Chiggery Grapes

The name, Chiggery Grapes, is just too itchy for us to use.  So, we have renamed it Florida Gooseberry, Tournefortia hirsutissima .  This is a fast growing vine with four to six inch hairy oval leaves that occurs in the Everglades region.  I have found it in the Fakahatchee Strand growing high into the hammock trees. 

When in flower, this borage relative attracts many kinds of butterflies, bees and other pollinators.  These are followed by white fruit that many birds and squirrels feast on.  Like most borage relatives, the fruit, dead leaves and flowers exude chemicals that male butterflies lap up and then use as perfume to attract their mates.  The rotting fruit on Pineland Strongbark and the dead leaves on Sea Lavender are other examples.

If you have a tall tree, try planting this vine at the base and stand back.  It will grow to the top in a couple of years and put on a magnificent crop of flowers and fruit each spring.  Add some corky and multiflora passion vine and the butterflies will multiply there by the dozens. 

Coyotes are welcome here

With all the scary talk about coyotes taking over South Florida, there is now a very good reason to keep your cat indoors.  Keeping your cat indoors is good for the cat and local wildlife.

Feral and outdoor cats kill at least four billion birds a year and 12 billion other creatures including rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, frogs, snakes, lizards etc.  These North African natives belong in a safe home away from our local wildlife.  This is what is best for the cat  since they live an average of two years outside and ten years indoors.

Is it cute to know that your cat is hunting in the woodlands nearby at night?  Dogs, other cats, cars and disease kill cats too, not just the new coyote arrivals.  Your cat will kill wildlife even when fed well.

If it is fat, old, small, friendly or has shown no interest in birds while you are watching, it will still kill a young bird that is just learning to fly.  It's what they do.  In fact at least 90 percent of young fledglings are killed in neighborhoods inhabited by outdoor cats.

So bring your cat indoors and provide it with a safe environment to thrive.  Make or buy a Catio so it can look out at the wildlife during the day and buy it toys.  Now you won't have to worry about the neighbors' dog, tom cat, car or a local coyote killing your kitty and can enjoy it's company for many more years.

I like cats and enjoy their unique personalities,  I just want our cats and wildlife to be safe.