More From the Opossum

This fellow just will not give up! I'm seriously considering one of the ideas presented in my earlier hyperlink that involved a trap and a 20 mile forced relocation of the critter.

I have not been leaving much kitty food out past dark to discourage future opossum visitation to kittyland, but as you can imagine this is not very popular with the kitties. I have increased can food feedings at night because I know they will eat it all up quick but the kitties still seem quite partial to midnight nibbling. Unfortunately so does Mr. Opossum.

In fact Opossum may visit just after dusk or anytime right up to dawn. And he'll often make the rounds several times a night - just in case he missed some I guess.

I have tried to remember to bring in the food dish at evening unless there's not much in it but I'm human and sometimes I forget. Besides when I do the kitties give me mean looks like they're thinking "So what did we do wrong?" Seriously! Once or twice Brownie has taken a swipe at Blackie or Hairy during the extraction of the bowl as if it were their fault I was bringing the dish in. LOL

I tried putting the food dish up on the plastic storage boxes in the carport, knowing the cats can jump that high. Apparently so can opossum. I knew they could climb but I didn't know they could also jump. It seems they can! Or at least that high.

I fed the kitties 3 extra cans just overnight because I could see them on the security cams looking longingly at the spot where the food dish resides during the day, but this is getting sort of expensive. It might be cheaper to just go ahead and let the opossum steal a little kitty food. My worry about setting a trap is that curiosity may get the cat and not the opossum.

One side story. After the 2nd can I was resolved - no more food until dawn. But I noticed Blackie had been drinking quite a bit of water so I went out to refill the water bowl. In bolted Hairy before I knew what had hit me. She made a mad dash to the kitchen, sat in front of the cabinets, and meowed loudly while looking up at the correct cabinet door to the canned food.

Of course I gave in. As I began opening the can she was overjoyed and dancing in kitty circles. As I carried the can outside I don't know how many times she got in my way, perhaps hoping I would just give in and set the can down immediately. She followed me outside, which she almost never does voluntarily once she gets in to the house.

As I opened the door Blackie and Brownie were already seated at the dining spot and getting very excited and a trio chorus of meow, meow, meow ensued as Hairy joined in. As always, in less than 2 minutes it was all gone and they took turns licking the empty plate.

Some time afterwards I caught Mr. Opossum sneaking up but when he saw there was no food to be had he just turned sadly and slowly made his way to the house next door.

Blackie's New Life

When I first began this blog in the description I had this line in the description: "I believe it will be a while yet before I have to grapple with the sad subject of his impending departure from this world due to illness, but hopefully I will have many cat tales to impart before then so that he won't leave this earth unknown and forgotten." But things have now thankfully changed for the better! So those words are now removed.

I'm not sure if it's all the extra attention, or the extra feedings, or divine intervention but Blackie is looking better and gaining more body fat by the day. He's still an older cat of course. No idea just how old. But despite the broken paw he's got his spring back in his step again. I've also noticed he stays pretty close to my home, although he has for some reason picked up a nasty habit of visiting the house next door by going out my drive, on to the street, then back up to the drive of the neighbor's house. There are now also occasions of just sitting in the road which I think is more curiosity than a death wish, especially since one end of the road is closed now for a sewer project and there is hardly any traffic at night compared to normal. Still a bit concerning. But if I open my door he usually comes running to see me.

So for now I am just glad Blackie is feeling much better and that for another day all is well in kittyland.

Hairy The Houdini

I had trouble sleeping last night and kept waking about every hour so I decided to just stay up and do some work from the computer. I saw Hairy on the monitor sitting by the front door so I decided to let her come in, which she of course was eager to do. After a quick snack in the kitchen she curled up on my jeans on the floor and used my shoes for a pillow, as she often does. She laid like that for hours, occasionally looking up as I would go to the kitchen.

But when I took a bathroom break there was Hairy at the door as I exited and she was wanting to go in and have a look around. After a few mews, which are sort of faint meows, and a sad look of disappointment she realized I wasn't going to oblige her so she curled up by the door as if to take a nap. But by the time I had sat back down at my computer she was gone. Vanished! I really need to put a bell on her so I know when she's on the move.

