bluejay with a problem

Bluejays are very common around here, and they enthusiastically go after the sunflower seeds and especially the peanuts we feed them.  

I noticed one bluejay tilting his head and looking very uncomfortable as he struggled to pick up a peanut.  Looking closer, I saw that he had no top beak!  Yikes!  How can he even feed himself?  He looks just as plump and healthy as the others, but he sure has trouble picking up peanuts.  He chases them all over the table.  We put down a tea towel and shelled some nuts so that it would be easier, but he seems pretty self sufficient.  

I  put out some shelled sunflower seeds, but he didn't like them at all.  Spit them all out.

It does not look like an injury.  Online you can find pics of overgrown and deformed bluejay bills, but I found none like my guy.  Overgrown bills may be due to a virus, and maybe that is the case here too.

Good luck to this guy.  We will continue to feed him.
 

ticks

Whitie the cat was on my bed, begging for attention, when I found this thing sticking out of his neck.

It seemed like a wart, but when I looked closer I discovered it was a TICK, probably a black-legged tick, the kind that carries Lyme disease, with his head in my cat and his bum up in the air.

I really hate ticks.  And I really hate thinking about them sucking my blood and giving me in return a disease that if not caught early is incurable.  The symptoms of Lyme disease include permantent muscle weakness, lameness, fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, or difficulty breathing. Lyme disease can also affect the kidneys, joints, nervous system, and heart. Many cats do not show noticeable signs, despite being infected.

Being an independent, self-sufficient person, I yelled for Wayne.  We went to YouTube for an answer, and found recommendations to get the tick off using a little crow-bar type device called a Tick Twister.  Wayne rushed out the door at 7:30 pm, and came back with the goods.

When he twisted out the tick, he found ANOTHER ONE. YUCK - YUCK - YUCK

Not very big - about a quarter of an inch - and that is when they have some creature's blood in them.  They start off as big as the period at the end of this sentence.  

They hitch a ride on migratory birds, and then drop off when they get to my yard.

They hang out on blades of long grass with their front legs waving, waiting for some hapless warm-blooded critter to amble by.  Once they crawl up to a warm spot and latch on to the skin, it takes 24 hours to transmit lyme disease.  Cats don't seem to be affected, but dogs have the same symptoms as people.

After their photo shoot, these two guys were put into a disposable cup, doused with dish soap and water, and died a quick death.