ROTF, Terese!
Love the video of Charlie playing handball in the tub. He's adorable. (I just want to reach in there and rub his tummy playfully.) Thanks for sharing the video with us. That's awfully smart of him to take the balls into the tub to play - and humorous that he does it at night when you are trying to sleep.
If you know how to edit video - and I wish I did as I could greatly improve my raccoon videos - that would be a youtube hit if you could speed it up just a smidgen (not so it looks like fast forward or anything) and add some appropriate music. I love it.
I love Charlie's coloring, too. He's a gorgeous cat. It's so great that you were able to rescue him when he needed a home. Looks like that worked out great for both of you.
Eons ago in my younger years, I was a driven, workaholic often working ridiculously long hours to save projects that were behind schedule. Sassy, my prior Maltese dog, was young and energetic back then. During periods when I worked such long hours, I would often come home and go right to sleep, sometimes on the sofa.
One night I was sleeping on the sofa, my back to the room, trying to grab a few hours rest before going back to work when suddenly my sleep was disrupted by this thud and then another and another. I awoke from my slumber to find that Sassy, in the middle of the night, was playing ball with herself, throwing the ball repeatedly against the wall at one end of the couch, catching it, and throwing it again. It was as if she had gotten so frustrated with being alone (while I was at work) and having no one to play with, that she had found a way to play by herself - and was doing it here beside my head to make a point about her frustrations.
Until she got to about 9 or 10, Sassy continued to play by herself this way whenever long hours at work kept me from spending time with her. She did this at such times always playing right beside me and always while I was sleeping soundly only to be awakened by the repetitive thud of the ball or other toy against the wall.
Great video!
Heidi Chronicles: Heidi's BACK!
ROFL, my sister's maltese does the same thing, even when we're around!
Linda,
I've always found that the litterbox idea comes fairly natural to cats. When indoors and in search of a spot of dirt upon which to properly relieve themselves, most will find that container of cat litter and decide it's a decent substitute.
I must agree with you that Casey sounds like he wants to be a pet not a feral. The feral kittens here roll and flop and play on the walkway in front of me, but they are in their own little world when doing this and show no sign of wanting me to interact with them. Despite being quite tame, Kitty, the mom, doesn't really care to be held. Oddly, she seems fine with being carried in my arms but wants to get down again when we reach our destination. She doesn't like to be held when I'm just sitting around. It's as if being carried makes sense to her as it accomplishes something whereas being held doesn't. I pick her up to try to hold her now and again, and she will calmly tolerate this for a few minutes - and then she wants to get down again. I just gather that people didn't hold her a lot when she was young and now it just doesn't make sense to her.
KyWoods,
I wish Widget would learn to do that, too. He can't play by himself even though he has tons of toys. He needs someone to entertain him. Reminds me of my brother who could never play by himself and would whine, "but I don't have anyone to play with" when told to go out and play.
If I hadn't already named that little Precious, I'd name her Tude - short for Attitude. She is too, too much. And that one has the extreme sweet tooth gene. The others all like cookies, but Precious acts like a crack-head in withdrawals. As soon as she arrived she was eying me to size up her chances of getting that next fix. Of course, I made her wait until she ate her 'veggies', but it was a lot like dealing with a toddler.
Before Precious got there, I gave my last 2 eggs out, 1 to Heidi and 1 to the Lt. After "all" that she's been through it only seemed right that the Lt should get that egg tonight. Only this time, she acted like she didn't want it. She left it sitting on the grass nearby while she continued eating her cat food - or maybe she was planning to emulate Heidi by eating it last.
Somewhere during the meal the lighter colored yearling ran over, snatched the Lt's egg off the grass and ran over behind the composter to eat it. Both the Lt and Heidi fussed at her as she ran over to grab the egg, but there was no fighting.
It was maybe only a few minutes after that when Precious (Tude), ran over and snatched Heidi's egg right out from under her nose. Well, not really 'under' her nose. It was more like beside her nose, some 8in away when Precious swooped in and grabbed it and made a successful getaway. Heidi seems to let her get away with a lot and doesn't seem to fuss at her much.
