love her too much anyhow, lol, so I guess that problem is solved !🐈 Good luck, it's a tough process!

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@Marilyn05123210 That willow is so beautiful!

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@catcastletails @catswithnohope Oh no, my heart is breaking for you, Nour and kitties 💔💔💔

[B. Miller @BlaiseInKC]

There’s some quirk in physics where, if there’s a small hole in a bag of mulch it will leak all over your vehicle.
But if you rip a giant hole in the bag and try to dump it out into your landscaping, almost none will fall out.

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@PhilipMarsh253 Very sorry for hooms loss 🫂

[Hermitette @fleegix27]

@TheNerdyCatLady Ask