DEAR JOAN: I have this bird that keeps rapping on my side garage door. At first I thought it was hungry so I put out sunflower seeds.
The seeds disappeared (squirrels, I now think) so then I thought it must see itself in the brass kick plate. Brilliant, right? So I covered the kick plate with newspaper. I no longer put seeds out.
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Well this bird is still rapping at my door, for a week now. It’s starting to bug me! Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. Also, can you tell me what kind of bird it is?
— Vivian H., San Jose
DEAR VIVIAN: The rapper in question is a California towhee, and they have a well-earned reputation for tap-tap-tapping on reflective surfaces. They also are hyper territorial, especially during the breeding season, and protective of food sources.
As you’ve covered the reflective plate, I’m not sure why he’s still tapping. Maybe he thinks he’s a raven, or perhaps, by adding food into the fray, you have given him something to protect even after the reflective challenger disappeared.
You might be able to distract the towhee by placing some bird seed nearby, but away from the door. With any luck he’ll give up his obsession with your door, but just know he won’t knock forever, even though he might feel like it.
DEAR JOAN: My cat, Chong, who I adopted 3 years ago, is a fun cat to have. He just stays in the front yard with a gate and he never tries to get out. My problem is he sheds a great deal and after bathing himself he gets hairballs.
At first I thought he pooped on the floor but later found out it was a hairball. He kept trying to throw up again and again, but nothing came up until last night when I spotted one on the floor.
Is this normal or is there something I can do to help him?
— Phil, Oakland
DEAR PHIL: Hairballs are an unfortunate fact of life for felines. Cats with longer, thicker fur might have more hairballs than those with a shorter, smoother coat, but into each life, a hairball will appear.
Cats are serious about their hygiene and can be constant groomers, which means they can swallow a lot of hair, which doesn’t digest, or at least not very much, leading to an accumulation of hair that has to go one direction or the other.
Grooming Chong daily with a comb suitable for his coat type will help to reduce the number of hairballs he chucks up. A diet higher in fiber might also help. Some cat food brands sell “hairball remedy” varieties, which are made from a recipe higher in fiber.
You also can check at your favorite pet food purveyor for hairball remedies. Some will lubricate the digestive tract, helping prevent a buildup of hair, others are laxative that keeps the passages flowing.
If Chong is an excessive groomer, he might be stressed out and grooming to pacify himself. Perhaps being outdoors makes him nervous. It would me, if I was a cat.
I joke about hairballs, but they can represent a health threat and should be taken seriously.
The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at [email protected].