Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within meaningless drivel Search permies
Advance search Google search
Register / Login
Berm shed Gardening Playing Cards Tour of Wheaton Labs Movie, hosted by Paul Wheaton Sepp Holzer 3 in 1 Documentaries raised beds and terraces Online permaculture desi video
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
Gardening playing cards kickstarter Permaculture bootcamp with people wielding tools benefits of pie Permies Book Reviews Full online Permaculture Design course and Appropriate Technology Course video Rocket Mass Heaters
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • r ranson
  • Timothy Norton
  • Jay Angler
stewards:
  • Andrés Bernal
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Anne Miller
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • M Ljin
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • thomas rubino

Weird things cats have done

 
J. Graham
gardener
Posts: 3132
2097
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
.
FB_IMG_1615599504452.jpg
[Thumbnail for FB_IMG_1615599504452.jpg]
FB_IMG_1615598318284.jpg
[Thumbnail for FB_IMG_1615598318284.jpg]
FB_IMG_1615241596591.jpg
[Thumbnail for FB_IMG_1615241596591.jpg]
 
Lauren Ritz
pollinator
Posts: 890
Location: Kansas
237
I like...
forest garden fungi bee medical herbs writing greening the desert
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Darth Vader was born in our neighbor's back yard and only two kittens survived. The mom died or abandoned them or something, and when the neighbor found them they were pretty close to starving. Vet said he was a purebred Russian Blue, but I somehow doubt it under the circumstances.

Anyway, he learned to forage and eat anything that held still long enough. He particularly liked potatoes and green beans, but only if they had pepper on them.

He would also stroll in the house, all nonchalant, and walk in the bathroom before releasing the live mouse he carried in his mouth. Once Mom caught him at it, because the tail was hanging out, but usually he hid it better.

The bathroom was the perfect torture chamber, and if none of us shut the door for him he would play with it in the bathtub.

New location. Zone 6b, acid soil, 30+ inches of water per year.
https://growingmodernlandraces.thinkific.com/?ref=b1de16
Growingmodernlandraces.com affiliate

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Lauren Ritz wrote:
The bathroom was the perfect torture chamber, and if none of us shut the door for him he would play with it in the bathtub.


I deliberately taught my kittens to bring their prey to the tub. Easy to clean up, and things don't get away and roam the house. Having had destroyed mourning doves and bleeding snakes in my bed, I find it worth teaching them early so it never occurs to them to put them in my bed (which is not fun to find or clean) or loosein the kitchen (I had a colony of mice in the stove insulation due to a cat dropping a mouse to show me. Zoom! No catching it again now!)

Tubs. It's where the kitties are told to play.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Lauren Ritz
pollinator
Posts: 890
Location: Kansas
237
I like...
forest garden fungi bee medical herbs writing greening the desert
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Pearl Sutton wrote:Tubs. It's where the kitties are told to play.


That bathroom is essentially a sealed area--no gaps under the door, no way for a mouse to get out. We did hear him crying once because his "toy" had hidden inside the cabinet. Mom tried to keep him from bringing them inside at all, but he got really good at hiding them from her.

New location. Zone 6b, acid soil, 30+ inches of water per year.
https://growingmodernlandraces.thinkific.com/?ref=b1de16
Growingmodernlandraces.com affiliate

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Michael, our young Mouser-in-Training falls asleep during classes.
sleeping-student
[Thumbnail for sleeping-student]
Sleeping student

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
J. Graham
gardener
Posts: 3132
2097
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
.
FB_IMG_1617846937514.jpg
Sewing cat
Sewing cat

“It’s said war—war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road—has reached its end.”

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I woke up at 2:30 am with my MM sinking her teeth into my nose.  Though I wanted to kill her, she drew blood, I realized she would not have done it without a reason.   Our “new” cat had gotten himself into trouble and needed a human to rescue him.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
To explain a little more, this is not the first time she has done this..... though normally it is a more gentle nose nibble to get me awake. And, it is a rare event.  I have come to realize that if there is a serious problem at night, she will be the one to tell me.  So, I have decided not to discourage her.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
M James
Posts: 122
23
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My cat, "Gabe",  absolutely hated to be laughed at. Dad didn't believe me. One day Gabe was in the garage with Dad, who was sitting in the rocking chair. Gabe's bed was setting on a couple of crates and he had to jump to get in it. He missed and Dad laughed. Gabe switched his tail angrily and then successfully jumped into his bed. An hour later, Dad got up to put some more wood in the stove. As he walked past Gabe, he reached out and nipped him LOL!

