Tabs’s relationship with birds was complicated. On one hand, he deeply believed, to the core of his being, that he was a birder.
Not a mouser, but a birder 100%.
This, of course, was all fine and good till he actually had to work with birds. I can’t imagine how challenging it must have been to pose alongside a coworker, while also wanting to gobble them up.
But Tabs was a consummate professional. He never actually ate a bird on set…that we know of.
I’ve been thinking about him a little more than usual today because we have a woodpecker issue. The exterior walls of our condo are being pecked into Swiss cheese by a gang of angry woodpeckers!
OK…I don’t actually know if they’re angry, but I think they are.
I don’t think Tabs would have viewed them as his enemy though. During his golden years, he was kind of like the cat equivalent of the Dalai Lama, and he was all about zen and living peacefully with other creatures, including ones you want to eat.
Oh, how I wish I could evolve to that state of enlightenment with these woodpeckers…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
There are probably some insects attracting the woodpeckers. A birdfeeder filled with sunflower seeds would probably distract them from pecking on your house. Also, woodpeckers love suet. You could hang a suet block for them, but that stuff’s really disgusting to handle, and kind of expensive to feed on a continuing basis. (It also attracts starlings, which are a terrible nuisance.) I saw woodpeckers frequently when I put up a sunflower feeder this summer. I also saw chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, and purple finches. Weirdly, the English sparrows seem to have disappeared almost completely from this area. They used to be extremely common.
Trust Tabs to always be professional. I never worked with someone I wanted to eat before, but with some that I want to kill several times a day!
Oh, this made me laugh (especially the “gobble up” line). It’s funny how some cats are more mousers and others are more birders. We also have one of each. And one Dalai Llama. 🙂 I’m sure you’ve googled woodpecker deterrents already. We had a problem with birds on our fruit trees and the Hubs hung old CDs on them (recommended because they were shiny/reflective). It didn’t work for us. But they weren’t woodpeckers, so something reflective might work on them? Good luck!!
It’s clear that Tabs was the consummate professional. However, I think he’s probably rolling over in his fur-lined paradise about all the woodpeckers harassing the family!
Oh those angry woodpeckers! They were very active in my neighborhood a few years ago. I think every home had a collection of woodpecker holes. I had the siding inspected. No insects. They just like to destroy siding! They don’t, however, like concrete siding. They have not attacked the replaced concrete siding boards.
I’m sure that Tabs would have done something to take care of the problem… he wouldn’t have this birds hanging around his property 🙂
I think a biography of Tabs would have a lot of behind the scenes stories to tell…For example, I’m quite worried about that canary in the Prada advert…
A nice hardback book with lush colour photos of all his modelling greats would be perfect for the Christmas market??