Well I wasn't terribly worried. All the same I looked not only in all her usual spots but in every possible spot and still no Hairy. So I gave up and when back to my work. But come the next kitchen break there followed Hairy looking up at me, then up at the cabinet with the canned food, and then came another faint mew to tell me "feed the kitty." Well I was making something for myself so it seemed only fair. She won't over eat so I opened a can and gave her first shot. Later I brought the leftovers out to Blackie & Brownie who were equally grateful.

After a while I decided to watch something I had recorded on my Tivo. I love having shows available when I have time to watch and not when they happen to air. So I thought Hairy would just sit in my lap and purr as she nodded off to another nap. Not this time. First she sat with front paws on my chest, slobbering, and for some reason restless. She never did get still. Then she just started climbing up, apparently to escape me, get to the top of the recliner, and probably off to that secret hiding spot I suppose. Either way something seemed to be on her mind.

By that time I was finally getting sleepy and decided it was time for Hairy to go so I could go back to bed. She really didn't want to go. She just kept purring and resisting my efforts to rise from the chair. And as I finally made my way to the door she just looked up with one of those sad looks and gave me a mew as if to say she really didn't want to go. But she had to go because while Hairy might think she's ready for the house life the house is not ready for Hairy. Still too many things kitty could get into that could cause her harm and also no good spot for a liter box off hand.

Lately the other kitties seem to be a bit jealous of Hairy's visits. Brownie has even taken a swipe or two at her over it, but Brownie is most definitely not a house kitty anyway. He's too much of a free spirit, to put it mildly. But Blackie just looks on, as if with a longing for look. But neither he or Brownie really like me to pick them up very often so they might not be so willing to call it a night when it was time to go. But who knows. Their day for a house visit may yet come.

Harry Houdini

About Free Sample Sites

I have included hyperlinks to some free sample websites which I visit myself and have found valuable. Just consider it a nice perk for being a friend of Blackie and his kitty friends. LOL

Why am I taking time to mention this? Quite simply because I got tired of running in to all the rip off pretend freebie sites that just want to harvest your contact info. Had I not come across a free offer or at least a nice discount coupon I would not have been aware of some of the better pet food products out there. For example all 3 kitties like The Good Life Recipe and Iams Premium Protection but I would have never tried either without some incentive to do so. The Iams offer is for a free 2.2 pound bag but Iams is sort of expensive to just buy it to try it.

On a side note, this week both Wal*Mart and Publics have a canned 4 pack of 9 Lives for $1 and it comes in at least 3 varieties. Oddly, these do not have the pull top and I had to dig up the old can opener but the kitties just love this stuff! The current one they're getting is Tuna Select with "Flakes of Real Tuna & Egg Bits" 95% Real Tuna. While this is basically a cake it is very loosely caked. I really should buy a case of this while it's on sale.

I am new to the MySavings site but it seems to take you right to the manufacturer's website for most better deals.

On the DealCatcher site at the top of the page click on Forums and then choose Free Stuff. Obviously some deals are better than others.

Start Sampling is not quite as good as it used to be and you have to be watchful about some of the offers, but overall it still deserves a mention as one resource to touch base with from time to time.

Another good site for freebies is Wal*Mart Note that the freebies do not display if you're using FireFox with Adblocker installed. Just turn off AdBlocker before you go to the page if you use it.

Another nice freebie site is for software. In the top right corner of the page is the free program of the day offer (can be anything from games to video editing software) and comes with a legit license, but no support. So install at your own risk. Giveaway of the Day

ENJOY!

Return of the Opossum

My goodness that guy is very persistent! It was 3 AM and I heard the plastic food bowl rolling around in the car port. I had left a little food in the dish because I had run out of can food. After hearing the ringing sound of the bowl I looked to the camera monitor and there was the old Opossum.

So what did I do? I had just seen a TV series episode of "Bones" (not a show for young kids, of course)where the main characters confronted an Opossum. I learned that just clapping your hands would cause one to scurry off. Sure enough it worked like a charm.

Blackie looked at me like why did it take me so long to chase him off and I told him why didn't he tell me the critter had come to steal his food. Once I said "food" here came Hairy out from under the truck looking for the food she though I had in hand after saying the magic word. LOL

I saw Brownie off and on earlier as he would jump up on the plastic box and then get restless and head out again on patrol.

