Category: Critters

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 26, 20219:13 pm

Goldie is Gone

From the title, you would think this post is about the pictured kitty. Rather, he is launchpad for a discourse about San Diego real estate. Let’s start with Goldie, whom I profiled as part of my “Cats of University Heights” series in September 2017. The Featured Image is the last portrait I made of him, using Leica Q2, on June 26, 2021. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 5:26 p.m. PDT.

I continued to see Goldie inside his yard for several more weeks, and I initially thought nothing about there being, as late as early August, no visible activity at the house whatsoever. The place was fairly quiet before the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns brought many parents home and kept kids out of school. My wife and I delighted seeing the youngsters playing outside the home. Then they disappeared, which I attributed to the local, year-round public elementary school reopening.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 19, 20218:51 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Spalding

Could San Diego’s housing market be slowing down? Countywide, the median home price dropped by $19,250 to (cough, cough) $730,500 month-on-month in July. Oh, I just quake with excitement. In context of this information, I was curious to look at a property, located where Georgia Street and Spalding Place meet, discovered on Zillow yesterday. On Aug. 7, 2021, the sellers lopped off $50,000 from the asking price. Whip out your checkbook! The residence now lists for $1.149 million. That’s not a location where I would expect to see something selling for so much; hence, my nosiness.

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1,630-foot Craftsman sits on Georgia but I approached from cross-street Spalding, which explains my nickname given to the handsome black seen there. I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image and companion, today. Vitals, aperture manually set for both: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 9:56 a.m. PDT. The other: f/8, ISO 100, 1/160 sec, 28mm; 9:58 a.m.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 17, 20218:20 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Rick

The seventieth Alabama kitty comes from the alley behind that street and Florida, somewhere between Meade and Madison. My wife and I spotted the black drinking water outside a cottage where another feline looks out from a window (think future feline profile should better photo opportunity present). Our thirsty putty-tat earns nickname Boxer for what the bowl sits on.

As usual, I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image, which is cropped 100 percent. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 8:39 a.m. PDT, July 28, 2021.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 16, 20219:04 pm

Why the Maine Coons Lost Their Home

To see where was the golf cart accident that led to yesterday morning’s dramatic chase and capture, my wife and I walked along Florida to Adams, where I shot additional photos. We returned the same way, passing by a man leaning on the porch railing of the house where feral felines Mimi and Sweet Pea lived for about eight years in the spacious backyard. I profiled both animals in my “Cats of University Heights” series in May 2018.

I asked the gentleman about clearcutting the property, which he confirmed started on Aug. 10, 2021. The action was taken at the behest of the broker, who believes there is a 98-percent chance an investor will buy the place, rather than a resident; removing the lush greenery and trees emphasizes the lot’s large size for the neighborhood and increases likelihood of higher bidding during the September 11 auction.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 13, 202111:16 pm

Mimi and Sweet Pea are Homeless

If only SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 eviction moratoriums applied to feral felines, the habitat of Mimi and Sweet Pea would not have been utterly destroyed. The luscious, and humungous, yard they shared was intact a few days ago—my wife and I can’t recall if Tuesday or Wednesday (today is the only Friday the 13th of the year). This morning, we peaked in—shocked to see nearly complete clearcutting.

The saga starts as we walked along the alley separating Alabama and Florida. As we moved down the block between Monroe and Madison, I saw a kitty beyond the cross street going towards Adams. From the coloration, and our recently seeing Pace (pronounced paw-chay, according to his owner) in the vicinity, I assumed it must be the aged Norwegian Forest Cat. Oddly, though, the animal disappeared and reappeared, as if going into and out of different backyards along the alley.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 12, 20219:10 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Snuggles

For reasons only guessed, I don’t see many putty-tats along Mission Avenue (in this instance near Florida). Among them: Calm, Carl, Digger, Domino, Joy, Luna, Rebel, and Serenity. On Aug. 6, 2021, I spotted another for the first time; he (or she) joins the series as the seventy-fourth feline seen behind door or window.

