Since my other creature thread is getting too long to load for Caro, here's a new one.

Larry chased this guy from the back to the front yard without it taking off. Then it ran across the street to the neighbors. They really won't fly unless absolutely necessary - hence the name Road Runner. The green lid in front of him is 6"; he must close to 18 from tip to tip. Looks like a big skinny chicken! Do you Brits get the cartoon in UK?

This is the first time we have ever seen one in our neighborhood in 20 years. As with the grasshoppers, I suspect the drought has left them without enough greenery or prey in their normally open prairie habitats. They are carnivores, so I hope he stays out of the garden and away from my snakes, toads and lizards.

Beep, beep...do we get the cartoon, just pray wily coyote doesn't come after him...Congratulations on the photo, isn't he usually just a cloud of dust, might have guessed he would pose for you Maggie J

Okay, now this is weird. I bought a road runner pin this weekend, wore it today. Wonder if he thought a mate was nearby?

Just remember, Gail, if he thinks you are his mate, you can't out run him J

JJ Good one, Terry.

Okay..... he is a she and she is STILL here, in spite of presently being in the curtain shredding stage. This looks long-term. Soooo a name must be decided upon. So far she has been dubbed
Kit-nen
Webbie
Grayson
Velcro
Cyber Kitty
Tigger
Damnit
Spot

Since she prefers my lap when finally conking out from terrorizing ALL the house inhabitants, I get to pick. Any more suggestions?

How about "Moggy Ross"? J

Well, I'm loving it - trust you Terry!
Why DO Brits affectionately call cats 'Moggies'? It rings of India to me. Wonder if the term came to the Empire from the Jewel in the Crown?
'Maggie's Moggie' puts the tongue to work. :-0

My serious attempt would be Misty Morning....just Misty for every day use.

Maggie she is just too gorgeous. How about naming her after your favourite flower, Rosie, Lily, Poppy, Veronica, Daphne, Erica, Iris. Or if you can’t make up your mind you could just call her Blossom.

Isn't she tho! and the spots are even darker now. She has the dearest personality that I am banking on returning, as soon as she masters all her jungle survival tactics - and so are the dogs and Mia kitty. There's purpose to baby cats and dogs being so cute to look at; so we can forgive this instinctive search and destroy stage!

Blossom would be so sweet! I met a man last month in the hort business who calls all the gals 'Blossom' - must save him a lot name-memory space ;-)
I don't care if you weren't serious about 'Moggie', Terry. I'm liking it a lot. It's not a generic term over here - in fact, not used at all here . Both you and Nicola sidestepped my moggie origins querie, but then I haven't found anyone else who can tell me either! Do you guys think my theory sounds likely?

I wasn't even sure how widespread the use of thr term was over here, Maggie. If you called her Allysum, you would have a similar problem to the one we had for our first cat and now our seventh, that is name confusion. Ours is called Amabel (latin for lovable), but she got Annabel from most people, yours would get Alison instead of Allysum. I hope that is Allysum she is rolling in, or all this will be very confusing.

Our family has always called cats 'Moggies' I had not given the word any thought before now. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "moggy" actually has three meanings. Its earliest use, dating back to the early 19th century, was as a pet name for a calf or cow. "Moggy" can also mean, as the OED puts it, "an untidily dressed woman," a usage which dates to the late 19th century. The use of "moggy" to mean "kittycat" is actually the most recent of the three meanings, dating only to around 1911. As to its origin, the OED theorizes that "moggy" may be a variant of "Maggie," which is an affectionate form of the name "Margaret."

I've never heard of that word. Am assuming its pronounced like rhyming with boggy. Very interesting that the same word is used for a shabby looking woman and a cat, since cats rarely look shabby.

Bet you're wishing you never asked, Moggy..sorry I mean Maggie J

Not a prob Terry. After a good day in the garden I AM shabby and don't mind it all 'cause its what I'd rather do than anything else! Besides, it saves on keeping scarecrows.

And then there's my Oxford sitting in reach of me, collecting dust Nicola! But since it is such a jargon name, I never thought to look it up.
Interesting to note the diff between T and N opinion of Moggie being commonly used. I always heard it in the south and not the north. Other things we've touched on in Brit-ese, same thing.

Yes Caro, rhymes w boggy.

I think my kitty's name is settled - Moggie it is!

Moggy waits here for her turn at the keyboard.
Wish the window screen hadn't dulled the crabapples color. This year its the best its ever been.

And Moggy says "Why you talking about the tree when I'm the star of the shot?"

Love the picture of Moggy with the background colors. Is that an open window? I can almost smell the fresh air.

I know Terry, the nerve of her.

Don't encourage her Terry ;-)

Yesss MK, love these open-window days -it was 61 today! But then we tend to get cabin fever in summer, with all the windows shut tight for months while trying to keep out the hot air!

I think I'll stick to the cold winters and the cool summers. We don't even have air conditioning. Although it would be good to grow flowers for a longer season.

When eldest daughter Callie treks off to Paris, or spends the hols with us, her boys Cricket and Noble come stay with us.

