Showing posts with label Pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pets. Show all posts

Tuesday 22 January 2019

Living With A Feral Cat

Can a Feral Cat Become a Pet Cat?


Can a feral cat become a pet cat? Do feral cats ever adapt to a new life as a domesticated animal companion for a human? I had never asked these questions but am in the process of finding out. It all started about 18 months ago when a she-cat who was clearly feral turned up in the garden of the house I rent the ground floor of, and brought with her four kittens. This is why I ended up calling her “Mum!”

First of all she put the kittens behind some Physalis bushes and then moved them behind a large clump of Agapanthus in the front garden. One day she decided another move was needed and they all followed her to the back of the house, where she settled on putting them behind some large gas bottles in the barbecue area. This became their home for weeks from which they would venture forth, but if anything threatened, such as a human like me approached, they would all disappear behind the canisters under a large shelf built on to a back wall.
I already had two cats: Cuddly a neutered tom tuxedo cat that I had adopted when a girl living in a maisonette at the back started leaving him out when he was a kitten and because her puppy kept attacking him, and Bianca an abandoned grey tabby she-cat who turned up in heat with a gang of toms after her. I got her spayed with the help of the Bianca Animal Shelter, hence her name. To take on another five cats was out of the question, and illegal here. I told my landlord and he thought the kittens would end up “wandering away” when they were older. I was sure he was right but thought that that would be a recipe for future problems because they would end up fathering or giving birth to more unwanted kittens. It turned out there were two boys and two girl kittens.
By this time, I had started to feed Mum and as the kittens grew bigger I fed them too. They were all very wary of me and ran whenever I went out the back. Everyone I told about the situation said that I must get the kittens used to interacting with humans, or otherwise no one will want them. This was worrying. I began feeding them all on a table outside the kitchen window and after weeks, Mum let me touch her gently on the back and I could do this with the kittens.
She was a fantastic mother and it was a real delight watching her each day as she looked after them. As they got older they would all play chase and fighting games. They began going in the front garden and I got worried they would be in danger of cars in the road. Fortunately they all stayed safe, although one day, one of them went missing for many hours, which distressed the mother a lot, and she kept looking for him and calling out. He eventually turned up with his fur all wet and some dirt in it. To this day I have no idea where he had been but was relieved he was OK. I think maybe he went in a neighbour’s garden and had fallen in a pool or maybe someone had squirted him to drive him away. The road I live in is on the outskirts of a large town. There are very many detached houses and a similar road runs parallel behind it, and over the road from it is woodland and scrub.
The pure joy of watching the kittens grow was tempered by my very real worry about where they were going to go and could I get them friendly to humans in time. I posted lots of photos on my Facebook wall and there were loads of people saying how cute they were and how they would love to take one.
Unfortunately everyone who wanted a kitten lived in America or the UK. After daily efforts I made at playing with them, trying to pet them and touching their mother as much as she would let me, the kittens were losing their fear and I could pick two of them up with no trouble. But they couldn’t stay living here and were making attempts to come in. I had to do something and after problems with waiting for one person who failed to arrive and failed to rehome them, as she had promised, the kittens all ended up going to the Bianca shelter. I was really sad about them going but it really was impossible for me to keep them here.
Mum was upset for a day or so and kept calling out for them and wandering about looking for them but then she settled. By now she was coming inside on a regular basis. I knew I had to get her spayed and tried a local vet based with the Pet Planet store. I was told they had to do a physical examination before an appointment for the spaying could be arranged. With the help of a friend I took Mum to the clinic but she freaked out as soon as the vet got her out of the carrier. She jumped up on some high shelves, hid under benches and nearly knocked a PC monitor over when the vet and her assistant tried to catch her. After chasing her around eventually Mum was back in the carrier and the vet gave up on the examination. I thought this was very unprofessional, but could understand their point of view. I am sure they don’t get many customers bringing in feral animals for treatment.
Eventually I got help from Animais De Rua, a Portuguese animal welfare group, and it was explained to me that they would be taking her away for three days and that I would have to pay for petrol costs for Artur their driver. I agreed to this, and after a lot of difficulty catching her she was taken away and brought back days later. It had been decided that I was going to be keeping her in my bedroom for a week, and I had been told I was to try and ensure she didn’t jump about. This failed because the first thing Mum did after being let out of the carrying box was run up my curtains and leap onto a wardrobe. You can but try!
After her period of being confined to the house was through, she became a new member of the family here and went in and out just like Cuddly and Bianca. A new problem was about to begin though because Mum took a dislike to Bianca and attacked her on a daily basis. This really wasn’t fair because it had been Bianca’s home before Mum, and she was a smaller and gentler cat. Mum would run at her and scream or pounce on her. After several weeks it hadn’t got any better and one night Bianca went out early evening and never came back. Bianca had sometimes stayed out all night before but always came back for her breakfast but not this time. I know she was getting food elsewhere in the neighbourhood because on one occasion she had returned late and been sick. She vomited fish and I had not fed her this. Also before I had taken Bianca on she had been a stray. I was left wondering and am still wondering whether she had found a new home because she couldn’t stand any more attacks from Mum?
Cuddly and Mum squabbled a lot too but they were a fairer match being around the same size. Cuddly, at first was getting chased around, but then he turned and started to attack back.
The months have flown by since then and Mum has become a normal pet cat in many ways. She likes to play games with toys, she loves being petted, likes to curl up on my lap and sleeps in or on my bed. She is really affectionate and purrs loudly. BUT this is only when it comes to me. Other humans she remains scared of and will run away if anyone else comes here.  I have had to leave house-sitters to look after Mum and Cuddly on several occasions when I have had to go to the UK for a week or 10 days. Every time, I get told that Mum stays outside or out of the way when I am not here and does not let my house-sitter touch her. One managed to stroke her fur after a week of trying to make friends. Another friend of mine who helped me by looking after my place and cats, called Mum “the Wild Cat.” In keeping with this title, Mum is an excellent hunter and often catches geckos, lizards, Egyptian locusts, mice and sparrows. Many I rescue in time but others I am too late to save. She eats the birds and mice, though leaves the heads of birds. Cuddly is a hunter too and will sometimes try and steal what Mum has caught. As an animal lover I wish cats wouldn’t kill so many wildlife but I know it is instinctive behaviour. I think it would be cruel to stop my two going out because both had spent a lot of time outside before they came my way, Mum especially.
A lady I was talking to from Animais De Rua told me she had a she-cat that was formerly feral and that this cat didn’t like other humans too. I can only hope that one day Mum will accept other people, though I suppose it keeps her safe from anyone who might harm her, and sadly there are cruel people out there.
To conclude, I would say that in my experience a feral cat can become your friend and live like a normal domestic cat, but that there can be a lot of problems with them as well. Is it worth it? I would answer, yes!