Another of Gabe's antics: he had long hair and it needed frequent combing. Gabe would only tolerate that for just so long. When he got tired of being combed, he'd take the comb away from me and scratch or nip me if I tried to get it back. He also loved to "accidently" knock the comb off the shelf and drop it behind the dryer.

The worst event concerning Gabe was when he vanished. He was an indoor/outdoor cat. When it was too cold outside for him, sometimes he slept in the basement. On this particular night it was below zero outside. It was an old house. Can you see where this is leading? In the morning he was nowhere to be found. Like any mother, I became frantic, but with all of us looking, nobody could find him. Where could he possibly be?? He was there last night!! Where was my precious beloved furbaby?

We know somebody that has always had the knack for magically finding something that nobody else could, so we called him and he came right over. We waited breathlessly, trying not to fear the worst. When the dude came back into the house, he said he didn't know where Gabe was, but he could hear him! He was alive and he was still there, great! But, what did that mean, exactly?

Ok, I'm gonna make this a short version: Gabe had managed to somehow get into the wall from the basement stairs, near as we could figure. As his mother, it was a simple fix: we tear out the wall and I get my baby back. Nothing doing, according to my parents. This was the beginning of a very heated argument. Remember it was below zero outside; who wants a hole in the wall in that weather? In an irritated tone, my mother ordered me to go upstairs and look in the crawl space. Lightbulb moment, that. My feet hardly touched the steps as I raced up to see if I could rescue my baby.

I ripped the crawl space door open...and there stood my precious used-to-be-beige-and-was-now-black furbaby, right as rain but a whole bunch dirtier! He had so much dirt and dust hanging all over him, but he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

Gabe wanted to always be with his people. My brother was in his room upstairs. Gabe was outside. Yet here came my brother carrying Gabe down the stairs. What?? Turns out Gabe had jumped onto the porch roof from the deck railing and had gone up to my brother's window and "asked" to be let in`LOL!

That's all that comes to my mind at the moment. This is a fun topic.
 
M James
Posts: 122
23
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Ok I remembered another one.

My friend and I were playing in the enclosed porch and Gabe was in there with us. I looked up to find Gabe perfectly perched over an ash tray that had been left on the floor, neatly pooping in it. We nearly died laughing. He got all of it in there and didn't make a mess on the floor. Now that's love LOL!
 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hi M

I have had several cats seek revenge as much as a week later for some human affront.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
M James
Posts: 122
23
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

John F Dean wrote:Hi C

Fascinating. Some breeds do not mind the water.  Maine Coon Cats come to mind. The current thought is they originate from Norwegian Forest Cats and were brought here by the Vikings. This seems to be supported by DNA to some degree.  By any means, I find the fishing interesting because it implies they understand the refraction of light at some level.



Yep, that's a maine coon for ya! Gabe was part maine coon. Huge, easygoing and playful...and, in order to go with you, he'd wade through water.
 
M James
Posts: 122
23
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Skandi Rogers wrote:

C. Letellier wrote:We had a cat who fished.  All the other cats caught the normal mice, rabbits, snakes etc.  But the one cat would walk out slightly over chest deep in the pond.  She would then stand there very still.  Then there would be a quick splash and she would walk out with a fish.  She never minded being wet and was very good at fishing.



We had one that did this, she would stand in the shallows and wait for a fish, then grab it, jump out of the pond run into the house via the catflap and present us with her flapping catch, which would be grabbed and the human in charge would run out of the patio doors and return it to the pond. She knew that if she brought her catches in alive and unharmed and then GAVE them to a human, (she put them in your hand you didn't need to move furniture to retrieve them) she would get a treat. She particularly liked catching frogs but I refused to treat for the spiders she caught! Her sister was entirely different, she caught big things, baby rabbits, a stoat, an adder (venomous snake) They had another sister who lived with my aunt, she never progressed past potato peelings, worms and the occasional slow worm.