After Heidi left, once again it was just the Lt, Precious, and me. I had already given everyone a 1/2 cookie for dessert, but both of them were clearly waiting around and hoping to get more. Without Heidi around the Lt quickly read Precious the riot act. Basically, Precious was 'required' to stay over there on the other side of the straw bales (which is where her food is anyhow), stay out of the center area where the rest of the family eats, and stay away from me. Any time Precious tried to cross any of the imaginary lines in the sand drawn by the Lt, growling would ensue.
Tonight for the 1st time I could see signs of Precious backing down a bit to avoid attack. She would test the limits now and again, but mostly she seemed to abide by the Lt's rules. The incredible moment of the night came when the Lt finally gave up (on getting more cookies) and walked to the fence to leave. The Lt was standing at the bottom of the fence post about to start climbing when Precious, seeing the other leaving, decided to leave her spot and walk around the area - as most of them do at the end of the night when they browse around nibbling here and there. With everyone gone, it makes sense to check to see if anyone left anything you might want.
The Lt, who was a good 30-40ft away and leaving, heard Precious walking around over there and turned her head around to growl. Precious who by this time was in the center of the buffet area and out in the open, stopped and crouched low. The Lt growled again. Precious tried to slink out of the area, still crouching low, but the Lt immediately turned and ran back at peak speed to give chase forcing Precious back to her spot beyond the straw bales. With Precious back in her assigned spot, the Lt left. I was just quite surprised that the Lt had been so determined to drive Precious away from the central area even when the Lt was clearly leaving anyhow. Power struggles. I guess they are necessary to maintain order, but I've never liked them myself.
I'm with you, Cheryl; not fond of power struggles. I understand that animals (and people) need to make a point now and then to enforce the hierarchy, however informal; but it's a fine line between that and bullying, and bullying makes me crazy.
Hi Ruth,
Oh, I could not agree more! The good news with respect to the power struggle between Precious and the Lt is that unlike Fraidy, Precious doesn't seem to let it keep her down. Tonight was the 1st time I saw her back down - and I was disappointed to see it. Still, she manages to get her share. After all, in the last 2 nights Precious did manage to eat 3 of the 4 available eggs despite the Lt's efforts to stop her. And I only gave her 1 of those eggs. She got the other 2 on her own. When I tally the score, it actually looks like Precious is winning. So far, at least.
Since we've seen in the past (with Fraidy) that the raccoons have a tendency to treat the small ones this way, I'm think Precious is doing pretty well.
>>Precious acts like a crack-head in withdrawals.
wasn't it Dennis that year that just went nuts on sugar too??
Hi Terese,
Oh, yes, Dennis was all about treats especially sweets, and it's interesting you mention Dennis because in some subtle ways Precious is starting to remind me of Dennis. I think it's the thing about acting spoiled, being something of a loner, and doing things to annoy the other siblings all while obsessing over treats.
However, I always figured Dennis was that way in large part because I spoiled her. With Precious, I haven't had time to spoil her. Before they left for winter, she mostly lay around sleeping under Heidi's skirt tail, so I didn't spoil her then. I haven't had the time, resources, or intent to spoil her since they got back - yet she does act a bit spoiled just the same. I've been an extreme tight wad with treats this year both because I need to conserve resources and because I really don't want to go back to the situation where they all congregate up close around me trying to get cookies instead of eating their food. This year, without fail, ever day (if I even take a treat at all), I make sure they eat most of their cat food 1st and then only give out a max of 2-4 cookies divided between all of them. So whereas I did spoil Dennis, I didn't spoil this one.
It's weird though. Most of the raccoons like sweets, but every now and then as with Dennis and now Precious I find one that seems obsessive about them. The other yearlings come to dinner, eat, and behave in a very mature fashion. If I offer them a cookies, they are happy to eat it but don't obsess over it. Precious now arrives and immediately starts hitting me up for a fix. "Got any cookies? Got any cookies? Got any cookies?" She's like a broken record.
Dennis was like that, too. She got to the point where she would hardly eat anything but treats. If I wouldn't give her treats, she would just leave w/o eating. And, of course, she went through the phase of trying to steal the treats. Similar to Dennis, Precious is also wanting to walk around the area instead of sticking to one spot and eating like the others. I'm not sure but think that might be one of the things that annoys the Lt. She seems to be trying to insist that Precious stay put and eat. Precious likes to run around the area and see what she can steal (like the eggs).