Thursday 23 February 2017

The Season for Newts

Newts at Fairwater Park aka "The Dell."


Great Crested Newt male (Photo: Public Domain)

When I was a boy, as well as tropical fish, stick insects and exotic silk moths I kept as pets, I also used to keep newts. In spring, which was the season for newts, I used to catch them in a large pond in a local park, which was called Fairwater Park, but was referred to by me and my friends as “The Dell.” I always used to wear my Wellingtons for trips to this park and carry a bucket with me, into which I put whatever I caught.

Melissa Houghton taking photos at Fairwater Park pond (Photo: Steve Andrews)

The pond in Fairwater Park was very untended by humans and had large masses of grass growing in it and around the edges, it had willow trees and bushes, and brambles coming right down to the water in some parts. It was wild and how it should be! It had large clumps of bulrushes and much of the water surface was covered in floating leaves of amphibious persicary, broad-leaved pondweed and duckweed.  The pond was basically full of aquatic vegetation with very little open water. It had plenty of brown stinking mud and would ooze methane bubbles when you stepped in it.

Nepa cinerea the Water Scorpion (Photo: Public Domain)

Many species of aquatic life lived in this pond. There were ramshorn snails, water scorpions, water mites, water bugs and diving beetles, pond-skaters, water measurers and water crickets, caddis fly larvae in their cases made from broken bits of vegetation and water snail shells, and medicinal leeches that can suck your blood.



These leeches, by the way, are now a very rare species in Britain. I am pretty sure, without checking current statistics, that many of the other species I have listed have drastically declined in numbers too.


