Below is our backyard. Ken calls it our "meadow" ... that means he doesn't have to mow it. What you see are wild onions with the morning rays of sunlight hitting the blooms. This is where some of the wildlife lives in our neighborhood: butterflies emerge from their cocoons here -- and that's where I get the butterflies that I put into my cat shots.
It's about 9:30 pm. Below you see our Black British Shorthair, Nox, sniffing the Raccoon outside the door of our den. Zak, our Blue and White Maine Coon, watches from a safe distance. Who knows? The Raccoon may decide to open the door! Nox is our Alpha Cat but Zak is vying for the job.
The Raccoon and Nox both turn away from the glass door at the same time, Zak hasn't moved. But you can see an Oppossum (we call them "Possums" here in Texas) eating cat food from the bowl inbetween the uprights of the cat tree, taking advantage of the Raccoon being interested in the indoor cats.
Here's a closeup of the Raccoon. I think this is a Mom, because she brought two little ones by the next night. 
Now here we have the newest arrivals -- two of the three Foxes we've seen. They are very skittish and I could not get a picture of them without using my on-camera flash. I thought that would spook them, but they were too hungry. It's almost as if the one on the right is the lookout, as he was darting in, wheeling around and trotting down to the edge of the patio while the other just sat gobbling up kitty kibble.
Below is another shot of them, both of the Foxes are looking in at Ken who was watching TV.
After the outside animals have had their way with the one bowl of kibble I put out at night, that's it. I do not put out another bowl until the next evening. I would hate for the Squirrels and Birds who come during the daytime, to run afowl of these guys. So the evening (with one exception) is the only time we see the Foxes, Possum and Raccoons. Daytime is for the Squirrels and Birds.
This Squirrel is sitting on the edge of the patio eating sunflower seeds after taking a drink which I found I have to support with two bricks or it lands on the ground below.
So that's the activity that goes on in our backyard. "Kitty TV," we call it!
In our foyer, Ken arranged the magazines from around the world (excluding the United States) in which I have my images published. Some of these are covers (China, South Africa and Poland), others are images inside the magazine or small "mug shots" on the cover (Japan, Brazil, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia).
It took me around four years to start getting published abroad. And to those aspiring cat photographers out there, I can tell you that it started by letting my images get published without remuneration, just to get my name out there. If you are looking to get published and be paid for it, I suggest you first start by qualifying when you are willing to donate images for a one-time use (Photo Courtesy of "your name here") . And don't forget the Internet -- another way to get your name known.
Posts