Diva also had a sweet tooth but mostly for marshmallows.
Hi Susan,
If you had asked me this before I got to know Kitty and watched her interact with Widget, I would have sworn dogs were far smarter than cats. I think many people believe dogs are smarter simply because dogs are willing to be trained and, for the most part, cats are not. Now, however, I am convinced that you are right and that cats are definitely smarter.
Often there is a yearling like the Lt in Heidi's group in spring, a yearling who takes on the job of 2nd in command. It's hard to say whether this is at Heidi's request or just the idea of the yearling. Some years I see what appears to be interaction on Heidi's part and what looks like indication that she may have chosen the one yearling for that position. I really don't see that so far this year with the Lt, but that doesn't mean it isn't the case.
Bottom line, I haven't a clue whether Heidi saw some special talent in the Lt and elevated her to the position for extra training or whether the Lt just took on the job herself. Since there has been one of these 2nd in Command yearlings in prior years, it doesn't look as though Heidi is necessarily choosing her successor, but she may be willing to give extra training and responsibilities to promising 'students'. One thing I have noticed though is that these 2nd in Cmd types, whether chosen or self appointed tend to be helpful later in the year. Later in the year as the [2nd in Cmd] yearling gets older and better trained, she usually tends to help with security (chasing out intruders and such) when Heidi has young babies to deal with.
It's the kind of thing that even when you have seen it, you still can't believe it. I don't care how many times I see a raccoon take a container of some liquid or semi-liquid in his mouth and carry it around w/o spilling it, the very next time a raccoon approaches such a container and reaches out with his mouth to take hold of it, I just know this one will spill it. They never do.
I was running a little late when I got to the back door and turned on the outside lights to see, surprise, no raccoons at all. I stood there for a minute or so looking out and wondering if I might be too late this time and if they might have left already. Then Heidi came walking up the patio as if to say, "Wait. We're here. We're here."
Tonight, more as an afterthought than anything else, I grabbed the little, single serving container of cinnamon applesauce as I headed out the door. True to the routine they have developed Heidi and the Lt were there along with the [optional] extra adult. Little 'Tude', aka Precious for any who missed my prior postings, showed up later. Both names fit that one for she is easily the most adorable raccoon out there, and she definitely has attitude to spare.
I really hadn't imagined the applesauce a coveted treat at all. Raccoons can be iffy in their attitudes toward apples, so I even doubted that anyone would want the little cup of mushy apples. Also, I wasn't too sure how they would feel about cinnamon. For all these reasons, I didn't give much thought to what to do with the applesauce. Likewise, I also didn't bother to withhold it until after they had eaten their dinner. I just pulled the top off and held it out toward the Lt who walked right up to me and began to lap the sugar laced apples from the tiny container. After she had lapped up most of the liquid from the top, she then took the small plastic container in her mouth. It is at this moment, as I watch a raccoon grasp a container of liquid or near liquid in its mouth to carry it away, that I am always certain the raccoon will spill the contents all along the way - but they never do.
When the raccoon grasps the bowl-like container in its mouth that way, bottom jaw under the bowl, top jaw over the top rim, there are just so many ways the operation could go wrong. The mouth makes contact only with the 2 surfaces: the bottom which rests on the lower jaw, and the top rim onto which the top jaw clamps down. The bulk of the dish along with the weight of the liquid inside lies outside the raccoon's mouth.
If he applies too little pressure with his mouth, the dish will slip from his grasp and plummet to the ground spilling its contents everywhere. Too much pressure, and the bowl will shift, the outer portion flipping upward such that the side of the dish in now held horizontal between upper and lower jaw. Again the contents spill, this time all over his face as well as the ground.
Even if the raccoon manages to apply just enough pressure to keep the dish from slipping downward from his mouth and not too much to flip it upwards, he still has to hold it horizontal and fairly level as he walks across the yard with the dish in his mouth. Even humans with thumbs have some difficulty performing this maneuver without at least sloshing some of the contents out as they walk, yet amazingly, the raccoon always manages to pull this maneuver off with the utmost skill and ease.