But getting back to Fairwater Park pond, as it once was, it was an ideal habitat for newts. All three species found in Britain bred there. You could find common newts, palmate newts and great crested newts, which last-named species is now endangered, and often gets in news stories because it has been found somewhere that was scheduled for development.   
I used to catch newts, mainly by hand. I would part the weeds, spot a newt and swiftly grab it. I took my captures home and kept them in aquariums I had set up for them. In those days, you could legally catch and keep these amphibians, but this is not the case now, and for good reasons, because there are a lot less newts around now, when compared to the numbers in the UK when I was a boy.


What I loved about newts was their amazing colours. The male common and great crested newts have high frilly crests and underneath their bodies they have orange bellies spotted with black. Palmate newt males have dark webbing on their hind feet that can grow so much that it looks like they have squares of skin around their toes. They also have tiny thin filaments sticking out the end of their tails. I really don’t know why. Female palmate newts look very like female common newts but there is a difference, though it is hard to explain. The female palmates are an olive-brown or dark brown with pale bellies. The common newt females are a different shade of brown and slightly more colourful underneath. Newts have little hands and cute sparkling eyes. They have to swim up to the surface every now and then to take a gulp of air. They are fascinating to watch. The females have no crests and are not colourful like the males, but they have their own charm. They lay their eggs in water plants, carefully wrapping each egg in a leaf.  

Common Newt tadpole (Photo: Charlesjsharp)

I used to enjoy keeping the newt tadpoles too and watching them grow bigger and bigger, and losing their gills to become miniature newts that could leave the water, just like their parents could do. I used to feed my adult newts mostly on very small earthworms and the newt tadpoles fed on daphnia, which are tiny crustaceans, also known as water fleas.

Nodding Burr-marigold (Photo: Public Domain)

Sometimes I found sick newts in the pond. Sometimes they had seeds of the spiky burr-marigold embedded in their mouths. I could sometimes help the newt by prying the seed out but not always. Also some newts had dropsy and their bodies became very swollen so they could not swim properly. They would sadly die but there were plenty more healthy ones.
It used to sadden me, though, seeing what some boys used to do. They would catch great crested newts, which they incorrectly called salamanders, and put them on the grass where they would take turns in throwing knives at the poor amphibians. These boys took pleasure in the suffering they caused the newts and it made me sad but I was too scared to stop them because I knew they would beat me up. I didn’t like a lot of boys. I found them violent and destructive. I much preferred being out in nature on my own or with a few good friends I trusted. Boys I didn’t know, and many boys I did know, I began seeing as a source of potential danger to be avoided. This was to go into my ideas about male humans, so I grew up thinking men and boys were more dangerous than women and girls.



But getting back to the newts, it was many years later and I was in my late teens but still living at home.  I had seen an advert for the Cardiff Naturalists Trust and thought it would be a good idea to get in touch with these people to tell them about the great crested newts, which I knew were very rare. Incidentally, my good friend and fellow author C.J. Stone has also told this story. Anyway, I wrote a letter and sent it to the address of the organisation, and in due course, I received a reply from someone who was in charge, thanking me for my information but saying he had done a “preliminary pond dip” but had found no evidence of great crested newts in the pond, as I had described. He asked if it would be OK if he called on me so I should show him some of these newts and asked me to catch a few. I agreed to this and caught some great crested newts and put them in a bucket. When the man and his wife called at my parents’ house I was all ready to show them I was correct. The man in charge of the Cardiff Naturalists group was amazed but could see for himself that I had some specimens of this species. He asked if we could go up to the pond so I could show him how I caught them. I put my boots on and off we set in his car. When we got to the pond I waded slowly into the water, parted some of the floating grasses and weeds, spotted a newt and grabbed it. “Got one,” I said, as I put the newt into my bucket. “And another,” I added as I caught one more. Within about 10 minutes I had managed to catch several great crested newts and showed the man from the naturalists group how I did it. He was impressed and thanked me again, saying he would see to it that some work was done to make sure the pond was a safe habitat for this rare species of amphibian in future. I was glad I had got in touch with the Cardiff Naturalists and felt proud of my efforts. My attitude was to change drastically though many weeks later when I saw what had been done to the pond in The Dell. Large masses of weeds and grass had been dredged out and thrown on the banks, big spaces of open water had been created, and marginal vegetation had been cut back or destroyed. The pond was no longer wild, like Mother Nature intended. It had been cleaned up and made to fit what people thought it should be like. People like big spaces of water but newts don’t because they can easily be seen by predators.

