If there's one thing you can depend on, it's cats being unpredictable. Would a cat relieve itself on top of a bush? It's not its normal behavior, but it might have had its reasons. (Getty Images) a stunned striped cat that looks like a bengal looks up in surprise
DEAR JOAN: Recently, we discovered a pile of poop near the top of a bush in our yard.
I am at a loss trying to figure out how an animal leaves its poop there. While it looks lush, this bush would not support an animal walking on it.
We have a woman in the neighborhood who feeds feral cats and they are making a mess of everyone’s yard but hers. I have three or four deposits to clean up every morning.
This poop looks like cat poop, but I just can’t get how they leave it on the bush.
Chuck and Sherry Glover, Fremont
DEAR CHUCK AND SHERRY: Your question sparked a lively discussion on a Facebook group that I belong to called Animals Don’t Cover Their Tracks. While we didn’t come up with a definitive answer, there are a few theories on the animal responsible for the unusual deposit.
My first thought was that it was left by a fox, and a couple of people agreed with me. Foxes practice what is known as precision defecation, meaning they deliberately place their scat for reasons best known to them.
However, one of the experts said that the scat bore the hallmarks of feline excrement, not canine. However, pooping on top of bushes is not normal behavior for either, not even for a very tall cat.
That led to the most popular theory — that it’s feline in nature, but that it was placed or flung there by a human. Why anyone would want to do that, I have no idea. Perhaps it was unintentional, and the result of poor aim. I could see a neighbor, frustrated by all the cat poo in the yard, scooping and flinging it, not meaning to toss it onto your shrubs, but just to get it out of their yard.
As for the problem with the feral cats in the neighborhood, cats generally don’t poop where they eat, which is why they aren’t befouling the yard of the person feeding them. You could join in on the feeding, which will probably get you more troubles than cat poop, or you can set out a pot or plant a small patch of catnip in the corner of your yard. The cats aren’t likely to poo near their catnip source, either.
I’d also suggest investing in an inexpensive wildlife camera so you can see what goes on in your yard at night. You might be surprised.
DEAR JOAN: One important role that squirrels play in the life of an oak tree is seed dispersal. Oaks just drop their seeds straight down. They are too heavy for wind dispersal.
I have two very industrious squirrels whom I watch “planting” acorns from neighboring trees in my yard. And each year I find 5 to 10 young oak seedlings in my yard — in vegetable beds, under shrubs, and in flower pots — from their activity. Squirrels are very good gardeners.
Sam, Oakland
DEAR SAM: Indeed they are. I’ve always been fascinated by the plant-animal relationship.
My own experience with gardening squirrels involves corn. I put out some cobs for them and one squirrel made quick work of them. That spring, I discovered where most of that corn went as every planter I owned began sprouting stalks of corn.
Contact Joan Morris at jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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Originally published at Joan Morris