Homeless Cat -- Now Spotacus' Legacy
On 18 Dec, a very large cat showed up at our house. It was late and cold, and he looked in the door and made it clear he wanted inside. Well, since we have two cats already and he was a stranger, we...
Forum Discussion
Not gonna get the kibble. Texas A&M strongly recommends we all stop feeding grains to whitetail deer. Seems it's not their normal forage, and it so messes up their digestive microbes that it can literally kill the deer.
Instead, we're going to do some meadow management, and see if we can encourage more whitetail friendly plants.
Some of what we learned:
White-tailed deer are ruminants like cows, but their diet selection is very different. Whereas cattle are grass-roughage eaters, white-tailed deer are concentrate selectors8. Their rumen is small relative to body size and they are less suited than sheep, cattle, and bison to degrading long fibrous forages. Deer and other browsers are best suited to digesting the leaves and stems of trees and shrubs (woody browse) and broad leaf herbaceous plants (forbs) that form small particles in the rumen. Therefore, the diet of a deer consists primarily of forbs and browse (80 percent or more), and to a limited extent, grasses (5 percent or less). The only grasses deer use to any extent are ones that are rapidly degraded in the rumen, such as the small grains, ryegrass, and some native species. Other native plants used by white-tailed deer include fruits and acorns (soft and hard mast) and mushrooms (about 15 percent).
Feed rations are also typically alien to the microorganisms in the rumen of white-tailed deer. These microorganisms aid digestion and are specialized to the types of food these animals consume. When a new feed is introduced, the rumen microbial population must change. When deer are unable to rapidly adapt their gut fauna, they experience digestive stress, degraded body condition, or even death. Common diseases associated with these digestive disruptions are acidosis and enterotoxemia. In the latter case, overeating grains and grain-based feeds is a pathway for a pathogenic bacteria to infect and kill the deer.
We'll continue to provide water, but we'll stop feeding, as even the occasional "treat" can thoroughly upset their rumen. It's hard to let nature take its course, especially when one knows the wild animal from birth, but it's better overall.
I'm sure this decision won't go over real well with the other wildlife, who take advantage of the leftovers or who get into whatever we'd put down before the deer arrive. Again, it's better to just let nature take its course.
That does mean we're going to take a closer look at the meadow and see if there are plants we could add to help the whitetail survive this harsh climate.
Meanwhile, the domestic "wild" life is napping on top of a cat tower. We make Czarny come inside during the high 90s and 100s temps, being his black coat is a heat sink.
Tall Friend got into our swimming pool last Wednesday and Sunday and did some therapy. Considering he doesn't swim, this was a big deal. We helped him walk around the pool (deepest part comes to his chest), then he did some exercises. He thinks it's helped. Hopefully, we'll get him in the pool a few more times before it cools off.
The hurricanes gave us nothing, not even a breeze. Sigh.
WLToo mentioned us starting to wander around Texas, visiting historic sites we've not yet visited. I hope Czarny is as good a traveler as Alexander the Grrreat was. I highly doubt he'll rise up to Spotacus enthusiasm. But if we're going to travel in the RV, Czarny's coming with us. I just don't sleep well without a cat in bed with me.
WLToo said a couple mornings ago, he woke up and saw Czarny sleeping on my pillow, wrapped around my head. Usually that will wake me up, as Czarny licks and tugs on my hair. But I slept right through it. The new issue is he wants to chew the CPAP hose, which is really bad. So I started putting the hose under the covers, where he can't get to it. So far...
It's time to get into the pool and get my daily workout in. Later, y'all.
Instead, we're going to do some meadow management, and see if we can encourage more whitetail friendly plants.
Some of what we learned:
White-tailed deer are ruminants like cows, but their diet selection is very different. Whereas cattle are grass-roughage eaters, white-tailed deer are concentrate selectors8. Their rumen is small relative to body size and they are less suited than sheep, cattle, and bison to degrading long fibrous forages. Deer and other browsers are best suited to digesting the leaves and stems of trees and shrubs (woody browse) and broad leaf herbaceous plants (forbs) that form small particles in the rumen. Therefore, the diet of a deer consists primarily of forbs and browse (80 percent or more), and to a limited extent, grasses (5 percent or less). The only grasses deer use to any extent are ones that are rapidly degraded in the rumen, such as the small grains, ryegrass, and some native species. Other native plants used by white-tailed deer include fruits and acorns (soft and hard mast) and mushrooms (about 15 percent).
Feed rations are also typically alien to the microorganisms in the rumen of white-tailed deer. These microorganisms aid digestion and are specialized to the types of food these animals consume. When a new feed is introduced, the rumen microbial population must change. When deer are unable to rapidly adapt their gut fauna, they experience digestive stress, degraded body condition, or even death. Common diseases associated with these digestive disruptions are acidosis and enterotoxemia. In the latter case, overeating grains and grain-based feeds is a pathway for a pathogenic bacteria to infect and kill the deer.
We'll continue to provide water, but we'll stop feeding, as even the occasional "treat" can thoroughly upset their rumen. It's hard to let nature take its course, especially when one knows the wild animal from birth, but it's better overall.
I'm sure this decision won't go over real well with the other wildlife, who take advantage of the leftovers or who get into whatever we'd put down before the deer arrive. Again, it's better to just let nature take its course.
That does mean we're going to take a closer look at the meadow and see if there are plants we could add to help the whitetail survive this harsh climate.
Meanwhile, the domestic "wild" life is napping on top of a cat tower. We make Czarny come inside during the high 90s and 100s temps, being his black coat is a heat sink.
Tall Friend got into our swimming pool last Wednesday and Sunday and did some therapy. Considering he doesn't swim, this was a big deal. We helped him walk around the pool (deepest part comes to his chest), then he did some exercises. He thinks it's helped. Hopefully, we'll get him in the pool a few more times before it cools off.
The hurricanes gave us nothing, not even a breeze. Sigh.
WLToo mentioned us starting to wander around Texas, visiting historic sites we've not yet visited. I hope Czarny is as good a traveler as Alexander the Grrreat was. I highly doubt he'll rise up to Spotacus enthusiasm. But if we're going to travel in the RV, Czarny's coming with us. I just don't sleep well without a cat in bed with me.
WLToo said a couple mornings ago, he woke up and saw Czarny sleeping on my pillow, wrapped around my head. Usually that will wake me up, as Czarny licks and tugs on my hair. But I slept right through it. The new issue is he wants to chew the CPAP hose, which is really bad. So I started putting the hose under the covers, where he can't get to it. So far...
It's time to get into the pool and get my daily workout in. Later, y'all.