They like weedy ponds where they can hunt, look for mates, and lay their eggs. I regretted my part in having alerted the local organisation to this, and have carried that regret onward because there were never anywhere near as many newts there after that. In the years that followed further work was done at the pond. Water lilies were planted, a big space of open water was kept that way, a wooden landing stage was erected, so people could look out over the pond more easily, and the grass and plants that grew around the edges were often cut back. Now admittedly the pond looked a lot nicer, more like a pond you might have in a painting or on a postcard perhaps, but a lot of wildlife stayed away, apart from some ducks.

Ducks at The Dell (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Footnote: The above article is taken from an unfinished book of memoirs I started writing. Fortunately in many ways, due to the economic crisis and government cuts, the pond is not being tended to any more and vegetation has returned all around it and in it, as you can see in my photos, which were taken in 2015.

Wednesday 8 February 2017

Keeping and Breeding Tropical Fish: From Angelfish to Killies

Angelfish (Photo: Public Domain/Pixabay)

When I was a boy and in my early teens, besides various caterpillars, silk-moths and stick insects, I also had a lot of tropical fish. In fact, I had tanks all around my bedroom. I used to breed many species of fish, including angel fish, keyhole cichlids, golden barbs and paradise fish.

Keyhole Cichlids

Some types of fish eat their eggs and so it was vitally important for me to be able to get the parents out as soon as they had laid their eggs. I used to stay up into the early hours watching for this to happen. My mother used to get annoyed and would tell me I should be asleep because I had school in the morning. I never cared about school because my insects and fish were my world and what was important to me.
It was in my early teens that I really got into keeping tropical fish and had a school friend called Roger Wiggins who used to keep tropicals too. We used to read magazines for aquarists and find out about fish farms in America and read about specialist breeders of difficult species, and we would fantasise about one day running our own tropical fish businesses. By that time I had started selling surplus fish that I had reared in the tropical fish shops in Cardiff, and sometimes I would supply them with bags of water lettuce, a floating plant I used to get so much of it covered the tops of the water in my tanks. They never used to pay me much for the fish and plants but it was a boost to my ego to be able to think I was successful at being a supplier, even if on a really small scale. The men that ran the shops knew that I knew my stuff too. It all appealed to my youthful sense of pride.
Roger and I used to order exotic aquatic plant species from mail order companies too. It was exciting seeing what the plants were actually like and to find out how well we could grow them. Often enough our efforts failed but that did not stop us. I remember being fascinated by the names we read in ads and wondering what these plants would really be like. Some like the aptly named four-leaf clover turned out to be really great and easy to grow aquatic plants but others just withered away.

Four-leafed Clover

I also remember going to Newport to a tropical fish shop in the Pill area of the city. Tachbook Tropicals I think it was. It was worth making this trip by train, not just for a day out, but because for some reason this shop always had fish you could not find in any of the shops in Cardiff. I remember getting an Egyptian mouthbreeder or mouthbrooder and a skunk botia from Newport.


Egyptian Mouthbrooder

The mouthbreeder was a female and I had her for years. Sadly I never managed to get a male and though she used to spawn on her own her efforts were wasted because the unfertilised eggs died and after she realised this she ate them. It was sad seeing this dedicated mother fish with a mouthful of eggs, not able to eat and expecting her eggs to hatch into tiny babies but never have any hatch out. My Auntie Elsie from London who used to often visit used to call this fish “Ugly” but I couldn’t see why. But it was a male I needed and for some reason every time I saw these mouth-breeders for sale there were never any males. There were unexplained mysteries in the tropical fish business. In Cardiff they were never on sale in either sex. I never understood why because it was an interesting fish, easy to keep and in most tropical fish books.

I remember something else that happened that involved my Auntie Elsie and a fish I had at the time. It showed me something about how human opinions can be so very wrong and how animals and plants are built to survive and repair themselves if hurt. I had an upside down catfish.

