If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
Woke up about 6 or so this morning and stumbled out to open up the deck
door so poor Molly the d*g could go out and potty and so cats could go in and out as they wish...at least until I get up for real and turn on the heat. Some short time later, I hear Shane (the youngest, fixed male DMH kitty) making a funny growly noise near the bed. Sounds like an incipient cat fight, so I hiss, tell 'em to knock it off, and close my eyes again. Couple hours later, I hear the noise again and decide it's time to get up anyway, so I hiss at Shane wherever he is, get out of bed and head for the bathroom that's just off our bedroom. Suddenly, there is a great flurry in the corner on the floor near the head of John's side of the bed. I bend down to peer and hot dog, Shane has a 13-striped ground squirrel (aka western version of chipmunk) in the corner under the night stand. QUITE alive, I might add. And extremely annoyed. They squeak when annoyed. I wake John (because this will take more than just ME!), open the door to the hallway all the way, make sure no blankets have edges on the floor (live squirrel in MY bed?? oh no!!! not in MY lifetime! The live mouse and the bunny head were quite enough, thankyouverymuch) finish my business in the bathroom, and return. To discover that the squirrel has escaped to elsewhere in the house. Oh boy! A search! Whee! (not.) Round the corner into the narthex and there are five, count 'em, five cats ranged around, all peering closely at one corner of the room. Shane is the closest, with Jezebel not far away...and she's hissing at anyone else who comes near. (Poor Smokey. Just wanted her breakfast of Fancy Feast!) Apparently the little guy is holed up under the small bookshelf in there. I come up with a plan! We can use the dog's food dish (which was still on the counter from the night before) to capture it, in a modified "spider relocation system". What can we use to slide underneath? Cardboard won't work. Oh yea! There's that piece of veneer that came off the cupboards a while ago...it's thin, and very sturdy. And here's the Swiffer with a nice long handle useful for herding it. Tools are ready. The squirrel is squeaking non-stop from under the shelves. The cats are annoyed that we've moved them. Molly wants to see what's going on, oh boy! Go away, Molly. John's on his knees facing the corner with the dog dish at the ready. I have the Swiffer and am gently trying to herd it. But I can't get a good angle. John takes the Swiffer because he can SEE the darned thing. It's scared to death and doesn't want to move. We manage to scootch it out and get the dog dish over it. We manage to sliiiiiiide the veneer piece under the dish. We manage to pick it all up without losing the squirrel. (OK, JOHN actually does all this, I'm offering assistance by way of commentary and advice...and HEY! I do put away the Swiffer!) The rest is sort of anti-climactic. John takes the assembly down to the yard off the deck and lets the little guy go. We keep the cats inside for a while, to their annoyance (until the Heat God came on). Molly tried to investigate but we called her back. John reported that the little guy had a pretty torn up tail but otherwise seemed to be intact (Shane, ya gotta learn to kill 'em if you're gonna catch 'em.) And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
On Nov 6, 12:41 pm, Phoenix wrote:
I come up with a plan! We can use the dog's food dish (which was still on the counter from the night before) to capture it, in a modified "spider relocation system". What can we use to slide underneath? Cardboard won't work. Oh yea! There's that piece of veneer that came off John's on his knees facing the corner with the dog dish at the ready. I We manage to scootch it out and get the dog dish over it. We manage to sliiiiiiide the veneer piece under the dish. We manage to pick it all up without losing the squirrel. And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) I have tears in my eyes from laughing! Hey, I use that same spider relocation system--see, it works for lots of critters!LOL |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:41:06 -0800, Phoenix wrote:
Woke up about 6 or so this morning and stumbled out to open up the deck door so poor Molly the d*g could go out and potty and so cats could go in and out as they wish...at least until I get up for real and turn on the heat. Some short time later, I hear Shane (the youngest, fixed male DMH kitty) making a funny growly noise near the bed. Sounds like an incipient cat fight, so I hiss, tell 'em to knock it off, and close my eyes again. Couple hours later, I hear the noise again and decide it's time to get up anyway, so I hiss at Shane wherever he is, get out of bed and head for the bathroom that's just off our bedroom. Suddenly, there is a great flurry in the corner on the floor near the head of John's side of the bed. I bend down to peer and hot dog, Shane has a 13-striped ground squirrel (aka western version of chipmunk) in the corner under the night stand. QUITE alive, I might add. And extremely annoyed. They squeak when annoyed. I wake John (because this will take more than just ME!), open the door to the hallway all the way, make sure no blankets have edges on the floor (live squirrel in MY bed?? oh no!!! not in MY lifetime! The live mouse and the bunny head were quite enough, thankyouverymuch) finish my business in the bathroom, and return. To discover that the squirrel has escaped to elsewhere in the house. Oh boy! A search! Whee! (not.) Round the corner into the narthex and there are five, count 'em, five cats ranged around, all peering closely at one corner of the room. Shane is the closest, with Jezebel not far away...and she's hissing at anyone else who comes near. (Poor Smokey. Just wanted her breakfast of Fancy Feast!) Apparently the little guy is holed up under the small bookshelf in there. I come up with a plan! We can use the dog's food dish (which was still on the counter from the night before) to capture it, in a modified "spider relocation system". What can we use to slide underneath? Cardboard won't work. Oh yea! There's that piece of veneer that came off the cupboards a while ago...it's thin, and very sturdy. And here's the Swiffer with a nice long handle useful for herding it. Tools are ready. The squirrel is squeaking non-stop from under the shelves. The cats are annoyed that we've moved them. Molly wants to see what's going on, oh boy! Go away, Molly. John's on his knees facing the corner with the dog dish at the ready. I have the Swiffer and am gently trying to herd it. But I can't get a good angle. John takes the Swiffer because he can SEE the darned thing. It's scared to death and doesn't want to move. We manage to scootch it out and get the dog dish over it. We manage to sliiiiiiide the veneer piece under the dish. We manage to pick it all up without losing the squirrel. (OK, JOHN actually does all this, I'm offering assistance by way of commentary and advice...and HEY! I do put away the Swiffer!) The rest is sort of anti-climactic. John takes the assembly down to the yard off the deck and lets the little guy go. We keep the cats inside for a while, to their annoyance (until the Heat God came on). Molly tried to investigate but we called her back. John reported that the little guy had a pretty torn up tail but otherwise seemed to be intact (Shane, ya gotta learn to kill 'em if you're gonna catch 'em.) And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) Purrs for the little squirrel. MLB |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
Phoenix wrote:
snippage And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) Of course you do! LOL! Thanks for the story. -- Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
On 6 Nov., 20:41, Phoenix wrote:
Woke up about 6 or so this morning and stumbled out to open up the deck door so poor Molly the d*g could go out and potty and so cats could go in and out as they wish...at least until I get up for real and turn on the heat. Some short time later, I hear Shane (the youngest, fixed male DMH kitty) making a funny growly noise near the bed. Sounds like an incipient cat fight, so I hiss, tell 'em to knock it off, and close my eyes again. Couple hours later, I hear the noise again and decide it's time to get up anyway, so I hiss at Shane wherever he is, get out of bed and head for the bathroom that's just off our bedroom. Suddenly, there is a great flurry in the corner on the floor near the head of John's side of the bed. I bend down to peer and hot dog, Shane has a 13-striped ground squirrel (aka western version of chipmunk) in the corner under the night stand. QUITE alive, I might add. And extremely annoyed. They squeak when annoyed. I wake John (because this will take more than just ME!), open the door to the hallway all the way, make sure no blankets have edges on the floor (live squirrel in MY bed?? oh no!!! not in MY lifetime! The live mouse and the bunny head were quite enough, thankyouverymuch) finish my business in the bathroom, and return. To discover that the squirrel has escaped to elsewhere in the house. Oh boy! A search! Whee! (not.) Round the corner into the narthex and there are five, count 'em, five cats ranged around, all peering