The Lt was no exception as she took hold of the little container of applesauce and carried it a distance across the lawn in her mouth. What really surprised me though, was how much she enjoyed the applesauce. She ate ever drop and licked the container spotlessly clean before returning to beg for more. It took me a while to convince her to eat the rest of her cat food. Upon realizing I had no more, she actually went back over to the already spotless container to take a few more licks just in case before finally returning to eat the rest of her dinner.
Worse, as soon as the Lt took off with that little bucket of raccoon gold, Heidi who was eating there at my feet looked up at me stating very clearly her desire to have one, too. Oops. I had been so convinced I would have difficulty giving that applesauce away. It hadn't even occurred to me that Heidi might want it. It had sugar which she, too, loves and apples which apparently made it a pregnancy appropriate food choice. I hadn't even thought about that. I apologized profusely to the frustrated leader promising to bring her one another day and to be more careful in the future.
Later when Precious arrived, she went over there to see if it might be possible to lick some of the remaining scent molecules off of the empty and well cleaned container.
There's an old saying among cat people: dogs are happy to be trained, cats are happy to train you; which is smarter? There are exceptions, of course; our Chow was scary smart, and though very well-trained, every day of his very long life he would test to see if you would reinforce your commands/requests. So of course we had to do so every day, every time for his long life; otherwise, there be dragons. I adored that boy, but he was a real challenge.
Like you, I'm a bit surprised that the applesauce was such a big hit; but hey, it's a reasonably healthy treat.
Hi Ruth,
I'm pretty sure it was the sugar (or corn syrup) that was the real draw. It was sweetened applesauce, which is why I had decided to donate it to the raccoons in the 1st place. The sweetened stuff tends to be 'candy' sweet.
Chows, though beautiful, seem to have that tendency to be challenging. I lack the courage to take on powerful and potentially difficult, large dogs.
Ah yes, some sweetened applesauce is way too sweet; but no doubt very appealing to the sugar addicts at the diner.
Chows have a reputation for being very very difficult and often aggressive. After living with Zeus for many years, I felt that in some ways the rep was overblown, though I did meet some aggressive Chows in the shelter years. The breed was created for guard/protection, and in early Chinese days actually used as food. No surprise that the resulting breed tends to be one- or two-person dogs, very loyal and protective of their family but very wary of strangers. What most people don't realize about Chows is that they are the only dogs who have absolutely no peripheral vision. Their eyes are small and set very close to the nose, then the entire face is surrounded by that huge ruff of fur; the dog quite literally can't see something approaching from its side without turning the head. Small wonder, then, that a dog bred to guard will snap when a hand suddenly appears out of nowhere in front of his face. And because Chows are scary fast as well as scary smart, a quick snap usually draws blood. My shelter staff were rarely bitten by even unfriendly Chows because I taught them to always talk gently while approaching a Chow; otherwise you can't assume the dog knows you're there unless he's looking directly at you. We were very lucky with Zeus, who liked most people at first meeting; but man, his intelligence and stubborn streak were a constant challenge. Given the usual tendency of females to be smarter than the male, I decided a female Chow was more challenge than I'd ever need, lol.
our last dog Rex, was quarter Chow.
I never had any experience with them -- though had heard there was a neighbor who had 2 black ones, not at the same time -- but BOTH of them bite their daughter ... after that, I think they went to Yorkies.
Rex was not a difficult dog... but that very protective to their master thing was him spot on. he HATED males. period. and forget anyone in uniform.... Mail, UPS, FedEx... forget about it. Though he didn't really bite, he'd nip, but in inappropriate spots - and in men- you know exactly where that is.
He was a great family dog though. Jim never worried about us when he was away for days at a time.
What a pretty, sweet-looking dog! I once had a neighbor with two chows, and the female was the sweeter of the two--she was half wolf, too.
Rex does look like a very sweet, family dog.
Years back a friend of mine had 2 purebred chows. That's when I learned what a Chow was. When I went to visit, she always asked me to wait while she either locked them away somewhere or, later as they became more familiar with me, took hold of their halters before I could enter. She always made them stay on the other side of the room (once I had been around enough that she trusted them to be out at all with me there).