This all got me to thinking of something I heard on a Christian TV show just an hour before. Don't worry, I'm not really getting preachy here. But the man said that God made a covenant with the animals after the Flood (as in Noah's Ark fame) so that the animals would for the most part leave mankind alone. He cited an old Alfred Hitchcock horror movie about birds attacking people might saying such a story might be more reality than fiction without such a covenant. Of course if your family doesn't really believe in the Christian Bible that's ok. But I kind of wonder how your own beliefs account for this healthy respect for the most part for people by the animal kingdom.


Alfred Hitchcock

The Birds

The Slow Days of Summer

As most of the country prepares for it's first frosty days the kitty friends can hardly wait for the Fall cooling so that the temps will only be like 83 degrees instead of 93 degrees. Me too! I have much yard work to catch up on but it's just been way too hot. It seems like I can only work for about 15 - 30 minutes before I start feeling dizzy sometimes and have to call it a day.

Opossum update:

So I thought I was through with him. One night I heard what sounded like 3 gun shots and thought someone had tried to take matters into their own hands to be rid of Mr. Opossum but it seems that wasn't the case. So I again began bringing the hard food in at night and provided an extra feeding of can food knowing it would quickly be eaten and I would just left water out overnight. On a side note it seems I have to constantly dump out the water and clean the water bowls because mosquitoes have started to try to breed in them. It only takes 3 inches of water for mosquitoes to breed, after all, which is why city officials want you to take special note of standing water during bug breeding seasons.

Anyway, so the last time I saw Mr. Opossum was when I was returning home one evening just after sunset and there he was. But apparently the bright headlights from my truck was enough to scare him away. Ha! Had I known that would work I had a bright flashlight that I could have tried on him. I hear they also don't like loud noises but if you scare them they just drop down and pretend to be dead, which is where we get the figure of speech "Playing Opossum," or "Playing Possum." Actually in the Americas we have Opossums but many folks just like calling them possums anyway.

Blackie's on the move! Seriously. The more I feed him the stronger he seems to be getting. He is no longer skin and bones and even his meows are getting better. Even as late as last week sometimes he would try one of those low meows that means he meant business about getting fed but nothing would come out of his mouth. This morning the sound was there, though faint. But his regular "come and pet me and oh by the way feed me too" meow is doing just fine as always. Almost every time he sees me he walks over to me and after I pet him a little he goes straight to the food dish or to the door if I had brought the dish inside. He has such an appetite!

Also, it seems Blackie is going back on the prowl at night. I saw him the other night make a spot between some flowers and a landscape light waiting for an ill-fated mouse to dare show his whiskers around his territory while he was on the job.

I have been letting Hairy come in more often. Well not that I have much choice sometimes. She just loves sitting in my lap as we watch TV. The only bad part is trying to put her down to go to the kitchen or the bathroom. She gets so comfy she doesn't want to be moved. But as they say, "Duty calls!" LOL

Brownie has been his typical free spirit self, although lately he has been sleeping more often on the plastic box by the door. No doubt he doesn't want to miss out on a possible midnight hug or the sometimes bonus feedings.

So all is well here in kittyland this day. Hope all is well with you and yours also.

Oh No!

Last evening as I was watching TV I noticed on of the kitties was headed out into the yard. They do that at night sometimes. But then he kept going and just going on towards the road. Before I could get to the door to stop him he was in the road and then out of sight. Then came the headlights of an oncoming car in the lane.

But not to worry! Here came Brownie running back full speed like a blur. All was well. I am guessing that because the grass was still we from the earlier rains he just didn't want to get wet on his way for a visit next door. I had a sigh of relief and went out and welcomed his safe return.

Then just moments ago came an unwelcome visitor. An opossum! Brownie was on a box by the door, Blackie was in the driveway, and Hairy was far away from the action sitting in the brown chair. And of course this possum did not have a fancy for the old, crappy, cheap kitty food. Oh no. Now that I might have tolerated as a one time thing but I wouldn't want it to become a habit. I have enough mouths to feed already, thank you very much. Instead he was going after the good stuff, which oddly enough is named Good Life recipe.

Not that I am much of a possum fan anyway, much less one in the wild, I opened the door in expectation of scaring him off, as had worked many times before. Except it didn't. It didn't work at all. Mr Opossum was not one bit deterred. I didn't know what to do. I don't like to mess around with strange wild creatures much. Who needs the rabies shots if you would get bit by one? Yuck. So I found an old mop and used that to push it away from the food dish while I stayed inside the house by the protection of the door which I had ready to close very quickly if need be.