John you may well be right there, these were half maincoon cats. They had all the hair but not the size.



Ewwww I wouldn't treat for the spiders either!

Gabe was part maine coon and he was absolutely huge, with very long hair. Playful goofball to the very end lol!

Our cats were great mousers and also delighted in catching snakes. Glad we didn't have a doggy door.
 
Paul Fookes
gardener
Posts: 2327
Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10
1171
7
I like...
hugelkultur cat forest garden chicken earthworks cooking bee building solar rocket stoves wood heat
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 10
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Cats - Never a dull moment  All feral but just arrived some time ago and now 5 generations later I am not their slave but only when they say I am not.  They come and go but two claps of the hands and they come from miles - and the chooks and the Guinea fowl and the lizards and when everyone is finished the magpies grab a feed having watched the action from the top of the gate.  Because of the mouse plague the food has been cut down from 3 scoops to one.  One of the TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) boys just batted a mouse away so he could get back to sleep.  So funny to see if it was not so serious.  A bloke living 90 minutes from us allegedly caught over 7,000 mice two nights ago in a huge tank and wire trap and another bloke measures his catches by the kilogram.  But for a cat to be batting mice away there is something not right in the universe.
Dinner-Time.jpg
Every one gets a feed at the communal half tyre
Every one gets a feed at the communal half tyre

Failure is a sign of activity and learning. It had nothing to do with under achievement
I never want to have a team member who has never failed - They are not doing!! 👍

 
Kathleen Minniti
Posts: 18
2
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Not sure if this is the same behavior, but several species of bird enjoy getting a high off ant venom.  They pick up the ants gently enough to keep them alive and push them up under their feathers until they sting.  Sounds like your cat has either discovered a similar reaction or developed a taste for ant tartar!
 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Something I saw a cat of mine do that I have never seen another cat do it before or after he did.
My last home was built of rock, had a flat roof. I had a cat ladder up to the roof, the cats loved it up there. One day I was down in my garden with several cats, and a roadrunner showed up on the parapet. One of the cats, Arjuna, saw it, and climbed straight up the rock wall to chase it! Didn't help, the bird got to the other parapet and flew down, but I have never seen a cat climb a 90 degree rock wall. I had lots of cats through that house, but never saw one climb the wall again. He had incentive! But it was like he was a furry lizard, just went straight up it. I was impressed.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 11
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My wife lost her hearing aide maybe 3 months ago. It was insured, but it was still going to be pricey.  Fortunately, we knew when and where it vanished.  Still, we tore apart the LR 2x without success. Today we decided to go for a third attempt.  After a couple of hours we took a break.  Then Michael, a half grown kitten, trotted up to me and dropped it in front of me. He clearly asked, “Is this what you humans have been lookin for?”   He got a special meal.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have the opposing story to John's...
In college I had a house 3 blocks off campus that a lot of folks hung out at. One evening there were probably 9-10 people there, lots of noise, things were moved around. When it was down to me, my best friend, and girl she was driving home, we couldn't find her car keys. We tore the living room apart. We tore the kitchen apart (just in case) we moved the furniture. No keys. We finally looked at each other and said "Is there ANYTHING in here we haven't moved? THE CAT!!" He had been in a weird spot, out of the chaos, watching with interest as we shredded the house. I picked him up, the keys had been under him all along. They probably had been put in that weird place so they didn't get lost, knowing we were having a crowd.
Cat just looked innocent.

:D

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Leigh Tate
author & steward
Posts: 5676
Location: Southeastern U.S. - Zone 7b
3368
6
I like...
goat cat forest garden foraging food preservation fiber arts medical herbs writing solar wood heat homestead
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Makes a funny meme, but somebody had to get the picture!
weird-cat.jpg
[Thumbnail for weird-cat.jpg]

Blog: 5 Acres & A Dream
Books: Kikobian Books | Permies Digital Market

 
Sarah Elizabeth
pollinator
Posts: 276
Location: Northern temperate zone. Changeable maritime climate. 1000ft above sea level.
148
2
I like...
forest garden personal care books chicken food preservation cooking medical herbs writing homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 11
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We had a cat called Sylvester who liked to be vacuumed.