I never saw any sign of trouble. They never as much as growled at me, but she warned me that they could 'change' in an instant. She seemed to fear that they would bite me w/o warning if I tried to pet them or if they were allowed to roam freely about the room and I maybe moved the wrong way or something (in retrospect this latter idea hints at what Ruth described although my friend did not describe it in such detail). That, again, was the 1st I'd really heard of Chows and was my 1st indication that they might be fairly difficult dogs.
On the other hand, while growing up I had an unexpected experience with a dog whose breed reputation gave no hint of what was to come. He was an Old English Sheep Dog. I think I probably told you about him before. With the family, he was a huge (pony sized) fluffy kitten. We had no idea that he was terrorizing the neighborhood. When the mailman started pulling into the driveway and blowing the horn for my mom to come out and get the mail, we thought he was just overly afraid of large dogs. It took us a while to realize that our sweet dog was actually, full out threatening the mailman. Later, farmers in the area began to loose chickens and other small animals. Then one day he brought a dead chicken home on the lawn. Then we came home to find our kitten dead. We finally started we had a big problem when we got a 2nd kitten and it turned up dead, too. It seemed our sheep dog had a serious prey drive and was fiercely protective of the family and the property. Although the media doesn't promote this side of the sheep dog (as it does with certain other breeds), I've since learned that these characteristics of the breed (along with good training) are important to the job for which they were bred.
BTW, I found one of the Spicy Micey things outdoors. Poor thing, I hardly recognized it! Something had chewed the whole back half off! Wonder if one of the kittens did it or...was it a wild animal?
Terese, Rex is gorgeous; and the mixed Chows are usually a lot easier to manage than the purebreds, primarily (I suspect) because the lack of peripheral vision doesn't apply. And the aim for the "family jewels" (lol) is actually more typical of German shepherds, which may also have been part of Rex's mix. I always found the males' reactions to that a bit amusing, though of course the targets themselves were NOT amused. Our Zeus wasn't overly concerned about uniforms, probably because I sometimes wore one myself. Cheryl, many if not most Chow owners are unaware that their dogs lack peripheral vision; the breeders don't much discuss it, though I feel they should. Knowing it makes the dog's behavior much easier to understand and predict. When we first got Zeus, we were fostering him while he was treated for heartworm. His coat was in horrid condition, as was his condition in general. We had a groomer give him a "lion cut" (reduced the ruff, clipped him smooth on body and legs and reduced the tail fur) so his coat could get a fresh start as he recovered. We noticed immediately that he became less easily startled and less hand-shy of movement around his head/face. I began reading up on the breed in depth, and discovered that quirk about peripheral vision; suddenly so many things about Chows made so much more sense.
Linda, I've known some cats who "disembowel" the Spicey Micey and also the fake-fur mice that I store in catnip until playtime. I suspect they're looking for more catnip inside; must be quite a disappointment to just find stuffing! For those cat-lovers among us, here's a little video you might enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y
Actually, all of his videos are pretty amusing, and right on target on cat behavior.
>>And the aim for the "family jewels" (lol) is actually more typical of German shepherds,
Good call --- when we got him as a pup... they told us GSD and Husky. Well, the vet took one look at him and said there is Chow in there. He had quite the "mane" as he aged. and he had webbed feet plus a "Lab" head... so that is what we figured he was...
Shepherd, Husky, Lab, Chow.... but he was a grand Boy and we loved him to pieces.
Terese, it's fascinating that Rex only developed the mane as he aged. And that is an awesome mix of breeds; the Lab is perfect to somewhat soften the drive/occasional stubbornness of the other three breeds. Of course Labs can have their own drive, often to see how many tennis balls they can carry in their mouth at one time....
Cheryl, it's sadly true that people expect the Old English Sheepdog to behave like the soft, cuddly stuffed animal he resembles. They were bred to do very difficult and demanding work alone, herding and protecting the flock; and those drives don't just disappear when they become house pets. Knowledgeable and candid dog people put the OES in the same category as other high-drive working breeds: best with experienced owners, early training a must, and they need challenges/responsibilities to occupy their drive to work. Otherwise, like all similar breeds, they will write their own job descriptions, and it's rarely what their family had in mind.
Ruth,
OMG! ROTFLOL, I love that video. I marked it as a fav so I can go back later to view some of his other work. I recall one (of his) that you posted a link to years ago, I believe. That one was cute. This one is off the charts.