So this finally persuaded the opossum to walk away towards next door and hopefully far away from here. But peace only lasted for a short while. Then he came back and we went at it again. And then later a third time, only now he simply refused to go. The only thing I could think of was to get a glass of water and toss the water at him and hope he would go away. Well it worked. But not without yet more prodding from the smelly old mop.

Now you might be wondering where the kitty friends were during all of this. Right where they were when it all started is where. They hadn't moved. After possum was gone and it was all clear Brownie the Enforcer hopped off of the box he was sitting on to inspect the area. He wasn't too pleased by all the water around the dishes and apparently he had gotten a little wet himself. So I moved the food and water dishes to a dry spot near the door. The kitties then meowed approval and took turns at the water and food dishes now that the hungry opossum was long gone and all was once again peaceful in kittyland. I then wished them a good night and sweet kitty dreams.




EPILOGUE: Looks like Mr Opossum just won't take no for an answer and later made a return visit after all. Oh well, what can you do?




Opossum

Getting rid of Opossums As I will write about later just clapping your hands or shining a bright light on them may make them leave for a while, but they tend to return if you have a food source they fancy.

He's Back Safe & Sound

When the rain stopped here came Blackie! Notice he's right back at a water dish after his long 50 foot trek from next door. LOL


A few minutes later he was back to doing what he seems to like best.

The Gasp

I went out to get the mail this afternoon and there were Hairy coming up to greet me. Blackie had moved to a new spot in front of the carport door. But what I saw next still has me concerned.

Blackie was panting, almost like a dog pants. Granted it was 92 degrees but Hairy with all that hair was not panting. Besides a cool breeze blowing through the carport which is shaded makes it much more tolerable than you might think looking just at the thermometer. Perhaps that's why Blackie chose the coolest spot, which was by the door.

Blackie got up and with weak meows started walking towards me. At this point I begin to be more concerned. I went back into the house to get water to top off his preferred water bowl and he started drinking. Well at least that would seem to be a good sign. As I walked towards the mailbox I noticed that my once very green lawn from even two days ago seemed to be struggling for water. I then pondered what to do for Blackie. Unlike Hairy he's shown little interest in coming inside the house. I would have let him stay in the utility room in back but that wouldn't have worked because it is directly in the sun and is not air conditioned anyway. The only thing I could think of is for it to rain so the temperature would come down some so I said a little prayer for rain.

Low and behold within an hour it DID begin to rain! And not a heavy Florida semi tropical heavy downpour with thunder and lightning in abundance. Just a nice, cool, gentle rain, the kind that the grass and flowers really appreciate. So I went outside to check on Blackie but there were no kitties in sight.

I don't know exactly why but when it rains, especially a hard rain with a lot of noise and flashing, the kitty friends usually run off next door to the carport of the man who goes to work early. All I can figure is it is because he has a wall along the side of his carport so that only one side is open from ground level and it makes them feel safer.

Then suddenly here came Hairy trotting up, having braved the rain and all soaking wet to make a plea to come inside for a visit. I refused because like I said she was soaking wet. So she just camped out by the front door where she is even now. I'll probably let her in when her fur drys because who really wants a soaking wet cat on their lap?

I can't wait to see Blackie and make sure he is feeling better. I might have to trot next door myself just to make sure the panting has stopped. But knowing him he will either just look at me like I was crazy for worrying and that he was not to be disturbed or will follow me back and demand a can of food. I gladly would have opened a can earlier but I was afraid he would just be sick because of the heat.

Then Comes the Dawn

It is now about an hour before sunrise.The kitty friends seemed to be enforcing their boycott and were staying off camera but I figured I would venture out and have a look see before taking a short nap myself while there's still time left.

As I opened the door here came Hairy strolling up with her meow calling me to come pick her up. I knew at least she would not hold a grudge for very long. Then here came Blackie, still without a sound for me. He sat down politely in front of me and just looked up. I asked if he wanted to eat. Still not a word but it sure got Hairy (who was of course now in my arms purring away) all excited. So I went inside and brought out a can of 9 Lives beef chunks. I figured Brownie would soon be along when I popped the top of the can.

Sure enough here came Brownie. He walked over to the dish of cheap kitty food that only the roving duck family, who I haven't seen for a few days now, will eat. Suddenly Brownie jumped 2 feet into the air. I don't know why. There were a few black ants in the carport (they were probably just coming in from the night shift) so I suppose some of their friends might have been working in the dish and it scared him. How funny that Brownie the Enforcer would be scared of such a little thing. Sort of like great big elephants and their fear of the little mice.