It started as a joke because Sylvester wouldn't move out of the way when my Dad was trying to vacuum the floor. This developed into full blown cat grooming. He liked to have the hose run up and down his back while he furiously licked his front paws. It got to the stage that when he heard the vacuum cleaner start up, he used to go and lie in front of it.  Crazy cat.

He also used to chase our neighbours' dog..    

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit: Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. “ Brian Gerald O’Driscoll

 
Mo Green
Posts: 29
2
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
2 fun knee!  I had both my Spitz dogs (Boo Boo and Bubbalicious, aka Bubba the Loud) trained that when I said,  "Who want s a massage, they would throw themselves at my feet, lay on their backs and put one of their front legs straight into the air.  They looked like they were saying, "Ooo oh, pick me!".  They also adorned being vacuumed!  Everyone need duch accommodating fur babies!

 
Cal Jorgensen
Posts: 37
Location: Northern Michigan (zone 5a)
20
2
I like...
cat forest garden foraging
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 12
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My brother woke up this morning, heard splashing in the bathroom, and discovered our hunter cat attempting to drown a mouse in the toilet.

Needs more dirt.

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 12
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I was reading Heather's post regarding Father's Day and had a flashback to well over 25 years ago.  We had a Burmease that we found abandoned in a church parking lot. It was tiny. Anyway, we named it Baby.   It decided it owned me, and so my wife would refer to me as the cat's daddy.  One day, my in-laws came to visit.  My wife's father, to be generous, was not the most considerate person.   I escaped with Baby to the study on our second floor.  Baby was clearly upset.   I explained to her that the man was my wife's daddy.  Baby's eyes grew huge.   When  my wife came upstairs, it immediately climbed in her lap and smothered her with affection.   My wife asked me what was going on. I explained what I had told Baby, and I felt she was feeling sorry for her.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
Kiley Thoennes Lopez
Posts: 8
Location: Northern California
I like...
cattle homeschooling dog
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I had a cat that used to get into everything and one day he opened my bedside drawer and got into my sewing needles and I didn’t know it and I noticed that he was acting unusually calm and relaxed and he kept trying to cough something up and so I took him to the vet to get him checked out since he was bleeding from his mouth and the vet took one look in his mouth and then realized that my cat tried to swallow the sewing needle.
 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hi Kiley,

Welcome to Permies!

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My rowdy Manx's had a lot of IQ and personality.
One day I was cleaning out jewelry, had necklaces dumped out on the bed to sort. I wasn't playing with the cat who was "helping" me, so he grabbed a huge mouthful of necklaces and took off down the hall with them, losing some along the way. His brother thought that was a grand idea, and while I chased the first cat, the second one took a mouthful too, and went the other way down the hall. I had necklaces strewn all over the house.
They were problem children :D

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Baby, who I mentioned above, used to open my wife’s undies drawer and dump stuff on the floor until she could have enough room for a soft bed in the drawer.  Oddly, when the nap was over, she would close the drawer ..... of course, not replacing the items.  When she first began going this, the pile of undies on the floor presented a great mystery.


Back to my MM.  All winter we have been plagued by one particular mouse in our kitchen. He was easy to identify. For a mouse, he was huge ...I read this as well fed.  More than once we saw him running through the kitchen and leaping over mouse traps. He was my MM’s Moriatry.   Finally, a couple of days ago, my MM presented him to me.   It is the end of an era.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Yeah, cats aren't known for closing things they open, that's neat :D

I had a cat who drank out of the bathroom sink faucet. She'd turn it on, but not turn it back off. I got in the habit of every time I walked in the bathroom checking it and shutting it off. She at least liked it on a very slow stream, so she didn't turn it on high. She did that once that I saw, got splashed, freaked out and leapt off the sink without getting a drink. After that she was more careful.

