Jamal is a regular in the neighborhood; I met him last summer when he was working as Pedicab driver. So I was surprised to meet him on Bleecker Street in the West Village with a 4-week old kitten in a guitar case. The kitty, which he had rescued from a subway platform, also had an eye infection. Animals in need will certainly get people to rise to the occasion, even from New Yorkers, who are frequently stereotyped as unsympathetic.

New Yorkers can be cynical, skeptical, and leery of scams (which are common), but when a legitimate need is perceived, people here, like anywhere else, will respond. Jamal collected $325 in just a few hours the day before, most of which, he said, he used on a visit to the vet and medications for the cat. At one point, Jamal asked me to help, so I held the cat while Jamal administered the eye drops. It was not difficult at all with such a young cat; he offered little resistance compared to an adult cat, where such a procedure can be a real undertaking – cats are notoriously uncooperative taking meds.

By the way, the sign in the photo had a different message on each side. The message shown is from the previous day used to collect for the vet (he turned the sign over before I shot this to show me the original message used to raise money for the vet. Click here for a photo with the message I saw when I arrived.)

Tropical birds and other exotic animals are occasionally sighted in NYC, and with such a large, varied population, one will even catch some outrageous scenes, like the guy who has a large snake, macaw, and small alligator (click here) or a huge spectacular Albino Burmese Python slithering on the ground in Central Park (click here). I also saw two magnificent macaws on Earth Day earlier this year.

The person in today’s photo was an audience member (as was I) attending a free performance by Circus Amok (see previous posting here). The birds were extremely charming and got their share of attention – no surprise in light of their cute antics and the brightly colored plumage of tropical birds. The gray bird is a Congo African Grey Parrot. The larger of the two on the owner’s shoulder is a an Eclectus Parrot; the smaller is a Hans Mini Macaw (owned by his girlfriend).

As enticing as these birds are, the point here is not to promote the ownership of exotic animals. The entire subject is controversial, not only with issues of birds being taken from the wild but also with domestically raised birds – some individuals have concerns with keeping birds in cages or other confined environments. Also, of course, comes the responsibility and commitment – birds can form bonds with their owners, and they can be destructive and need training. And then there is a very different kind of bird…

Meet Oscar at work. Oscar is a Miniature Schnauzer who lives in the Village. Unfortunately, we have a quite visible rat population in Washington Square Park, particularly at night. They are frequently seen even out in the open, near people, away from bushes, skittering about. The numbers of rats fluctuates, largely depending on the Parks Department’s efforts at baiting and picking up trash, which is a big attraction to rats. Trash pickup is never adequate, as I wrote in Garbage a la Mode. Oscar goes crazy when set loose in the shrubbery of the park – he has caught and killed as many as 10-20 rats in one evening. He will chase them, dig for them, track them around trash cans – he is relentless, tireless, and tenacious in ferreting them out. However, rats are quite astute and can hear him coming. His owner, Andrea, has at times experimented by removing his tags. He then becomes a formidable stealth ratter and his success rate soars.

Schnauzers were originally bred in Germany in the 1800s as “ratters” to keep down the vermin around farms. Miniature Schnauzers are the result of crossbreeding of the Standard Schnauzer to produce a smaller version that could live more easily as a house pet but still hunt vermin. This breed is the 10th most popular in the United States and is well-suited to city apartment living.

Imagine Oscar at the Karni Mata temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India, where rats are worshipped and 20,000 or so run loose. The temple pays tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. Click here for an extensive article. I don’t really recommend it, but if you have the stomach for it, see a video here…

These are Baby and Merlin , blue and gold macaws with their owner, Gloria Waslyn (more photos here), who describes them as “Peace Parrots, Rainforest Ambassadors and NYC’s Spokes Avians for the Mayor’s Alliance of Animals promoting rescue and shelter animal adoption. … BABY, the outgoing male, and MERLIN, his pretty mate are so well behaved that anyone can hold them. They are quiet, so they do not upstage anyone, are comfortable with anything, and have been on a float in a high-profile and crowded Halloween parade in Greenwich Village of NYC. They have been held by celebrities (Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono), scientists (Nobel DNA prize winner James Watson and co-mapper of the human genome, Frances Collins) and thousands of New Yorkers and people from around the world who visit the city sidewalks of NY.”

Gloria says that the two 9-year-olds “never bite, play with earrings or hair, and are quite the ‘hams’ without any diva attitude.” The trio were part of one of many NYC Earth Day celebrations yesterday – the birds stole the show at this one with their brilliant blue plumage, huge size, and friendly antics…