Upside Down Catfish (Photo: Neale Monks)

These fish are named that way because they do swim upside down. The one I had was a greedy fish and was always on the lookout for more food but one day it had a terrible accident that was to cause it to stop eating. What happened was that for some reason, which I cannot remember, the fish was very alarmed and dived down fast towards the bottom of the tank. In its speed it failed to watch out for a jagged rock and cut its belly open. It was really badly hurt because I could see its innards that spilled out through the cut it sustained. My Auntie saw me upset and asked what was wrong and I told her what happened. She took one look at the catfish and said I should do the right thing, and put it out of its misery, because there was no way it would survive. I didn’t want to kill my fish. I hoped so badly it would get better. I decided to give it a chance, though I could clearly see that the odds were against it pulling through. My catfish retreated to a corner of the tank, stopped eating and swimming about and just stayed there, hanging almost motionless in the corner. The days rolled onward and the fish didn’t die. It didn’t resume its normal lifestyle of swimming around and looking for food but it didn’t die. What happened was a miracle. The guts of the fish were very gradually being pulled back inside its belly, and the skin was closing over. Eventually, after about a week, wound had closed and all was left was a scar. The catfish gradually started to take an interest in life again and moved around in the tank, and most importantly, began eating again. Within a few weeks, it was back to normal and even the scar on its belly vanished. I was so glad I had not listened to Auntie Elsie, and that I had given my fish a chance.

Nothobranchius rachovii male (Photo: Andreas Wretström)

But getting back to my friend Roger and our shared hobby; we had an ongoing mystery. You see, we never saw any killifish for sale, though we read about these unusual fish in books and magazines. Because of their habits of laying eggs that need to be kept semi-dry to replicate the conditions in the wild where ponds dry up, we assumed these species really were so difficult that this is why they were not available in South Wales. These were fish it was probably too hard to keep and breed. This is what we thought was the reason why people do not keep killies. Many years later I was to find out that this assumption was wrong. It was possible to order killifish by post, as eggs or adult fish. Some types were very hard to keep but others were easy. I became a member of the British KIllifish Association in the 1990s. This meant I received the society’s monthly journal and could read the ads and respond. I could order eggs from other members. The killifish eggs were in peat and used to be contained in small plastic containers or in plastic sachets. They could be sent through the mail this way. The excitement came from hatching the tiny fish out and seeing if you could rear them successfully. Some types like the Nothobranchius species were exceedingly colourful with the males having red tails and bright blue bodies. I was successful in breeding and rearing quite a few species, including some of the larger bottom-spawning aphyosemion species, such as the Blue Gularis.



I was proud of my success with these fish. I sold a lot to a local fish shop where I knew the owner Neil. Sadly though he was to tell me that many of them died. I never sold him any more after that. These fish I found easy to keep could not survive in a tank in a shop. perhaps they did need specialist care after all?

I have another fish story I would like to share. I had a pair of some type of mouthbrooding cichlid. I say “some type,” because they were not identified when I bought them and I never did find out what they were. There are a lot of African mouthbreeder cichlids and these were mostly a yellowish colour and it was clear which the male was because he was a lot bigger and he used to dig pits in the gravel, which is something male fish do to attract mates. I also could see that the other was the female because the fish used to breed but sadly, for some reason, I never discovered, they always lost their eggs which failed to hatch. Nevertheless, this pair of fish seemed OK in my community tank and never bothered other fish I had. I mention this because many cichlids are known for being aggressive and cannot be kept with other species. But all of this, I have just told you, is not what this story is about. What I really want to share is what happened when the female fish died. I cannot remember what was wrong with her but I can vividly remember what happened to the male. It was as if he lost his will to live, like a brokenhearted human it seemed he no longer had any reason to be alive without his mate. Now, what you probably don’t know is that there are many fish that are monogamous and faithful to their mates. There are fish that mate for life and are far more loyal to their partners than many married humans can be. Anyway, what happened with my male cichlid, and how I could see he was grieving badly, was that he stopped eating, stopped showing an interest in swimming around the tank, stopped digging in the gravel, and like the upside down catfish I have already told you about, he went into a corner of the tank and just lay on the gravel. After seeing him behave this way for several days I thought he was pining away and would die, but I was wrong. Something amazing happened that showed that fish can respond to humans and that one species can communicate with another.


