Cats and Birds information on net.

Dear Heloise: We have orange trees in our back yard, and certain birds poke holes in the oranges to eat the pulp. However, they only eat a small bit and poke holes into numerous oranges, causing waste.

I found that by cutting a couple of oranges in half and leaving them in accessible areas near the trees (like on a wall or feeding platform), it prevents more oranges from being poked. The birds preferentially feed on the "easy-access oranges" and pick the peels entirely clean. -- Karla Lodge, via e-mail

This might also help with other trees that bear fruit that birds like to snack on! Some readers have sent other hints to try to keep wild birds at bay when fruit is beginning to ripen -- here are a few of them:

1. Hang several unwanted CDs on branches throughout the tree.

2. Hang aluminum pie pans in a fruit tree -- this is an old, familiar hint.

3. The most unusual is to use a motion-activated singing fish to deter birds and critters. -- Heloise

Dear Readers: Deborah Stout of San Angelo, Texas, sent a cute-as- a-button photo of Honey, her Chihuahua, when she was only 6 1/2 weeks old, sitting in an oversized teacup (it's really a planter!). - - Heloise

Dear Heloise: My three cats love to spend the summer on my screened-in porch. I keep a bowl of dry food there for them, but within a short while it is crawling with ants.

I solved this problem by taking a baking dish or pan and putting a strip of double-sided carpet tape around the sides. I put their food bowls in this container, and now their food stays ant-free. Also, no ant gets caught in the tape, as they seem to know better than to try. -- Victor Main, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: I have trouble with dogs getting into my trash. Before closing the bag, I pour some ammonia into it.

When they tear it open, the unpleasant smell makes them leave it alone. And they seem to remember and bypass the bag the next time around. -- A Reader, via e-mail

Or you can spritz some on the outside of the bags or trash cans, but please remember the people who pick up your trash -- you don't want to cause them harm. -- Heloise

Dear Heloise: I keep my cats' litter box in the garage on the other side of a kitty door. To keep myself from forgetting to scoop each morning, I leave the plastic newspaper bag that the morning paper comes in on the counter.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:27 AM