Tag: animals

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 22, 20227:00 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Mizu

It’s Caturday, and I’ve got a backlog of unpublished felines. Let’s celebrate! We bump to the front of queue, Mizu (yes, real name), who my wife and I met yesterday in the alley between Louisiana and Mississippi. She was friendly and cautious—and happiest when invited inside to visit a neighbor.

Mizu initially and unexpectedly rushed across the alley to visit with us, but a passing car caused her to retreat beneath another vehicle. I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image and two companions. Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 50, 1/4831 sec, 26mm; 12:32 p.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 17, 20228:41 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Pudding

A sudden surge in kitty sightings is creating a backlog for the series. My apologies, then, if they overwhelm the site for awhile. For reasons that make no sense to me, they cluster around Alabama and Louisiana, which, coincidentally or not, are also where are the new traffic circles at Meade.

We begin with a black and white seen on the latter of the two streets. This fine feline, who earns nickname Pudding (for something about those cute ears), is the eighty-third behind door or window. I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 17, 2021. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/602 sec; 9:22 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 15, 202210:00 pm

For Kuma

This afternoon, I made a ceremonial walk along the paths and places Kuma used to go. Ten years ago today, around 6 a.m. PST, he looked up at me quizzically before slipping under the apartment building’s back gate. I let him out an hour earlier than typical, into darkness and without accompanying him into the alley as usual. My eyes never met his again. Kuma vanished.

Sixteen days later, San Diego city workers recovered his collar from a nearby canyon. The inference was clear: Coyote, as we suspected about Priscilla—a neighbor’s kitty that similarly disappeared 12 months earlier. She inspired his adoption.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 14, 20229:05 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Kittens

While walking along Mississippi Street, between El Cajon and Meade, today, I spotted a four-to-six-week-old kitten scurrying among an apartment building’s greenery then passing through the lattice panels beneath a corner cottage. Not long later, the tyke looked out suspiciously long enough for me to approach and capture the Featured Image, using iPhone 13 Pro. Do you see the rascal? Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/2273 sec, 77mm; 12:02 p.m. PST.

When the shorthair vamoosed, so did I—only to see an adult black across the manicured space of an adjacent apartment building. The mom, perhaps? She hung out closer to the alley, so I walked around for a look (and some portraits).

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 11, 20229:16 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Smokey (Maine Coon)

What a surprise! Today, when walking along Alabama, on a grocery run to Smart and Final, my wife and I met a gentleman and his two-year-old Maine Coon. While the gentle giant likely lives somewhere else in the neighborhood (I forgot to ask where), sighting location makes him the seventy-ninth kitty observed on the street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln.

Five features physically define Maine Coons: Ear tuffs and points, facial structure, fur coat, paws (big), and size (huge)—the latter they tend to reach at around age five or so. Smokey is classically Coon by all appearances, and I am not surprised: His owner says that the cat comes from Russia, because finding a purebred locally is challenging.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 9, 202210:37 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Happy

The eighty-second feline found behind door or window lives on Lincoln Street, just inside the neighborhood border. I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 19, 2021. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/1107 sec, 77mm; 10 a.m. PST.

This slumbering shorthair earns nickname Happy, because that’s what he (or she) appears to be and how I feel looking at him (or her). I wanted to use Nappy, referring to napping, before doing a dictionary check and learning that the word is an American axiom for diaper.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 1, 20228:58 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Gazer

The series‘ sixth New Years kitty is not the one originally planned. While walking this morning with my wife, I spied a ginger gawking above us; what a vantage to survey and sun. This fine feline joins Lovely (2021), Gem (2020), Storm (2019), Norman (2018), and Chub (2017).

The Featured Image and companion come from iPhone 13 Pro. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/499 sec, 77mm; 9:27 a.m. PST. The other is same but 1/513 sec, 10 seconds earlier.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 27, 202111:52 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Cinnamon

For reasons, I can’t guess, most of the kitties seen along Cleveland Avenue and profiled in this series are gone. Let’s review them. Those known to have moved away: Fresh; Levi; Mika; Mini; Misty; and Pepe. Likely moved: Black; Black and White; Leery; and Mellow. Not seen recently: Clover: Lilo; Pepper; and Sleepy. Status unknown: Bell; Hunter; and Mandy. Missing: Fess (sad story). Special mention: Roly Poly; (second cat to appear in the series; presumed moved); Priscilla (who disappeared before the series started). Still resident: Tortie. That’s only one for certain among 21, plus our newest inductee.

I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 23, 2021. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6. ISO 100, 1/80 sec, 28mm; 9:08 am. PST. For color, this fine feline earns nickname Cinnamon

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 20, 20219:17 pm

The (Honorary) Cats of University Heights: Queenie

One-and-a-half blocks beyond the neighborhood’s boundary at Texas Street, my wife and I spotted a pretty kitty on Dec. 6, 2021. Months earlier, we first saw the beauty jump to the fence on the same property. As I crossed the street for a photo-op, someone else moved up the sidewalk, scaring off the fluffball. Lucky: What a lovely pose presented for my second portrait attempt (and success).

In the spirit of the holiday, this fine feline is nicknamed for the nearby candy cane decorations. She joins just eight other honorary cats, among the 448 profiles (including this one). They are: Buddies, Chill, Envy, Mona, Moophie, Ninja, Promise, and Sammy. Darth Mew initially belonged to the group, until later turning up in University Heights, where he now lives.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 13, 202110:48 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Tinsel

As my wife and I walked back from Smart and Final on Dec. 9, 2021, we passed by a shorthair along Polk between Alabama and Mississippi. The kitty is the eightieth seen behind door or window. That works out to 18 percent of the total profiles.

I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/231 sec, 77mm; 10:30 a.m. PST. This fine feline earns nickname Tinsel, for the Christmas lights and decorations for the time of year.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 9, 202112:01 am

The Cats of University Heights: Scooch

The second of two kittens seen frolicking on Nov. 22, 2021 crouched beneath a car after another vehicle passed loudly by—hence nickname Scooch. I stooped low with iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/314 sec, 77mm; 11:35 a.m. PST.

My wife and I each separately spotted one of the kittens; my eyes followed Springer. We have yet to see them again. But we’re watching!

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 8, 20219:33 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Springer

Where Cliff Street and Panorama Drive meet, my wife and I independently each spotted a kitten on Nov. 22, 2021. Our approach along the sidewalk separated the two frolickers, unintentionally. I barely managed to snag portraits of both, using iPhone 13 Pro. Today we present the first; tomorrow the other.

The tiger tabby earns nickname Springer, for the position of its back legs as seen in the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/234 sec, 77mm; 11:33 a.m. PST.