In Japan, there exists a somewhat old-fashioned spring tradition of observing seasonal birds such as the white-eye, but not by heading to a river or park, but by luring them to your yard. One way to do this is by using mikan, or mandarin oranges. By placing mikan, a favorite of the white-eye, people can enjoy "killing two birds with one stone" by enjoying the citrus treat on their own while doing some wild bird watching.

Japanese Twitter user and artist Yukina Ishikawa (@ishikayu) recently tried her own had at the citrus-bait bird watching technique, however she instead found herself attracting a much different type of visitor...

Source: @ishikayu

"I thought some wild birds might come if I put out mikans, and a cat came."

Apparently after some birds had gathered to pick at the fruit, one of her household cats decided to imitate (read: chase) them and take a look at the fruit itself. Mikan themselves are not good for cats, but they also have a strong smell most kitties don't like, so thankfully the citrus and bird chasing cat got safely back to its cozy life at home--and hopefully not interfering in bird watching.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.