It’s nickname time: Snuggles, for cozying up to the late-day sun. I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image, at 5:41 p.m. PDT. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm.

Critters by Joe WilcoxAug 9, 202110:55 pm

Why We Gave Up the Zoo

When my wife and I last visited San Diego Zoo, on July 21, 2020, we debated about whether or not to renew our residential membership before it expired. With much of California locked down in response to SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19—and closures returning—we decided to wait. Had we anticipated a forthcoming price increase, maybe our decision would have been different.

Our 2-adult annual pass during 2018 was $112, if I rightly recall, and either $129 or $149 when renewed. We could have re-upped for $160, with an offer that expired 10 days after our last walkabout among the critters. Since then, the animal refuge switched to individual-only pricing. For comparable benefits as before, which include no blackout dates, our combined renewal rate would be $218, which by my math is a 36-percent increase over our last renewal offer and 95-percent more than our 12-month pass purchased three years ago.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 8, 202110:00 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Silver

We celebrate International Cat Day with a shorthair sighted in the same yard where was the fourth feline profiled (Skull) in October 2016. Black-colored Monarch appeared on the same property two years later. I can’t say that either belonged there but express confidence about the newcomer: The home’s front door was open for the kitty to come and go; kids could be heard playing inside.

Silver seems so appropriate nickname—for gradients in the fur. Leica Q2 produced the Featured Image, which underwent unusual amount of post-production tweaking—and nothing to my satisfaction. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 250, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 10:43 a.m. PDT, Aug. 1, 2021.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 5, 20218:45 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Proudfoot

Only for the second time—Sentinel being the first nearly three years ago—since the series‘ start in October 2016 have I seen a feline along Park Blvd in downtown University Heights. Meet the lonely shorthair that earns nickname Proudfoot. My wife and I met the kitty apparently waiting for someone or something on July 27, 2021.

I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 28mm; 9:20 a.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 2, 202110:12 pm

Make a Wish

I know our daughter feels fairly disheveled on this 27th birthday—kind of like the Featured Image of the cat that we unexpectedly inherited from her in October 2014. I met Cali on June 4 of that year—the evening before she showed up in Molly’s bed. Now Cali is bonded to Neko, but her origin story will always be our recuperating birthday girl.

In the portrait, captured using iPhone XS, Cali sun-sleeps against my home office window on the Katris blocks that sit between the Belham Living Everett Mission Writing Desk with Optional Hutch and Casabelle Mail Center. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/142 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 3:16 p.m. PDT, June 19, 2021.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 31, 202110:13 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Gracious

Late yesterday afternoon, my wife and I walked down the alley separating Louisiana and Texas, where Darth Mew and Princess Leia appeared recently. We hoped to encounter one or the other and expected neither. About half-way down the block, I spotted a pretty Tortoiseshell behind a screen and stopped for a few portraits. Right then, the 87-year-old property owner came out the back gate, and we started chatting. Annie and I met him many moons ago when we toured one of his apartments (which we might have rented had there been more sunlight coming into the bedrooms).

Raised in Michigan farm country, John arrived in San Diego at age 17 and never left. He is fit, with all his wits—meaning sharp and spry in all the ways that matter. While we talked about the shortcomings of modern education—writing proficiently of 1940’s eighth graders compared to high school graduates today—I heard what sounded like a meowing kitty. As we continued, sound increased in volume and intensity until, quite surprisingly, Darth Mew ambled over a six-foot-high fence. Without any elucidation, John said the cat’s mother is buried on his property (but the black longhair lives elsewhere).

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 28, 20219:18 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Samba

On the same block where Goose and Jasmine recently disputed territory lives Samba, whom I met with her owner’s roommate on July 25, 2021. He had her leashed, and she accepted being brushed down to remove shedding fur. Samba (yep, real name) makes the series‘ sixty-ninth profile from Alabama Street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. I know of at least a half-dozen more beasties, but fleeting sightings aren’t usable portraits.

Leica Q2 produced the Featured Image, which demands being seen larger to appreciate the fine detail captured. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 28mm; 11:39 a.m. PDT.