Caturday Art: Happy (almost) Autumn!

Autumn doesn't technically start until September 22nd, but that doesn't mean I'm not waiting for it like a kid on Christmas Eve. I love fall. It is my favorite season, with its cool temps perfect for hoodies and sweaters, and with all of that beautiful foliage. I even just love listening to the sounds of fallen leavers skittering across the sidewalks and streets. Oh, and there's also the fact that Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year.

What's more, my furbabies love autumn, too! Those cool temps, that means open windows! The kitties as well as pup Astrid love sitting at the windows, sniffing the brisk air through the screens. And watching leaves fall and blow around in the wind is a favorite of theirs. Not to mention, as the temps start to cool and plants and flowers die off, we start throwing more and more food and seed out for the critters to feast on, which means swarms of squirrels and birds at which to gawk.

Well, anyway, I guess I can stop gushing over the impending season change and get to our contribution for today's Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by none other than Athena. This art is, well, for the love of fall. It is going to be our fall header, and, starting tomorrow, you will be seeing it up there at the top of our blog for months to come. So, I hope it's tolerable enough to endure for that long.

So, now for a fun yet also sort of sad fact. Does Astrid look slightly alarmed to you in this drawing? If she does, that was actually my intent. Why? Well, Astrid has always, since we rescued her, had a bit of a love-hate relationship with fallen leaves. She loves the cool fall temps, perfect for window watching and walks. And she loves sitting out in the back yard this cool time of year, spending as long as she's allowed romping or resting in the grass and leaves. But, when out on walks, the sounds of those leaves skipping around with a sudden gust of wind always prompts her to stop in her tracks and spin and look around as if someone is chasing her. When she's certain that none of those pesky Halloween masked murderers are right behind us, we can continue on our way. That's not it, though. The girl will not, and I mean will not, step on or through a pile of leaves that has blown onto the sidewalk. No, we have to jump over them, or walk huge circles around them. What can I say, she's known as the quirky one in the family. We're okay with that. And apparently so are our neighbors. We've been told that she's very entertaining to watch.

Well, there you have it. I hope you won't mind seeing that illustration in your face when you visit our blog throughout the fall. I did have a lot of fun drawing it, though, because it helped get me even more excited for those leaves to change and the temps to cool (honestly, it's okay to drop below 80 degrees F right about now, Mother Nature). And I know my furbabies are just as excited about it as I am!

Who of our furiends are excited for autumn? All of you?

Happy Caturday!

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Our Tip of the Day:
Today's tip is going to be an interesting one. It's prompted by my post yesterday, in which I noted in one of my Fill-Ins challenge answers that I have frequent possum (aka, opossum) visitors in my yard due to the cat food I leave out for the strays and ferals. First of all, for those who might not know, the possum is the only marsupial native to North America. This means that those bug-eyed little guys are not mammals, but instead are more akin to the likes of a kangaroo. So, despite their appearance, they're not rodents!

Now, some of you asked about the fact that I mentioned how possums keep down the tick population. It has indeed been found that they do just that, among other things. Possums eat lots and lots of insects, and that includes lots and lots of ticks. This is in part due to the fact that ticks tend to gravitate to the dawdling scavenger that is the possum, and given that possums are, believe it or not, fastidious groomers, they eat those ticks that hitch a ride on them. At least one study found that just one single possum can consume and therefore kill roughly a whopping 5,000 ticks in one season! How amazing is that? Bye-bye, ticks. Bye-bye, Lyme disease. That's not all, though. Possums also tend to eat spiders, cockroaches, and all sorts of bugs, and even mice and rats and plenty of other pests that might harass your yard, garden, and home. Not to mention that they'll eat just about any old food, rotting fruit, and other scraps they might find lying around. I guess they might make a pretty good cleanup crew after a backyard barbecue.

What's more, although even possums can have varying personalities and differ one from another, and although it's still not advisable to get too bold, possums are generally not outwardly aggressive and typically prefer to avoid confrontation. Have you ever seen one "go possum" and just freeze? They're also mostly nocturnal, as well as essentially immune to rabies, and so are quite unlikely to be any semblance of a real threat. So, all in all, although they are certainly not out to win any beauty contests (although I know some of our readers find them quite cute, and that's perfectly fine, too!), possums really are a great ally to have in your corner. So, if you see a possum in your yard, perhaps simply consider thanking the little bugger for his service and leaving him to his scavenging way of life.