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DEAR JOAN: I have question about birds chasing cats.

We believe there is a nest of mockingbirds somewhere in the backyard, either ours or our neighbors. The birds guard the area, and I have seen birds chasing out lot of animals -- cats, squirrels, other bigger birds.

I have two cats that enjoy my backyard every day. The birds always attack and chase one cat but leave the other cat completely alone. Unfortunately, the other cat has caught couple of chicks this season. The cat being chased and attacked has not done anything as far as we know.

Its both incredibly amusing and annoying to watch the cat chased out of area. Within a minute of the cat going out of the house, it is attacked. Birds sometimes team up and attack the cat.

Mockingbirds are determined when it comes to protecting the nest.
Mockingbirds are determined when it comes to protecting the nest. (Mary Ann Anderson)

Most of the times it seems like there always is a guard bird on duty who has nothing else to do but watch for the cat and attack it. This goes on for hours; neither cat nor birds seem to get tired of that screeching music.

The birds also are very brave as they get within two feet of the cat to express their annoyance about the cat's existence and perform flying attacks on the tail and neck. The cat has to seek shelter under the chair.

Do you have any thoughts about why the birds are chasing only one cat? If they are trying to chase the cat that has attacked them earlier, then they are certainly chasing the wrong cat.


Bay Area


DEAR NIRANJAN: New research indicates that mockingbirds, like crows, can recognize individual human faces, and remember acts of kindness or cruelty committed by those people. They also have the ability to recognize animal predators, but probably not distinguish among them. In other words, when your cats go into the yard -- a yard that the mockingbirds have claimed as their territory -- the birds recognize the creatures are cats, but they probably can't tell one from the other.

The picked-on cat must be exhibiting behavior that makes it appear to be the bigger threat, perhaps wandering too close to the nest.

The birds are incapable of hurting the cat, except perhaps giving it a complex. The cats, however, can inflict serious damage to the birds. It might be better for all concerned if you kept the cats indoors, at least until the birds have left the nest.

DEAR JOAN: I have a somewhat odd question. We have a "Raticator," which cleanly and humanely electrocutes rats and mice.

We have turkey vultures that sometimes fly overhead. Is it safe to lay a rat body out in the sideyard for, say, an hour or so, for a creature that might like to partake of a poison-free carcass?

M. Turner

San Ramon

DEAR M: It's a nice gesture, but perhaps not that safe. You may attract more than turkey vultures.

Coyotes, foxes, cats and dogs may be lured into your yard by the aroma, and large creatures then may be attracted to the scavengers.

While you might not be fussed about them being in your yard, your neighbors might be. It could turn out bad for the wildlife. It's probably best to dump the rodent bodies in a plastic bag, seal it and put it in the garbage.

The devices that electrocute rats and mice make disposal easy, but still use precautions to avoid contact with the bodies.

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