So as soon as I popped the top on the can I got the 1st words out of Blackie. Kind of weak meows for him but I figure maybe he wasn't quite awake yet. When you get old sometimes it takes a while, you know.

As always in a flash all the can food was gone. No surprise there. All the cats are gone as well. No surprise there either as they often will do that. Yep. All gone except for Blackie's rear legs and tail on camera #2 as he lays there in the driveway.

So it's again all silent in kittyland. Awaiting the sunrise in just a few more moments when the neighbor who goes to work early will come out and the kitty friends will hightail it over there to make a passionate plea for a little contribution from him to their breakfast bowels.

And Then it Happened - Silence

It was actually a few moments ago. About 3 AM local time. I hadn't seen the kitties on the web cams very much today except for occasional glimpses of Blackie getting a drink or a hard food snack. After the morning offering of can food yesterday they all kind of went to off camera spots.

I have a dehumidifier that I've never gotten around to installing a drain hose on so that I wouldn't have to keep draining the bucket. It's Florida. It gets humid, sometimes even at night, especially when I'm not running the air conditioner. I was just thinking of going out to see the kitties when I heard the beep, beep, beep of the audible bucket full alert.

I detached the bucket, grabbed the handle, and opened the front door and there it was - dead silence. Not even a cricket was chirping. Then came the sudden crisp snap of the bug zapper. I looked around for the kitties usual hiding spots. I could see Hairy's legs under the truck but he didn't stir. That's so unlike her. She usually comes running up to me every time I go out unless she's on one of the boxes by the door the brown chair.

I proceeded to dump the water onto the lawn. Hey, it's free water! In Florida fresh water's not so cheap. Plus there's that whole conservation thing. So it's like free water just hanging around in the air waiting for something to do besides make me feel miserable.

As I returned to the door there was Blackie strolling up. I guess he was nested down in the grass somewhere. After all, it's not so easy to see a generally all black cat at 3 AM. But what surprised me is he didn't let out a peep. Not the whole time. That's so unlike him! He stopped, sat down on 2 legs and did nothing. Nothing at all. I grabbed the bag of hard food by the door to refill the hard food dish. Still not a sound from Blackie. Then Hairy came strolling up and she too was silent. Meanwhile Brownie was nowhere to be seen. It was becoming quite clear by now that I was getting the silent treatment.

So I scratched Blackie behind the ears and gave Hairy a little petting. Hairy just sat down on all fours like a little lamb and Blackie slowly walked over to the food dish and began eating at a leisurely pace. It was now all now quite certain in my mind that either one of the neighbors must have filled their tummies fairly recently or else this was payback for spending so much time indoors yesterday.

As I turned to go back in there was another snap of the bug zapper. "One less pesky mosquito I hope," I thought to myself. Aside from that was all silence still. I wonder how long I'm going to be punished?

Hairy the House Cat Vol 2

Yesterday Hairy was wanting in again and I told her maybe later as I was busy and couldn't keep an eye on her. So later when I called her by name she came running - right past my waiting arms, in through the door, and straight to the couch for a good paw rubbing.

So after she settled down I put a show on the Tivo and waited for Hairy to come sit by me like she did before. Except she didn't. About 20 minutes later I heard this crashing sound. It seems Hairy had taken a fancy to making a spot in the top shelf of a bookcase (which is attached to the wall and looks more like a wooden mini bar) and a few small items were in her way. I think part of what made it so appealing is I had taped newspaper over the front because I had been painting and obviously covering it was much easier than moving it. But it had effectively created a nice "hiding spot," which is all Hairy had in mind. Or maybe the A/C made it a bit too chilly for her and it was a warm spot, as the daily outdoor temps are still in the mid 90s. So maybe the temperature difference was a bit much for her. That's something that had never occurred to me before because with all that hair you'd think she'd love to be in the cool for a while.

So I went back to the show. Ten minutes I heard a 2nd crash. This time she was on top of the bookshelf and some small insignificant items were crashing down. There were too many things to clear off including my stack of bills and outgoing mail so I couldn't let her stay there, but she didn't really want to go. As I went to pick her up she meowed as if to say, "What did I do? I like it up here!" But I opened her a can of food and when she ate her fill took her and the remnants outside. Blackie (whom had been hiding out between the trash can and the litter box) came running at full speed meowing the whole way. Brownie strolled up from his patrol duties and was actually more interested in a hug and some quality head & ear scratching until I showed him the portion I had set aside for him.