And cats in the bathroom: Her brother was my Bath Attendant. If I turned on the tub to fill it, he'd come running in from outside, watch it fill, and meow at me when it was full. When I got in he always had to drink a bit of it, then he'd sit on the edge and get his tail in the water, and keep me company.
He never yelled too early or late. I miss someone telling me the tub is full :)  

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Leigh Tate
author & steward
Posts: 5676
Location: Southeastern U.S. - Zone 7b
3368
6
I like...
goat cat forest garden foraging food preservation fiber arts medical herbs writing solar wood heat homestead
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
This meme reminded me of a cat we used to have named Rascal.



When my daughter went off to college, her first visit home was at Christmas, and Rascal made a point to ignore her, sort of. He paraded back and forth in front of her, just out of arm's reach. When she reached over to pet him, he ducked down to avoid letting her touch him. He did that repeatedly before he finally consented to let her pet him. The message was loud and clear! He missed her but wanted to let her know he wasn't happy with her absense!

Blog: 5 Acres & A Dream
Books: Kikobian Books | Permies Digital Market

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 10
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
When we first moved to this property we had an adolescent Bombay and Maine Coon who invented the greatest game.  A herd of deer would come through our yard at dawn and dusk.  The cats would hide under the leaves and wait until the deer were over them.  Then they would spring up out of the leaves and chase the deer. I kept waiting for them to get stomped, but they always got away with it.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
Heather Sharpe
gardener
Posts: 828
Location: Central Indiana, zone 6a, clay loam
594
I like...
forest garden fungi foraging trees urban chicken medical herbs ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 13
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I don't quite know why, but my cat loves cuddling with cucurbits of many sorts. Usually, it's been the pumpkins we grow. Hopefully last year's crop stores til the new ones are harvested, lest her pumpkin cuddles be cut off. A couple years ago, we had to take the only one left away from her because it was starting to mold. She seemed quite upset about it and there was much moping.
She's been hiding lately due to too many changes in the house and a family of raccoons hanging about. Today, she has finally come out of hiding to cuddle a watermelon we just brought home. Of course, now I probably have to wait to eat it, even though it is sweltering and watermelon sounds amazing. Maybe it'll be okay? She doesn't seem as snuggly with this as the pumpkins.
20210811_184432.jpg
cat-snuggling-with-pumpkin

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Of course, catnip affects cats to varying degrees.  I have has cats that ignore it, and I have had cats that have more extreme reactions.  We had a Blue Smoke Persian who we had to present nip to on a large cookie sheet.   She would pass out on it and lose her bladder control.


My favorite was a Bombay who had a ritual when given her nip.  First she would rub her left cheek it ......then her right cheek....and finally her chin.  Repeat until all the nip is gone.  Of course, the nip was all over her face, and eventually she would pass out......always on the arm if the sofa next to my wife.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Don't know if I said this one: Sending a box of Xmas gifts to my sister, I put packing stuff in, then sprinkled it all with catnip before sealing the box and mailing it. My sister couldn't figure out why her cats were Fascinated by the box and wouldn't give it up!

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 7781
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2879
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 3 years ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
There is no doubt I am owned by my Master Mouser. Last summer I took off a pair of jeans I had worked all day in a tossed them at the hamper in the bedroom. I missed. My MM knew I had given them and their wonderful smells to her as a gift. That became her bed. Neither my wife nor I had the heart to tell her otherwise. Well, a couple of days ago my wife decided they needed to be washed. When they weren’t occupied, she tossed them down the basement steps.  The next morning they made their way to the top of the steps.  This morning they are back in their correct location by the hamper in the bedroom.....with a cat curled up on top of them.

To be is to do …Kant
To do is to be ..Nietzsche
Do be do be do…Sinatra
Scooby dooby do …St. Thomas

 
J. Graham
gardener
Posts: 3132
2097
posted 3 years ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
.
FB_IMG_1637593717439.jpg
cat-meme
FB_IMG_1636848623783.jpg
[Thumbnail for FB_IMG_1636848623783.jpg]
FB_IMG_1636848331161.jpg
cat-cartoon-humor
FB_IMG_1635561445495.jpg
[Thumbnail for FB_IMG_1635561445495.jpg]
FB_IMG_1636233270252.jpg
cat-on-a-statue-of-girl-reading
FB_IMG_1635560256125.jpg
cat-humor-cartoon

“It’s said war—war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road—has reached its end.”

