Real life cartoon characters in the garden

"Where have you been?"
"I've been around" was my answer.
"I hardly see you walking the dog these days" she pressed on.
"yes, we don't go for long walks at the moment. There are lots of things going on in our backyard,
....and the dog is having a great time enjoying the garden and chasing away those cats from hunting the birds that are nesting in there"
....that's just a bit of conversation that goes on between me and my neighbour while she was being dragged by her dog passing by the front of the house as I was dumping my trash bag into the garbage bin.

Dogs are man's best friend that requires long walk at least once a day, rain or shine. On the other hand, cats are wonderful pets because they are independent and don't require leash or long walk with their people. Actually they prefer to walk and roam freely on their own to satisfy their strong hunting instincts. Sometimes I wonder if these cats roam my garden hunting for vermins and bring home their catch to their people is actually an act of communication that they don't really enjoy the dry kibbles and canned food which their people hunted from the supermarket.
Kaboom is the nickname I gave to this cat. She has other name when she's back at her real home. Interestingly, when I call her "Kaboom", she came to me and nuzzles my ankle. Someone said to me once; you don't own a cat but the cat own you. In reality, I don't own any cats but all the cats in my neighbourhood seemed to own me! On good days, there can be at least 3 to 5 different cats that roam about in my garden, and I've named them all ending with the word "boom". There is one I called Baddaboom! but I can't seem to find his picture at the moment. Will insert it here when I find it in the photobank.

All the cats you see in this blog belongs to someone in my neighbourhood. There are not feral cats in my area because the council is very efficient and strict with this sort of things. They have exact record and statistics who own cats or dogs in the neighbourhood. All dogs are micro-chipped, registered and my Micro Marco Polo must also pay dog tax once a year and attend dog socialising class from time to time. The dog obedient school is not compulsory but dog owners are encouraged to socialise their dogs because in Switzerland, dogs are welcome all over the place in public areas including public transport, restaurants and hotels accomodation. As long as your dog's travelling papers and vaccination are up to date, travelling with dogs in Switzerland can be a joy for dog owners. In some hotels and restaurant, while you are enjoying your meals, they even serve the dog some water and food in a different corner designated for dogs.
Birds nest on lower tree branches are very vulnerable to these cats that came to roam the garden but the dog is more than happy to chase away the cats, provided there's someone around to watch the dog too. On his own, I probably will not see my dog for a couple days. This is why he is named Marco Polo, because he likes to explore and forgotten to call home. The microchip is actually very useful.

The good thing about not using pesticide in the garden means there are plentiful of grubs and insects to support the wild birds dietary. Of course some of my blooms are half eaten by those catepillars and other pesty insects, but that is part of natural organic gardening, allowing nature to check and balance itself. My part is to encourage the bio diversity of the wild life in the garden environment and learn to live with some heart breaking chewed up and decapitated buds.

I saw this bird several times in the last few weeks.
She wouldn't allow me to get close but one day I saw her with a beak-ful of those caterpillars from the rose bush.