Afterwards Blackie was on top of the world! So much so that he hopped up on top of the car and stretched out like an old guy after Thanksgiving turkey dinner. He didn't move from there for hours. Well actually I guess he is an old guy at that. I wonder if he likes football too? But I'm pretty sure his sport of choice would instead be rats in a maze. And if he happened to be the peril consequence for choosing the wrong path then all the better. Just call him "Blackie the Minator" for competitive purposes. LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur

NOTE: You will have to copy & paste the link in to your browser's address bar because I can't seem to get it to work as a hyperlink. Sorry.

Hope you enjoyed the reference to ancient Greek mythology. LOL

Hairy the House Cat

Well Hairy snuck in twice yesterday. No big deal. In fact she seems to be liking the indoor life a bit more now. She's not quite as curious and not seeking out a hiding spot as much, although she still has fits to get into the bedrooms, trying everything to get the doors open. Of course the first thing she usually does when she gets in still is rubbing her declawed paws over all the cloth furniture as if to sharpen her claws and if you try to stop her you get a little "love nibble" to the hand.

I was watching TV and she sat down beside the Lazyboy I was in and washed herself for like a half hour. Then she saw my shoes and jeans lying on the floor and curled up on the pants leg, using the shores as a pillow. Well ok I guess it's a guy thing but I tend to wear gym shorts in the house and wasn't in a hurry to toss the jeans in the hamper. She might have laid there all night if I had let her.

After a while I saw Blackie on camera #2 laying out in the driveway looking all lonely. I guess Brownie was out on the prowl. So I went to the cabnet and pulled out a can of Rival chicken flavor that I got from Big Lots for $.35. I like to get it sometimes I guess partly because the kitty on the can looks like Hairy. Unfortunately it's the one brand that Brownie so far just will not eat. To each their own, I guess.

So I emptied the can on to a paper plate and Hairy ate maybe about 1/4 of it. She won't eat a whole lot at one time, unlike Blackie who will eat just every last bite and demand more. Seriously! You could give him his own can and practically before you can get to the door sometimes the plate is clean and he will lift his broken paw towards the empty plate and look up at you with sad eyes as if to say "More please." And you just hate to say no, but everything in moderation, you know. So Blackie got Hairy's leftovers but he didn't care, of course. He just loves can food. If he won't eat it just toss it out! It must be spoiled.

You know, this is getting kind of expensive. In addition to dry food they prefer to have at least 3 cans a day between them, which I guess for 3 cats that's not an awful amount of food but even at 3/$1 that's like $30 a month alone. So much for delivered pizza for me I suppose. LOL

I tried something the other day after I made some chicken soup. I admit it. I like to eat the noodles dipped onto a cracker and deal with the juice later. So I had all this chicken broth and wanted to try something different. I figured there's no good reason why a cat can't eat it so I dumped most of the broth into a bowl for the kitties. Well Blackie is the only one who would even touch it but he loved it!

In case you're wondering I had a little bit left from my bowl and I decided to cook up some pasta noodles and then after draining I mixed in the remaining broth and sprinkled with grated parmasian. Not bad at all! I was going to put some Ragu or something in the bowl but it wasn't necessary. Some chicken bits and a few veggies like steamed broccoli might have been nice though.

The One Upside of Hurricanes

The weather is a bit more pleasant right now thanks in no small part to the 3 additional storms headed this general direction. The local weatherman says it's like planes lined up coming in for a landing. It seems to have cooled things off just a tad and will bring us some rain that in other years has been in very short supply. Blackie & friends don't really mind the rains. After all they hang out in a carport most of the day or under a car. Yep! They will sit under a car sometimes even when it's raining despite getting soaked as water streams along. But it's the lightning, thunder, and high winds that they could easily do without. Well me too, I guess. LOL



The duck friends came by yesterday for a snack. After they cleaned out the food dishes I had to head down to the store for more food. And did the kitty friends ever appreciate it! Along with their Good Life dry food I picked up a can of 9 Lives flaked Tuna & Egg. The little honeys practically inhaled it. It was all gone before I even had a chance to refill the water dishes.