Somewhere on one of these threads, I described a blue plastic ring toy - finally got it on a picture. They take turns attacking the ball in the ring. This pic just caught them in the middle of waiting for one to get up the courage to go again. Moggy may not look as though she has grown much in this pic, but here's why.

I promise that loo is of standard size and is NOT one of my miniatures!

That face says "Hey!! do I look at you when you're in here."

Glad you got the site back up and running. Seems like everything on the net that wasn't working over the holidays is now back.

Those are some big cats!

Ha ! you are SO right Terry!

Couldn't do a thing about it Caro - when the server goes down, all we can do is wait (or stick pins in a computer doll;-).
Noble is only a year old, but he is a Maine Coon. That's his excuse. The other just thinks he has to keep up with Noble in food intake.

Gee. I can't wait to come over and get torn-up by more than one CAT !!!!The little cat was quite good at finding, just that right place to claw at. I hope everyone had great holidays!!! I had a wonderful HEAD COLD and I am just now getting over it......

Happy New Year David.
I should take that bear of yours with you for protection.

It took me a min to remembr that Dave's humongous dog (s) look like bears. Yes, Terry, he lives with TWO like that one! And you are right, one slurp and Moggy would be history in a hurry.
This is the weirdest cat I have ever known. She REALLY does the strangest things. This morning she fell into the water bowl - twice. When David was here, she ran up one of his legs, across his jeans ))) and down the other leg - several times at 90 mph.
He hasn't been back since.

Well, between Christmas at the shop, my head cold and recouping from that wonderful CAT (attack) to my legs and other parts. I have not had much time for anything.......My male would probably just look at that crazy cat, Terry....He is the best and most behaved ChowChow I have ever had.....Now his Sister on the other hand that would be a bloody story for sure.....

But then she is, afterall, a female dog!
It will be safe to come by for a cuppa again soon D, I'm getting Moggie fixed next week ;-)

Yesterday being Groundhog Day en all, Alex decided to wake up our sleeping hog to have it check for its shadow. It awoke to find its worst nightmare instead.

Does this mean it went hiding and we're having more winter?

Naw, see the sun coming thru the glass door? Even Moggy can't rule the Texan sun ;-)
I need to find more wildlife for this thread - Moggy has taken over it like she has the house. She is presently rearranging a closet.

Hog meets Mog I like it, great shot, and I really do like your version of our hedgehog, Maggie, the spines look so much softer, or does Alex have a high pain threshold?

Their quills are sharp, but don't stick us unless they are frightened. Ours are so tame because they were born here and hand raised. Sometimes its hard to show kiddos their rolly polly tactic because they have no fear of us. A new person's scent, plus touching the back of their head will sometimes cause them to bristle and close up. Our cats and dogs have always learned from the first nose stick, that its best not to bother them. From then on, the hogs, dogs and mogs will even eat together from the same bowls!

While trying to get a shot of the Chinese tallow tree berries for the winter thread, I noticed this little guy and had a go at zooming in on him. Not a great shot, but its the first time I've ever be able to get that close to one. They only arrived here about 3 years ago and are multipling nicely in the junipers every year. It is so exciting when a new variety takes residence and stays on.

Oh, I didn't mention - its a red-headed sparrow. Bet Terry could spill off the genus and all that, if he could see it better.

Here's mine Terry - baby dove in greenhouse from earlier this year

Mia prefers to drink from here than from the indoors watering bowl.

Which also explains why I can never keep the 'cat' bath level. The basin sits on the column's domed top, rather than a flat, flush one. Ironicly, it is designed to be leveled more easily by adjusting it at the top instead of at the ground. Mia adjusts it with every leap.

That's hilarious! My mother's cats like to get their water in the bath tub. There was a dripping faucet for a while, and the cats loved to catch the drips. After fixing the drip mother put a water dish in the tub, when she's not using it.

How did I miss those doves, that is a surprisingly sensible nesting spot for doves, they usually pic the most precarious spot. What type of doves are they Maggie, they all look the same at that age?

Our four cats will drink from anywhere other than their water bowl, my raised pond is a favourite with them even though it gets poluted in the winter with dropped seed and errr. other things from the birds feeding at the birdtable just behind it.

My birdbath is also on the tilt, but I think that is to do with my Cherry tree's roots, another one has created a two inch step along one edge of our patio.

They are the 'Inca' or Mexican Doves. I have an earlier pic of the mum on the nest too, somewhere. So sweet. It was such a privilage to experience them so safe and close up.
Last year, my oak tree pushed the gargoyle up so much that he fell off his perch and bust a wing. lol!

Amazing isn't it - they would rather drink mucky outdoor water than the fresh stuff in a bowl. That pic was taken in early spring (note dogwood blooms) when I wasn't as deligent about filling and cleaning the birdbaths. The pecan tree above makes it pretty yucky and the spring rains keep it topped up enough that I take the easy way out. In summer, the basins need bi-daily fillings.

Sus, I had a friend that wouldn't get her dripping tap fixed because it was her cats fav watering hole! ...once again proving that they aren't 'our cats' - we are their people

The cats are wiser than us Maggie and have a better sense of smell. They would rather chance it with mother nature than with the chemicals man adds to his water.