The Lady Is A Tramp

It saddens me to report this unpleasant occurrence: Big Kahuna, our resident male Cardinal, has met his demise. These (link) birds are very territorial; if they catch a reflection of themselves in a window, they'll attack. Really. Well, you can surmise the rest of the saga. 

Traditionally, Cardinals have not been too fortunate in nesting in our yard. The stray cat, Kate, who adopted us many moons ago and resided in our home for ten years, became carnivorous with the introduction of Cardinals to her world. To our knowledge, she had never slaughtered another living thing... till...

A well-fed cat, she chose to stay indoors all winter long, cuddling next to our gorgeous Sly; she did not care for snow or rain, at all. After her self-imposed exile, she chomped at the bit to explore the great outdoors, upon the arrival of Spring. At such time, we once had a nest of red birds in a tree next to our patio. We decided to extend Kate's in-house residence till after the flight of the babies. One day, she escaped. She ignored my calls, before an appointment-driven departure. 

 Upon my return, she awaited me by the slider door. About an hour later, strange sounds were coming from our den. Investigation revealed a gross, red mass of the v-word on our light-colored carpet. Surmise again, please.

Back to our current Lady Bird: two days after her mister met his fate, another brilliantly red male was a-courtin'. There shall be babies. 

RIP, Big K. We've put brighter decals on the deadly window, though we know your aggressive brethren shall ignore them. Little did I know just how prophetic (link) "SnapBlinkGone" would be.