Hairy snuck in twice when I was coming out to check on them. The way she was looking around I think she must believe I have all kinds of can food just sitting on the floor waiting with the top already off or something. I made the mistake of once showing her where I keep it and she will often look up at the cabnet, then over at the plate on the floor where I leave a little dry food for her visits, then up at me as if to say, "So when's dinner?"

It's about noon local time and the crickets are chirping like crazy. That often means weather is coming so I am off to check on the friends. Later!

Slow Day

Nothing much to say about yesterday. It's Sept 2 just after midnight local time as I write. Just another slow, hot, late summer South Florida day that happened to also be Labor Day. Although one could argue that almost every day is a holiday for Blackie & friends.

As a side note, from what is being reported the damage from Hurricane Gustav was minimal. Never underestimate the power of prayer! We can be thankful for that and that the evacuees were allowed to bring their animal friends with them as nearly 2 million people wisely chose to be out of harm's way entirely. Unfortunately Hannah and yet a third storm Ike are waiting in the wings.

Tonight Blackie is sleeping in one of his usual spots, which is between a plastic trash can and the litter box in the carport. Two of his other favorite spots are under the pickup (a few times I actually found him sleeping on top of the passenger side front tire) and on the roof of my old car. Brownie sometimes likes to sleep on the cab of the truck while Hairy has been on occasion partial to the hood. What's with these cats & cars? I guess they just like to be perched high for a better view and above most annoyances. But with the warm weather, even at night, they haven't been as inclined to climb.

Brownie is out on the prowl at the moment. Sometimes he likes to sleep in the yard while at other times he prefers to either be under the truck or on top of a Rubbermaid box I store yard supplies in. Hairy lays in one of several spots but half the time makes a generic plastic box made of recycled materials her bed (which is where she is now), although of late she has also been spotted in a padded brown chair.

One revelation about Hairy is that she has been declawed. Who would turn her out defenseless like that? But who am I to judge. I have no idea how she came to be an outdoor cat but she seems to like outdoor life a bit more than the confines of indoor living. She likes to bolt in the door at times, especially when my hands are full and can't stop her, and come visit a spell. The others seem to have little interest in an indoor visit. So far every time she gets in she makes a dash for the kitchen looking for food, then a quick run around the house, then trys to get into the bedrooms and bathroom for the smells, then proceeds to try to claw all the cloth furnature. Humm. Perhaps this explains the declawing. LOL

Another reason I prefer to let the cats remain outdoor friends is because I travel out of town frequently, though not as often with the current air fares. They still get enough to eat from the neighbors and besides technically they aren't actually my cats, though I suspect Hairy wants to be. Of course does anybody truly OWN a kitty? In fact they mostly take care of themselves. They really only ask of me some attention, some quality petting and scratching (especially on the nose and behind the ears), and oh yea some food treats.

So thankfully another slow night. No visitors such as the opossum have been spotted. But the night is still young for the night walkers and crawlers.

Visitor Photos

I just uploaded a few snapshots from the home security cam footage to give you some idea of the characters I will be talking about. In case you can't tell those are 3 ducks. You can click on the photos and zoom the image. Hopefully I'll get lucky enough to snap some better images with my digital camera, although as noted Brownie isn't much into fame or fortune. LOL

Introduction

These are the tales of Blackie the cat. He may not be long for this world due to unknown illness. But all said & done he's been a pretty good acquaintance in the short time I've known him.

His runnin' buds, Hairy & Brownie are as different as night and day in attitude and likes but they too have that hard to turn away charm.

All 3 are basically outdoor strays. A neighbor had mainly been feeding them when we first met. Blackie looks remarkably like the cat the neighbor across the street used to have, except now he has a broken paw and he is ever more becoming just skin and bones except for his oversized tummy section which I accept partial blame for. Yet in my unlearned opinion it is this hump of overfeeding that's probably kept him alive this long.

He never strays far from home, none of the 3 do really. At most they will visit the same side of the street neighbors in search of an extra scrap of a snack or an ill-fated mouse. They could care less about ducks, dogs, or opossums as long as their personal space is respected. But they each have their own ways of dealing with possible dangerous encounters. For example despite being declawed Hairy has been known to make her way to the roof of the house!

So for tonight we will leave it there as I work on uploading a picture of Blackie so that you will see who I'm talking about.