Cats & Birds

Fur, Feathers, and Far Too Much Drama

Welcome to the ongoing domestic wildlife documentary that is my life in the Italian Alps — starring three misfit rescue cats and an army of unruly birds.

On the feline front, there’s Jasper, the gentle giant so large that Android phone photo apps routinely identify him as a Labrador; Tippy, the ex-barn cat with a titanium leg, a chip on his shoulder, and no respect for gravity; and Larry, who strolls about the house like a Milanese fashion model trapped in a cat’s body. Together they’ve turned my home into a three-ring circus of fur, attitude, and unearned self-confidence.

Outside, there's a war going on around the balcony bird feeder. It’s an ongoing soap opera of Great Tits, Italian Sparrows, Collared Doves and assorted flying lunatics engaged in daily seed-related warfare. Think Game of Thrones with feathers, and fewer survivors.

I’m not a scientist or an ornithologist, just a bloke with a camera, some sunflower seeds, and a tendency to anthropomorphise everything that flaps. It was my daughter Jennifer who told me that I anthropomorphised animals and insects, I nodded sagely and looked up what it meant after she’d left. These aren’t field notes so much as eye-witness accounts of absurdity: territorial disputes, uneasy truces, and occasional acts of avian terrorism, all faithfully recorded from my terrace.

So if you enjoy stories of feathered coups, feline melodrama, and the small everyday comedy of living among creatures who couldn’t give a rat’s arse about your schedule — you’re in the right place.

Grab a coffee (or something stronger) and meet the cast.