I wish I had a video of my Siamese kitten (of years past) FiFi. (The name was the DH's idea. I'm thinking he flunked geometry and international affairs.) I have honestly never before or since seen anything quite like it. When she was a kitten, FiFi, who lived indoors, was much 'wilder' than normal, not feral, just wild as in terms of behavior. The house we lived in was long and narrow. The living room was at one end and the master bedroom was at the other with a long hall running the length of the house connecting them.
FiFi had more destructive energy than could be properly contained in a house. She would suddenly get a wild hair and run up the living room drapes as fast as she could. Horrified at the thought of claw holes in my drapes, I would run across the room yelling for her to get down. This was her cue to run around 3 sides of the room via the drapery rods, jumping from rod to rod at the corners of the room. I'm sure it was just a game to her, but she ran at peak speed as though running for her life. I had no hope of catching her, but I would try. This just fueled the game. When she reached the end of the drapery rod road around the top of the room, she would run back down the drapes and take off down the hall for the bedroom - with me on her tail desperately trying to stop her and too young and naive to realize it was hopeless. In the bedroom, FiFi would hide under the bed. Then when I got down on all fours to try to retrieve her, she would sail out the other side of the bed and take off down the hall once more, headed back for the LR to repeat the game over and over and over. She did eventually outgrow that period in her life and calm down to become a very sweet cat, but as a kitten, she was a terror. She clearly knew I couldn't begin to catch her, and so she pretty much did as she pleased.
I know the cat in the video was chasing a fly, a completely different scenario. That wasn't lost on me. I found the nuances of that scenario both hilarious and true to life. It was just the degree of destruction that reminded me of FiFi's rebellious youth.
As to the sheep dog, he was a disaster waiting to happen from the day mom brought him home. She did so
because he was cute - even as a young puppy he was huge and that made him look rather adorable in a humorous sort of way. Plus we kids were always amazed that he could see past all the hair in his face. We kept him in our 3 acre yard in the country where he roamed free and received no training of any kind, not even to sit. He was supposed to be a family pet. No one had a clue there might be a problem until he grew up and started terrorizing the neighborhood. I filed that under Lessons Learned. In retrospect, it all makes sense now.
Since the raccoons don't do any damage, I like that they come to the back door to wait for me each night. I like it not only because it's cute but also because it allows me to know that they are out there before I go out and thus to avoid having to waste time out there sitting around waiting for them. I go to the back door, turn on the light, see Heidi and whoever, and know it's time to go out. Perfect.
What I didn't know, however, is that Heidi somehow realizes this. Yeah. She does. No kidding. I just figured she came to the door because she was impatient for me to get out there, but a few days ago I learned that she understands more than I give her credit for - again.
From day 1 this year, every time I went to the door and turned on the light, she was out there waiting for me. Then one night a few days ago, I turned on the light to see an empty patio - for a second, followed by the sight of Heidi scurrying out of the shrubs, onto the patio, and up to the door. You could just see that she was in a big hurry as she rushed up to the door. Pregnant and rushing, she reminded me of a fat lady running to catch a bus. Everything about her screamed, "I'm here, I'm here! Wait for me!" as surely as if she were waving a purse in the air as she hurried into view and up to the door.
I had been about 30min late that night. I guess she had tired of waiting at the door and had stepped into the safety of the shrubs beside the patio to wait. Then when she saw the light come on, she had rushed to get to the door, to be seen, before I gave up, turned the light off, and left again - which is what I would have done.
It was that night that I realized...Heidi gets it. She understands that if I see her out there, I will come out. She's pretty smart that Heidi, but I guess you knew that already.
Heidi is getting pretty big now. She sits down a lot to eat, but only for a minute or two at a time. Sometimes she lies down on her belly for a minute or so in that Sphinx position. When she sits and then leans forward to eat, something else she does a lot now, her belly spreads to about 12in across at the hips.
I've been giving them a few peanuts each night and was surprised that Heidi wasn't showing much interest. Some nights she might eat one. Heidi normally likes peanuts, and as they are nutritious they are one of the few treats she will eat while pregnant.
