Sunbeams. Catnip. Mousies. These are among the many strange cravings of cats that science has been able to explain. But there is one substance whose overpowering allure among cats has lacked a clear purpose until now: Birdbath water. Why are cats drawn to go out of their way to drink from birdbaths? Because it tastes like bird.
Who says there are no simple answers, Sharon H.?
That… is an accident waiting to happen.
Seriously. Big kitty and tippy water delivery device.
How is kitty going to get back onto the railing when he’s done, by pushing down/away at the water dish?
Perhaps the cat will jump/fall down to the porch, then exit by crawling under the railing.
I can just picture birds perching on him while he’s stuck – Neener neener!
Homeopathic bird soup.
(That’s based on a comment by a friend watching a cat drinking from an aquarium: “Homeopathic bouillabaisse.”)
😀 !
When I had an aquarium, the cats liked to drink from it. Fish flavored water, I guess.
Soup!
Unrelated, but cute: On my way to work this morning I was going down the main road from my house, and as I passed a side street there was a deer crossing…in the crosswalk. He stopped at the corner just after I passed and then crossed the main road behind me. I’m going to assume he followed the rules of the road all the way to wherever it was he was going.
Unrelated, but not cute: I don’t know if this is an issue on my end or not, but twice so far (yesterday afternoon and this afternoon) I’ve tried to post a comment, it looks like it’s in the process of posting, and then it never shows up and I never get the email to confirm that I subscribed to replies. This has only happened at work, but I have been able to post other comments from there. (I saved this one and posted it when I got home.)
Unrelated, but scary: On my way home I was at an intersection where I need to turn left, but often will go straight, turn around in the Wawa parking lot on the other side, and go back and turn right onto the highway, instead, because it’s just easier that way. As I got there, the turn lane was backed up by at least 10 cars, the highway itself was backed up almost to the light, the rain was getting heavier, and the sky was scary dark. So I pulled into Wawa and ran inside. Several people were clearly doing the same thing; one woman said there was a tornado warning until 6 (it was about 10 till). Eventually the sky lightened a bit and people started to leave, but it was still pouring so I ended up leaving at 6:35. Got to about a mile and a half from my house and a police car was blocking the road (I couldn’t see why, though), so I had to detour around and got home just in time for the first commercial break in Jeopardy. (And it wasn’t raining too hard by then so I decided to get the mail; just as I was opening my mailbox a bright flash of lightning happened, a long, loud rumble of thunder followed, and I ran to the stairs.
PS I did buy a chocolate milk at Wawa, just because I figured if I was going to use them for shelter, it was the least I could do.
So glad you’re safe. There have been record numbers of tornados this spring.
Wow, that sounds scary! Please stay safe!
Re the commenting error: Were you able to comment from work before and now you aren’t? (I regret that I have very little ability to troubleshoot the comment system, but I want to know what’s going on.)
It’s only happened twice. I posted earlier from work. And in between. It’s weird.
Glad nothing serious happened to you but yea, that sounds scary. That is one weather phenom I DO NOT miss from being back in NJ, all those summer thunderstorms. And my fingers have been permanently crossed this week for everyone from the midwest to the east coast. My best friend lives just outside OK City and they have had a crazy couple of weeks what with thunderstorms, tornados, flooding, etc. Hope the worst has passed,
Yeah, it was so dark. Seemed more like 8:00 than 6. They’re predicting more storms for my commute tonight, too. Hopefully no tornado warnings this time.
And yes, Lucy’s Mom, Wawa is a convenience store/gas station (one of the few around here that doesn’t charge you more for paying with a credit card). Despite the windows across the front I figured it was still safer than being in my car. I hung near the back by the door to the back room where I assume there are no windows.
PS Mike – I cleared my cookies and it let me post.
I was confused because we have a Wawa Teriyaki in my little town, and I know you don’t live anywhere near me. Glad you’re safe. Tornadoes are the natural disaster that scares me the most. Probably watched The Wizard of Oz too much as a kid.
I just googled Wawa because I figured it was everybody’s nickname for Whole Foods or some such. Turns out it’s a chain of convenience stores and gas stations – ya learn something new here every day. 😃
Oh, we’ve discussed Wawa here before–every time Allein reminds me that she lives in Wawa country while I no longer do. 🙁 I miss them terribly. There are no decent convenience stores where I live now. Wawas are the BEST. They started out as a dairy in Wawa, PA (as you may have found in your googling), and their dairy products are awesome. Their eggnog is to die for.
When I need gas on my way to or from work I have three easy Wawa options (four if I want to go 2 miles past my house and come back). Two of them are on the same highway a couple miles apart.
The NPR Politics podcast had a whole discussion of what’s better, Wawa or Sheetz. People send in recorded messages that they use for their time stamps at the beginning of the show, and after they talked about it they got some saying they were calling from Sheetz in [wherever] so they encouraged people to do them from Wawa as well. A few weeks later they had a montage of three different people calling from three different Wawas from various points on the Eastern seaboard. I was more entertained than I probably should have been. (The debate still occasionally comes up.)
There’s a Wawa on my way to a friend’s house that moved across the street from where it was (the original location was on a smaller plot and didn’t sell gas and the new space has room for the gas pumps). The original location was taken over by a company that does tile/stonework or something like that. But you can still tell the building was a Wawa.
Yeah, I know a guy from Western PA who’s a fan of Sheetz. Pfffft. Amateurs.
I lived in Philly for 14 years, where there’s a Wawa on just about every other corner. I couldn’t even tell you how many I might pass as I commuted. (Not with gas stations, but I didn’t have a car then, either.) Later I lived in Easton, where there were ‘only’ a couple Wawas.
For some reason it just really annoys me that they have Wawas in Florida. FLORIDA! That’s nowhere near Wawa, PA. And if they can have them in Florida, then why not in Kalamazoo??
My cat drinks the water out of the fountain in our front landscaping. So do the deer; it seems to be a communal watering hole. 😛
My parents had a cat that was quite the hunter. Their neighbors had a birdbath. One day the cat came running home with a bird in her mouth, and she was dripping wet. My dad thought it was hilarious. I’m guessing the bird-loving neighbors were not amused.