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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / December 2004Well that didn't take long...
So I moved into my new house back in October and decided to keep the cats in for another month just so they'd be sure that this was now their house. In that time they've discovered the joy of stairs and the problems of hard wood floors. They've never been anywhere with stairs before, so the regular morning exercise routine involves chasing each other up and down the stairs and making a hell of racket (sounds like Elephants running up and down stairs.) Of course, the stairs are only part of the exercise route which also involves running around the rest of the house at great speed and this is where the hard wood floors come in, they've never seen those before either... It's amazing how little traction a cat gets on hard wood, particularly when coming of nice carpet and careering towards the wall :-) Anyway, this weekend I finally put their cat door in so they could go outside. The first outdoor venturer was Mojo on Sunday morning, by Tuesday, Emily had already killed something :-( I came out of the shower to hear her distinctive "I've killed the monster" miaow and sure enough the monster (which had shapeshifted into 2" Shrew) was lying dead on the carpet. She must have been quick, nipped out while I showered, killed and returned home in about 10 minutes, looks like the hunting is good in my back yard! I'm just waiting for when I come home and find that somebody has carried out a controlled detonation of a Blue Jay or Robin in the living room, that was their favourite B*st*rd cat trick when I lived out in the country a few years ago. Down in Miami they never found much more to eat than lizards, though Mojo did spend some time considering a goose but thought better of it :-) On the plus side, the litter tray is getting a lot less traffic now.  SignatureNik Simpson >So I moved into my new house back in October and decided to keep the cats in >for another month just so they'd be sure that this was now their house. In [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >-- >Nik Simpson Nice to hear that you have moved the kitties to such an interesting new home. Elisabet <snip good huntin'> > On the plus side, the litter tray is getting a lot less traffic now. That's always the nice thing about going to the island with the cats in the summer. No litterbox duty! They only use the Great Litterbox outside while we're there. Glad to hear Nikki isn't the only cat with illusions of grandeur. She once seriosuly stalked some pheasants. I told her, "They're twice the size you are. What do you think you're going to do to them?" She ignored me and kept stalking. Then the pheasants realised I wasw alking towards them, and flew off. Nikki turned and glared at me: "You stupid big lumbering hoomin! Don't you know anything? When confronting prey, you should get as low as you can and creep up to pouncing distance." She just wouldn't believe me when I told her they were too big for her. "I had them. Just a few more steps and I'd have had them." SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki > Glad to hear Nikki isn't the only cat with illusions of grandeur. She > once seriosuly stalked some pheasants. I told her, "They're twice the > size you are. What do you think you're going to do to them?" She ignored Some cats are just ambitious; that's all there is to it! Take Sheba (RB), my tiny black fluffy bag of cattitude, monarch of all she surveyed and (in her dotage) deputy queen mother. I remember watching her stalking prey in the fields at my mother's house. With her tummy to the ground, ears forward, she advanced stealthily, slowly, on a friesian cow, called Emerald. The cow was oblivious, but then cows are oblivious to most things except grass. Sheba got within a metre of the animal's hind legs, raised her tail into the air, shifted her weight from one rear paw to the other, and then leapt at the cow, raked its leg with her claws, and streaked triumphant to sit on a nearby fence. Emerald mooed and loped, baffled but vanquished, to the other side of the field. Sheba sat on her fencepost and preened. Or how about Sheba's stepbrother, Big Sam, who dragged a pheasant home one day, sans head (which he'd already eaten, to make the load a bit lighter). He hauled the bird, which was larger than him, into the kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later it made lunch for the family, and Big Sam naturally got his tithe, roasted. So I'm quite sure that Nikki wouldn't have had any trouble with those pheasants, if you hadn't interrupted her hunt! Cheers, Al. >> Glad to hear Nikki isn't the only cat with illusions of grandeur. She >> once seriosuly stalked some pheasants. I told her, "They're twice the [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > Cheers, > Al. Wow. That's *really* bringing home the bacon. (Of course, I would not have a clue how to dress a bird. But gosh, in another world and time, there you go. You would have had your cat do the hunting while you could stay home and raise the veggies!) >> Glad to hear Nikki isn't the only cat with illusions of grandeur. She >> once seriosuly stalked some pheasants. I told her, "They're twice the >> size you are. What do you think you're going to do to them?" She ignored > Some cats are just ambitious; that's all there is to it! > Take Sheba (RB), my tiny black fluffy bag of cattitude, monarch of all > she surveyed and (in her dotage) deputy queen mother. I remember > watching her stalking prey in the fields at my mother's house. With > her tummy to the ground, ears forward, she advanced