closely at one corner of the room. Shane is the closest, with Jezebel not far away...and she's hissing at anyone else who comes near. (Poor Smokey. Just wanted her breakfast of Fancy Feast!) Apparently the little guy is holed up under the small bookshelf in there. I come up with a plan! We can use the dog's food dish (which was still on the counter from the night before) to capture it, in a modified "spider relocation system". What can we use to slide underneath? Cardboard won't work. Oh yea! There's that piece of veneer that came off the cupboards a while ago...it's thin, and very sturdy. And here's the Swiffer with a nice long handle useful for herding it. Tools are ready. The squirrel is squeaking non-stop from under the shelves. The cats are annoyed that we've moved them. Molly wants to see what's going on, oh boy! Go away, Molly. John's on his knees facing the corner with the dog dish at the ready. I have the Swiffer and am gently trying to herd it. But I can't get a good angle. John takes the Swiffer because he can SEE the darned thing. It's scared to death and doesn't want to move. We manage to scootch it out and get the dog dish over it. We manage to sliiiiiiide the veneer piece under the dish. We manage to pick it all up without losing the squirrel. (OK, JOHN actually does all this, I'm offering assistance by way of commentary and advice...and HEY! I do put away the Swiffer!) The rest is sort of anti-climactic. John takes the assembly down to the yard off the deck and lets the little guy go. We keep the cats inside for a while, to their annoyance (until the Heat God came on). Molly tried to investigate but we called her back. John reported that the little guy had a pretty torn up tail but otherwise seemed to be intact (Shane, ya gotta learn to kill 'em if you're gonna catch 'em.) And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) Hey, that was funny. Reminds me of the humdrum when my Lizzie brings in a life mouse (she tends to do that) and all the other cats are cormering the poor thing. What have I moved furniture through the last years. And saved mouse- lives.g One night Lizzie dropped a mouse on the living-room carpet and the little bugger was so stunned that it stayed there long enough to put my hand over it. While I then was running to the front door to let her out she regained her senses and thankfully bit me deep in my thumb. So, I have been bitten during my life by 1 dog, 2 cats and 1 mouse.lol |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
Phoenix wrote: (big fat riotous snip)
And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) OY!!! I am at this moment losing control of my bodily functions, I am laughing so hard, and I thank you! Blessed be, Baha -- Message posted via http://www.catkb.com |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
Phoenix wrote:
Woke up about 6 or so this morning and stumbled out to open up the deck door so poor Molly the d*g could go out and potty and so cats could go in and out as they wish...at least until I get up for real and turn on the heat. Some short time later, I hear Shane (the youngest, fixed male DMH kitty) making a funny growly noise near the bed. Uh oh... you know, my very first thought when I read this was that Shane had caught something and had it near your bed. The tip-off? Where you said he was "...making a funny growly noise". In my house, this always means that prey has been caught. Actually, this doesn't happen *in* the house, because Smudge is the only one who catches anything bigger than a bug, and that's always outside. But when I hear that "funny" meow, I know to look twice before opening the door. Great story. Great writing, too! Joyce |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
The joys of cat ownership, chapter 4,724
Baha via CatKB.com wrote:
Phoenix wrote: (big fat riotous snip) And we have cats because........? Because we WUV dem. Even with all this mishegas. :-) OY!!! I am at this moment losing control of my bodily functions, I am laughing so hard, and I thank you! Ah. My work here is done. Deborah g |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Pet Ownership is Killing through Kindness | Anonymous[_2_] | Cat anecdotes | 109 | September 12th 07 03:54 PM |
The Toes Report, the Final Chapter | FurrsomeFoursome | Cat community | 26 | January 2nd 06 06:26 AM |
Attenshun! Caliban calling Chapter 05 of HK! | Marina | Cat anecdotes | 5 | October 7th 05 07:40 PM |
Cat Addiction: Chapter 199 | Brian Link | Cat health & behaviour | 7 | March 3rd 05 06:04 PM |
My cat ownership experience - what a drama | Kuisse0002 | Cat health & behaviour | 14 | February 1st 04 05:22 PM |