Tonight as I was watching her lying down, sitting down, leaning forward, shifting back and forth, etc I realized that in these slouchy positions she would not be able to use her hands to open the shells. I reached into the bag and pulled out a peanut with the intention of shelling it for her when she suddenly looked up from her meal and stepped forward as though to ask for the peanut. I held it out to her not sure if she would be willing to take it from my hand after all this time.
Heidi reached up to take the peanut. Both of her hands touched and gently clasped mine for a moment. It was so amazing - I don't care if it has happened before! Here she is this no-nonsense, butt kicking, wild raccoon, and yet her two little hands touched mine as gently as one would touch a newborn infant. It was one of those few, rare, and oh, so brief moments when Heidi and I connect in that special way. She clasped my fingers so gently in her velvet lined hands taking care not to let even a single claw touch my skin, not even gently, not even for a fraction of a second. And then our moment was over. She took her peanut and took a step back to her spot to eat it, reverting back to the hardened and pragmatic survivor she is. Such moments with Heidi are rare but very, very special.
Is it just me or does this year seem somehow different (at the buffet) to anyone else? I would expect the crowd to be growing by now. At the very least, I think some of the other yearlings and a few other adults would normally be showing up by now. (Not that I'm complaining, you understand. I would love to see the group drop back down to 06/07 size.)
Actually, the group seems to be shrinking. Precious showed up tonight after missing a few nights. The other adult has been around much lately. Even Heidi's other yearlings don't show up much. Many nights it's just Heidi and the Lt. When others show up, the Lt chases them.
I'm wondering if Heidi and the Lt may be trying to keep the crowd down this year. Maybe Heidi finally tired of the large, raucous crowds that have been out there the last few years. She frequently shows up with those superficial scratches. One night she had 4 short ones. Tonight she had one long one. No blood or scars. The 'scratches' are more like very short lived (one day really) 'parts' in her coat. If Heidi and the Lt are keeping the others away they sure seem to be doing a good job of it - so far, at least.
re- Simon's Cat. I have seen other videos before... they are quite funny. One of my faves is he's trying to sleep and kitty is trying to wake him up, resorting to hitting him in the head with a pan, then fake sleeping.
I LOVE Simon's Cat videos. I just laugh and laugh.
I can't wait to see more of his videos! Terese, I think the one you described is the other one I saw, the one I thought I'd gotten from a link Ruth provided but upon further consideration realize that while I definitely got the link from somewhere on DG, I'm not certain who posted it. That one was cute, too.
On the subject of cats, Kitty has now settled into a morning routine that includes waiting at the back door with Widget. Poor, poor, Widget. He hates it but has no say in the matter. Kitty now sits on the back door facing with him each morning waiting to be let in. When she comes in the backdoor, Kitty just waltzes through the house to the front door where she waits to be let out again.
I imagine it's things like this, coming in the backdoor to walk to the front door and out again, that cause some people to think cats aren't very smart. Actually, this is a smart move on Kitty's part. Every morning, rain or shine, Widget has to go out and he goes out back almost w/o exception. While he's out back, I take food out the front door for the cats - usually. Shortly after Kitty's adoption, however, I went through a very brief period, about a week, during which I went back to bed after taking Widget out and didn't get up again to feed the cats until much later in the day.
Kitty did not appreciate having to wait so long for her breakfast, so now, just to be SURE I feed her before going back to bed (if I'm going to do that), she waits in the backyard in the mornings and takes up residence on the door facing as soon as Widget is let out. That way, she can slip in with him and on her way through the house, she can remind me to feed her, too. It works. Since I have to walk to the front door anyhow to let her out, it's just as easy to go ahead and put her food out there with her - no matter how sleepy and eager to return to bed I may be.
Cats are master trainers! They know exactly what they are doing.
I have been bringing our kitties to the spay neuter clinic. Four down, three to go. Whew!
So true, Catbird!
KyWoods,
Good job. I feel for you. I know just how tiring that process becomes after a while. Just manning the traps is more 'work' than it looks like because you have to keep vigilante all of the time (when set) to see if you've caught anything, release unwanted guests, replace food, reset trap, and repeat. Then when you catch something you have to make 2 trips to the SPCA usually in the early AM. Oh, and then there's the effort to cover the car seat to prevent 'spills'. It definitely gets old after a few days.
