Monday, April 04, 2011

OUR ROWDY ALLIES

When I came home yesterday evening, Savage Kitten immediately mentioned that she couldn’t tell what it was, maybe a cat or a.........

"It was a raccoon", I said. A raccoon.

See, that's what happens when two people live together for a long time, even if they aren't lovers (anymore). They automatically finish each other's sentences.

Especially if the other person is talking about some sheerly fascinating roadkill at the intersection up the street.

Scientific curiosity - just one of those charming characteristics we have in common.

I think we both grieved for the raccoon.
It's sad when one of your neighbors dies.


THE BEASTS

There is a surprisingly large animal population in the San Francisco.
In addition to raccoons, we also have the occasional grinning possum, a multitude of hungry cats - ladies, do NOT leave your baby out all night, you'll never see him again - and visiting coyotes.

Plus birds.

The birds are the most obvious local animals.

Pigeons, starlings, crows.

Pigeons are flying poo, starlings are belligerently territorial and attack pedestrians during the breeding season, and crows treat humans as equals, which is very tolerant of them.
We may be bigger than the crows, but we can't fly nearly as well. So it all balances out.

Peregrine falcons - a sparse population in the Financial District, where they compete with savage suburbanites for small creatures to kill and eat.


We also have parrots.

I hardly see the parrots - they live in the park further down the road - but I can hear them. They often congregate behind the building in the morning, or fly overhead when I'm shaving.
Loud, raucous, gregarious.
Nature's little thugs.

Birds and humans are very similar.

Pigeons are like shoppers at a bargain outlet.
Starlings are feisty and inquisitive urbanites.
Crows are scam-artists, opportunists, good neighbors.

And parrots are a gang of rowdy schoolkids when the teacher isn't looking.

These parrots are a relatively new flock.

The famous Telegraph Hill flock has been around for over a decade, as has the lesser-known Dolores Street Palms gang. This bunch is probably a satellite of Telegraph Hill, establishing a new territory for themselves.

The scrappy little buggers are increasing, boruch Hashem.


FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Red-masked Parakeets average about 33 cm (13 in) long, of which half is the tail. They are bright green with a mostly red head on which the elongated pale eye-ring is conspicuous; the nape is green. Also, the lesser and median underwing coverts are red, and there is some red on the neck, the thighs, and the leading edge of the wings. Juveniles have green plumage, until their first red feathers appear at around the age of four months. Its call is two-syllabled, harsh and loud.

[SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-masked_Parakeet ]

Good thing they're vegetarians.
That means they won't compete with the crows.
San Francisco NEEDS more, many more, intelligent animals.

The raccoons and falcons by themselves just aren't enough to keep the suburbanites at bay.

And while the starlings do yeoman service savaging pedestrians, they're just too cheeky to be much use.

I've given up on the cats entirely. Useless.
They're furry and they meow.
That's just not enough.


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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's a raccoon recipe with some interesting comments. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/275829

The back of the hill said...

The raccoon in question was not suitable for the pan.

Anonymous said...

Well, then, here's a beer roasted cat recipe;

http://www.ooze.com/ooze13/cats.html


You know,"the other, Other, not quite white meat."

Anonymous said...

I personally find its difficult to remove enough of the embedded gravel to make the meat palatable

The back of the hill said...

Problem with cat is that the flesh acquires the reek of whatever the beast has fed upon.
Have you ever smelled cat-food?
Unwholesomely nasty, that stuff.

The back of the hill said...

Not that I would have ANY experience with cat flesh.

Anonymous said...

The solution is obvious, catch and cage the cats for a while, and FEED them the raccoons that you've killed. The raccoons are sort of "urban range fed", and a few weeks on that new diet should help with the "gaminess"of the cat. It also calls for a big red wine with lots of tanins and a side of rutabaga and 'slaw. Not that I have ever been THAT broke!

Bon appetit to you said...

Animal cruelty, no matter how delicious, is not something we engage in.

Except if cheese and bacon is included.

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