 
Sarah Elizabeth
pollinator
Posts: 276
Location: Northern temperate zone. Changeable maritime climate. 1000ft above sea level.
148
2
I like...
forest garden personal care books chicken food preservation cooking medical herbs writing homestead ungarbage
posted 3 years ago
  • Likes 16
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
'Tis almost the season so my mind has turned to cats bearing gifts...

Milo was a very affectionate cat and she loved to bring me presents.  This got a bit weird when we moved into a new house in 2010.

One morning I found a large dirt-covered worm on the floor next to my bed.   It wasn't difficult to spot as it was on the new off-white carpet (!).  A couple of days later, there were two worms.  These weren't your cuddly little compost worms but industrial-sized garden worms.    

Within a week, three or four worms were appearing each night, neatly laid out on the carpet next to my bed.  I finally figured out that it was Milo because she was the only cat with muddy paws in the morning.  

The most she ever brought in one night was six worms.  She was so proud I didn't have the heart to do anything other than tell her she was wonderful and very clever (and put an old towel on the floor next to the bed).  

At the time this was going on, we were building raised beds and carefully transferring worms we had saved into the beds as we were filling them.  I can only think that she had been watching us and figured out how special worms are.  

When it got to autumn that year, her worm-hunting tailed off and she never picked it up again but it is a memory I treasure now that she is gone.  

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit: Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. “ Brian Gerald O’Driscoll

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15589
Location: SW Missouri
11371
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 3 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
A memory floated up out of my head, has anyone else ever done this with their cats? I remember when I was young using a string to make cats dance to Strauss waltzes! I remember one cat who could get the 5 foot leaps in the air that the Blue Danube Waltz needs, and I remember dancing one cat all over the yard with the Artist's Life Waltz.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Paul Fookes
gardener
Posts: 2327
Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10
1171
7
I like...
hugelkultur cat forest garden chicken earthworks cooking bee building solar rocket stoves wood heat
posted 3 years ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Our blind cat, Cabbage (because of the patches), mostly wanders around close to the house.  Last evening as we were rounding the corner of the road into our street, Cabbage was sitting near the road obviously waiting for us to arrive back home.  We are talking 500 M through the bush here.  This morning on cue, she was rattling at the door waiting to be let in to assume the sleeping position on the back of the lounge.

Failure is a sign of activity and learning. It had nothing to do with under achievement
I never want to have a team member who has never failed - They are not doing!! 👍

 
Heather Sharpe
gardener
Posts: 828
Location: Central Indiana, zone 6a, clay loam
594
I like...
forest garden fungi foraging trees urban chicken medical herbs ungarbage
posted 3 years ago
  • Likes 12
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Not sure if this belongs here or in the Weird things humans have done thread, perhaps a bit of both. Not too long after switching to raw food, my cat Pema suddenly became interested in hunting. Which was interesting since she'd shown no interest for the first seven years of her life. Perhaps the raw food awakened her primal instincts. Or maybe it was just the sudden presence of crazy numbers of cicadas making all kinds of interesting movements and noises. Either way, I was very surprised when I saw her pounce on something in the bushes and bring a live cicada into the house. Her pride quickly turned to being freaked out at the weird creature she'd caught that was now making distressed sounds and trying (unsuccessfully) to fly away. I don't think she quite knew what to do. I certainly had no idea how to teach her to kill the cicada quickly to put an end to the suffering. Nor did I want her learning to hunt for funsies. So in the hopes of teaching her to kill and eat what she caught, my partner killed the cicada and cooked them in ghee. We offered this to Pema. She licked some ghee off, but otherwise seemed unconvinced this was food. So to show her, my partner ate the cicada. Alas, Pema did not learn anything about the honorable harvest that day. But we did learn that cicadas are alright eating. Especially when you cook them in ghee.

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

 
If you're gonna buy things, buy this thing and I get a fat kickback:
The new kickstarter is now live!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/garden-cards
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...