My friend Sioned used to call at my house on a regular basis. One day she called round and had gone in the kitchen for something, which was where the tank was I had my cichlid in. She asked me what was the matter with my fish. I told her that he was very sad and grieving because his wife had died. I said I thought he would die too because he wasn’t eating. Sioned was horrified and said she was going to see if she could help save him. She started gently tapping on the side of the tank and talking to the fish through the glass. My friend repeated this every time she visited which was every day that week. My heart-broken male cichlid began to respond. He left lying in the corner and would come over to see Sioned through the glass pane. Eventually after a few days he started eating again, and swimming about. He even began digging in the gravel. probably in the hope that his mate would somehow return, or maybe to attract a new mate. This never happened, of course, and I was unable to get any more of this type of fish, though I looked in the local tropical fish shops. As a result of my friend Sioned spending time trying to talk to my male cichlid and succeeding, he went on to live many months more.

Footnote: The story above is taken from an unfinished book of memoirs about nature.

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Vote for Cuddly in the Cutest Pet Competition

Vote for Cuddly the Tuxedo cat!



Cuddly is the name of a black and white tuxedo cat belonging to me and my partner Melissa. Cuddly looks cuddly but he is actually badly named (my fault) because he doesn’t actually enjoy being cuddled or picked up. He is very friendly though, and comes when called and he makes charming little noises, which I cannot hope to duplicate in writing.

Cuddly is a very smart-looking tuxedo cat with a white bib, and he has a reddish tint to his black fur which you can see when the sun shines on him. When he closes his eyes it looks as if he has no eyes because they vanish in his dark fur. Cuddly reminds me of Batman too with his dark patches over his eyes and black ears like the pointed parts of the superhero’s hooded cowl.  Can you see the likeness too?



Cuddly came to us as a kitten when we were living at another house here in Portugal. Another tenant owned him then but she got a puppy and the two animals did not get on at all well. Cuddly was called Sico then and found himself not welcome in the home he had lived in until then because the puppy would attack him. It was play but it was too rough for Cuddly and he found our open windows and moved in. We told the owner and she was happy enough with this. Some months later she moved out and left Cuddly with us. He was now well and truly living with us. Cuddly is now around a year and a half in age and he has grown fast.

Cuddly loves his food and any type of food will do - dry cat food or wet cat food or human food, Cuddly will eat it! He was getting too fat and we think he was scrounging more food at neighbours’ houses in the street where we used to live. The vet put him on a weight-reduction diet and this worked. We have had to watch how much he eats since then and make sure he doesn’t get too much to eat.

Cuddly used to defend his territory where we lived before and would chase away other cats, though he was too scared of dogs and would shy away from them. When we moved he had to get used to the new surroundings and to living in a house with two other cats. It took him about a month to do so but he is now happy here and goes out and about exploring the garden of the place we live in. He also enjoys playing with Appalachia, who is a Persian kitten we share with the friends we share the house with.   


Sometimes Cuddly rears up just like a prairie dog and he looks really cute when he does this, I think you will agree?



Cuddly is currently entered in the PetVote Cutest Pet Competition, and the purpose of this blog entry is not just to tell you all about Cuddly but, hopefully, to get some more votes for him. It is really easy to vote and you do not need to do anything more than clicking on the button marked “Vote for Cuddly.” You can vote daily and every vote helps. Sharing our entry on social media sites like Facebook and twitter is also a great help. It is also possible to Like the entry for Cuddly and to comment, and whilst we appreciate comments and likes, it is the votes for Cuddly that we really need.


And if you have a pet and would like to enter your animal companion in the contest too then 1,000 points get awarded to Cuddly’s campaign that we can use to buy more votes for him, as long as you enter after accessing the Cutest Pet Competition site via our link. To enter is free and takes just minutes.

Please get voting and sharing and help Cuddly win!  

Wednesday 2 December 2015

Couch Grass for Healthy Cats

Couch Grass is a natural Cat Grass


Cat on Couch (Photo: Public Domain)

If you are a cat owner you have probably seen your cat eating grass, and you may already know that they do this because it is a natural medicine. Many shops sell "Cat Grass" as seeds but this is not the type that many cats will choose if given a choice, though it serves the same purpose and helps with digestive problems. Cat Grass seeds are usually wheat or rye. Couch grass is a common weed that many cats, and dogs too, will graze on if they find it in the garden. 

I once had a cat called Tiggy who was fussy. She would only accept proper couch grass and turned her nose up, literally, at commercially available Cat Grass.  I tried growing these grass seeds available from the stores a few times but she would not touch this type of grass, however, couch grass she would grab at in her eagerness. Several times when she was poorly I saw her get better fast after eating couch grass.  I used to grow it in pots so she had a supply available. 