I hope you will be able to get the last ones soon. Honestly, though, the last ones are by definition the hardest ones to catch. That's why they are last. When you get close to the end you have to get even more creative to find a solution.
Where do you stand on girls? How many girls left? Are the ones you've caught so far mostly girls, mostly boys, or about even?
Good luck!
Good line, catbird; and so true.
Congrats, KyWoods; and so important to get the spay/neuters done now with warm weather fast approaching.
OMG, Cheryl, a video of you chasing FiFi would have been hysterical! We all did stuff we can't believe in retrospect with our first few pets on our own as adults; fortunately most of us learn the error of our ways as we go along. I'm sure in FiFi's mind that was a really fun game.
I could not get that video link to work.
Could someone please post another Simon video link for me to try.
psst...Cheryl...what about some racoon pics? Huh, huh?? Please, please!! Oh how I would love to see a fat pregnant Heidi. Since you report a smalller group for now at least...well.........
I got the message: '500 Internal server error' when I tried to go to YouTube. I'd guess that you could try again after they have fixed whatever and it will work OK.
edited to say that it is working now ^_^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y
This message was edited Apr 1, 2010 10:57 AM
Good job, Catbird! Cats train us the best they can. Those that have a good human to train, are so fortunate. The rest just do the best they can...it's a very hard life. A neighbor told me another pet had disappeared somewhere in the area. He said there's a brown fox and a javelina that people have seen around here. He's got chickens, and has to protect them the best he can. Oh...the gray kitten occasionally lets me just barely touch her...she's a tough one, but I see her watching me pet and play with Casey. At night the kittens sometimes catch and eat moths. But Casey...I saw him eating birdseed the other day! Weird!
Sheri,
LOL. I had to laugh. You got me there, so last night I took the camera out and got some pics. Here is my best fat Heidi pic.
While I was out there the camera started acting up again - Argh! Caused me to miss some good shots. Not the problem I had before where I had to reboot after every pic. Now I'm having flash problems. Sometimes the flash overexposes the pic. Sometimes it fails to go off at all leaving the pic black - which is how I lost some potentially good shots. I had started to see a hint of this problem just before I sent it in for repair; however, I didn't mention it on my complaint form.
So, anyhow, here is Beach Ball Heidi. I think this looks like a good sized litter. I'm thinking 4, maybe 5.
My, my, her apron is VERY low, as they used to say in days when mentioning pregnancy was a faux pas.
Hi Ruth,
I had never heard that saying before until you used it. Ironic, isn't it, that pregnancy and the miracle of birth should have been a taboo subject? I do recall a time, when my mother was carrying my sister, when pregnant women were expected to wear giant tents in an apparent but failed attempt to conceal their condition. Oddly enough, babies, once they arrive are celebrated as I suspect they were always. Isn't this contradictory? Humans, can be so silly sometimes.
We've come a long way from those days. Seems like the only remaining female condition that one cannot discuss is menopause. I'm on a one woman crusade to change that. Like pregnancy and other female topics, it's a natural part of life. I think it's time we dragged it out of the closet, dusted it off, and talked about it in the sunshine. That said, every time I bring it up, even when talking with women, even with old and dear friends, people cringe and adopt that stunned look. It reminds me of that "Please pass the jelly" commercial, the one where people at the dinner table shriek and gasp in horror when someone commits the unspeakable [imaginary] social faux pas of saying, "Please pass the jelly". (It's an add for Polaner All Fruit.)
I just think we need to de-stigmatize all of these natural circumstances and phases of life so we can talk about them freely and become better educated as individuals and as a society.
That said, I guess her apron is hanging a bit low after all.
These days Madam Heidi reminds me of a beach ball with feet - no legs, just feet. And it's not that easy to find her feet sometimes under all that girth. Just tonight as I watched her eat I was marveling at how wild animals like her carry not 1 but 3-6 or more babies around while climbing trees, traveling miles daily, and still having to fight and run for their lives to avoid predators. And they go through this experience not just a time or two but every year of their adult lives. Their stamina is amazing really.
I hadn't thought about this before I typed the above sentences, but now I wonder if all those pregnancies may also serve to lower the life expectancy of wild raccoons. Since pet raccoons would almost certainly not have a litter every year, this has to figure into the statistics.