A FEW WORDS ABOUT CATS, FLIES, WASPS & FISHES

Back then, in 2016 I was just a bit younger than now, practically the same kind of guy, but my cats ...

... they were kids. In this animated GIF, you can see the young version of Sivka, the much bigger and considerably older cat that often appears in recent posts, eating a piece of raw Mullus barbatus fish.

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Here you can see Sivka with her sister Splashenka. As you probably noticed, Splashenka looked almost exactly like Sivka. She disappeared three years later.

18th of October 2016 was the exact date when the photographs in this post were taken. I was cleaning three types of fish on the outdoor sink in the yard ...

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... and all my cats were there with me.

Besides the aforementioned Mullus barbatus, I had also the much bigger Sparus aurata and Seriola dumerili. In this photograph, the Sparus aurata, commonly known as Gilt-head bream, is only partially visible under the other species. Seriola dumerili is commonly known as Greater amberjack, and here you can take a good look at this beautiful fish. Greater amberjack can grow to weigh from 70 to 80 kilograms. This is a small, juvenile fish.

Here you can take a more up-close look at colors and the texture of the skin.

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In these three shots, Splashenka is chewing the head of the Mullus barbatus.

This delicious fish is commonly known as the Red mullet.

When I'm cleaning the fish in the yard, the flies also always feel invited.

The Common green bottle flies (Lucilia sericata) are usually the most numerous. Here you can see one of those. In the following photograph ...

... you can see another species. The Calliphora vomitoria. And in the following GIF ...

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... you can see the Calliphora vomitoria moving and exploring the dead fish.

Adults of this species feed mainly on nectar, but females search for carcasses because this is the food that larvae need.

Here you can see the two species, Calliphora vomitoria and Lucilia sericata, together.

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In these photographs, the cat called Muki-Muki is busy chewing the tail fin of the Greater amberjack. Muki-muki disappeared later that year.

Here, the cat called Tzvrtchak has bitten the Red mullet and if the sound could be recorded in the photograph, you'll hear her growling like an angry Chihuahua 😀... or some other small dog. I don't know why Chihuahua came to my mind first.

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Tzvrtchak is still here, alive and well. A considerably older Tzvrtchak appeared in a recent post about current Caturday activities in my yard.

While cleaning the fish, I came across this small crustacean attached to the Greater amberjack skin.

These parasitic isopods produce anticoagulants and suck the blood of the fish. I don't know the exact species, but the family is definitely Cymothoidae.

In this photograph, the young cat called Rakunatz has caught a piece of fish. He died in 2021.

Flies aren't the only insects attracted by these fish cleaning events.

Wasps are also regular visitors.

In these photographs, you can see the Vespula vulgaris. A very common species in all Europe ... and many other places in the world.

The wasps are usually busy cutting small chunks of meat or
entrails to bring in their nests.

This animated GIF made of four photographs shows a wasp doing exactly that.

I was very lucky to catch this moment with a low-quality compact camera.

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Here you can see the young Farabuto. Farabuto still lives long and prosperous, and often appears in the posts here on HIVE.

And now, with this last, animated look at young Sivka, is time to end this little story about cats, flies, wasps & fishes.

AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE GIFS AND PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.