Couch Grass (Elytrigia repens) Photo: Public Domain

Couch grass (Agropyron repens) is also known to botanists as Elytrigia repens and Elymus repens, and humans also call it quick grass, quitch grass, dog grass, witchgrass and quackgrass.  Whatever you call the plant, it is a very useful medicinal herb, even though most gardeners hate it.

Couch grass rhizomes have anti-microbial properties, as well as being anti-inflammatory, astringent and a mild diuretic.  The leaf blades have these properties too and are the parts that cats and dogs will eat.


Kweek Elytrigia repens (Photo: Rasbak)

Couch grass is native to Europe,  Asia and northwest Africa but is found all around the world today and is considered an invasive weed. It spreads rapidly via its creeping rhizomes and will rapidly regenerate from broken bits of these rhizomes left in the ground. Bad news for gardeners but great news for cats and dogs with a bad tummy! It is quite amazing to see how our pets instinctively know the natural herbal medicine this grass species is.

When cats and dogs eat couch grass they will frequently vomit it back up but this is no cause for concern. The animals are trying to cleanse their digestive systems. They know what is best for them, but not always, because in the house and deprived of couch grass, they will often try eating toxic houseplants, and some of these are very poisonous to them. 

Couch grass is good for us too. The rhizomes have been used as a traditional Austrian remedy for fever, taken as a tea, syrup or in the form of a maceration in cold water. As a medicine for humans, couch grass has been used to treat gout, rheumatism, urinary tract problems, bladder and kidney disorders and skin conditions.

Couch grass is the food-plant for the caterpillars of several moths and butterflies, and the seeds are eaten by many small birds, including species of finch and bunting. It is not just cats and dogs that like couch grass! 

Monday 25 June 2012

Exotic pets in captivity – the good and bad side


Panther Chameleon male

There is a definite attraction in keeping exotic pets but whilst there is a booming trade supplying these animals there is both a good and a very bad side to the business. What is positive about this is that many people really do love and care for the creatures they have in captivity, but this comes at the expense of all those millions that die after being captured in the wild and are kept and transported in very bad conditions. The ones that end up on sale are often a minority that survived, although many are captive bred which is fair enough.

The appeal of tropical and exotic animals is often because they are very colourful, unusual or just plain cute to look at. Chameleons come into all these categories. The number of people interested in these strange reptiles can be seen by the millions of views videos on Youtube get for the creatures. The Panther Chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) from Madagascar is one of the most popular species, coming as it does in dazzling shades of vibrant blue, brilliant red and vivid green. These strange reptiles have become so popular there is a range of books about them.

It is all well and good if people look after their exotic pets but so often this is not done. Even with the best intentions many tropical animals are very hard to keep in captivity and many grow very large.  Some reptiles such as alligators, iguanas and snakes, such as pythons, end up getting released into the wild. In some cases non-native animals set up breeding colonies and become invasive species at the expense of creatures that are already living there. There are many examples of this. The American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is a notable one because it eats smaller creatures including endemic species of frog and other amphibians.



Slow Loris female


Some species of exotic animal are actually being brought close to extinction due to the demand for them. The Slow Loris (Nycticebus coucang) is one such creature, and it is usually subjected to horrific cruelty too. The animal has a venomous bite and so to make them safe collectors and dealers pull out or clip out their teeth using no anaesthetic and leaving the terrified animals bleeding badly and subject to infections. All of this, just because they look ‘cute,’ and can make some money for some poor villager in Indonesia or other part of Asia where they live.

Many species owe their survival to being kept in captivity where they are successfully bred. Such is the insanity of the modern world that it really is true that some types of animal are safer in the care of humans than living in the wild.



Zebra Pleco. Photo by Birger A

Habitat destruction is a major threat to so many animals and plants today. The black and white Zebra Pleco (Hypancistrus Zebra) catfish from Brazil is one fish that may end up surviving only because of its looks that have made it popular with tropical fish-keepers. It lives only in a limited area of the Xingu River and if the Belo Monte Dam is built the conditions this fish needs will be destroyed.
Père David's Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) is a deer from China that only survived because of a captive herd that all living animals of this species are descended from. It is extinct in the wild.

It is very easy to say that all wild animals belong back in the wild but it is not that simple. In some cases, such as the deer mentioned above, the species would no longer be alive if they had not been kept by humans. 


Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.