stealthily, > slowly, on a friesian cow, called Emerald. <snip great story> My cats have, alas, rather limited hunting skills which are mainly focussed on bed mice, a certain type of plastic bag, a feather duster, and any wriggling string a human might provide. They're good at those. A neighbour, who has a cat door, came home one day to find a live seagull on her bureau in her bedroom. She figures her cat was responsible, although it seems he was not able to actually complete the job of turning the seagull into dinner. Although other animals may use a cat door, even the most greedy seagull is unlikely to extend his food hunting range by going through a cat door. Cheryl > A neighbour, who has a cat door, came home one day to find a live > seagull on her bureau in her bedroom. A freind of mine came home to find a live (and extremely pissed) Copperhead in her living room courtesy of one of her cats :-) SignatureNik Simpson >A freind of mine came home to find a live (and extremely pissed) Copperhead >in her living room courtesy of one of her cats :-) Now that's scary. I wonder how the cats kept from being bitten? I've caught Boots scrapping with snakes before, but we've never had a copperhead/rattlesnake, just garter snakes, bullsnakes, racers and such. I still worry about it though. Sherry >> A freind of mine came home to find a live (and extremely pissed) >> Copperhead in her living room courtesy of one of her cats :-) > > Now that's scary. I wonder how the cats kept from being bitten? I think cats have an instinctive knowledge of snakes and are pretty good at dealing with them. I certainly hope so, because the first visitor to my new house was a small Copperhead that took refuge in the garage on a cold morning, I used a broom to send him on his way, but given where I live I doubt he's the only Copperhead in the area. SignatureNik Simpson > > A neighbour, who has a cat door, came home one day to find a live > > seagull on her bureau in her bedroom. > > A freind of mine came home to find a live (and extremely pissed) Copperhead > in her living room courtesy of one of her cats :-) Oh. My. God. "Nik Simpson" <n_simpson@bellsouth.net> had some very interesting things to say about Re: Well that didn't take long...: >> A neighbour, who has a cat door, came home one day to find a live >> seagull on her bureau in her bedroom. >A freind of mine came home to find a live (and extremely pissed) Copperhead >in her living room courtesy of one of her cats :-) And I thought the time Smokey (RB) brought a live snake into the house and turned it loose was bad! On the Oregon coast, the snake population consists of harmless garter snakes [but I'm still afraid of them]. How did your friend get rid of the poisonous guest? Signature"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding. :-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL > "Nik Simpson" <n_simpson@bellsouth.net> had some very interesting > things to say about Re: Well that didn't take long...: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > consists of harmless garter snakes [but I'm still afraid of them]. How > did your friend get rid of the poisonous guest? She didn't, she called her father and made him come over to do it :-) SignatureNik Simpson "Nik Simpson" <n_simpson@bellsouth.net> had some very interesting things to say about Re: Well that didn't take long...: >>>> A neighbour, who has a cat door, came home one day to find a live >>>> seagull on her bureau in her bedroom. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> did your friend get rid of the poisonous guest? >She didn't, she called her father and made him come over to do it :-) Sounds like what I would do. If DH weren't available, find a helpful friend [who knew *how* to handle the situation] or call Animal Control. Signature"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding. :-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL > "Nik Simpson" <n_simpson@bellsouth.net> had some very interesting > things to say about Re: Well that didn't take long...: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > consists of harmless garter snakes [but I'm still afraid of them]. How > did your friend get rid of the poisonous guest? Be careful with the assumption. When last I worked with them as Scout nature counselor, some species of rattlesnake had been found in each of the 48 continental snakes. The basic rule is that if you don't know the snake's type, assume the worst. That being said, one of my favorites is the Smooth Green Snake (guess what it looks like!) whose general reaction to life is something like a cartoon of dowagers screeching at a mouse. They can get a little tame, but their normal approach to life events is hysteria. Garter snakes, indeed, are very recognizable. While I know the rule on distinguishing coral snakes from nonvenomous lookalikes: "Red on yellow Kill a fellow Red on black Venom lack" I move quickly in the opposite direction if I see a red-yellow-and-black snake. Yes, I was trained in safe handling, but that was almost 40 years ago. Howard Berkowitz <hcb@gettcomm.com> had some very interesting things to say about Re: Well that didn't take long...: >> And I thought the time Smokey (RB) brought a live snake into the house >> and turned it loose was bad! On the Oregon coast, the snake population [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >nature counselor, some species of rattlesnake had been found in each of >the 48 continental snakes. What I know on the subject is what my mother and grandfather tell me. :-) Signature"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding. :-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL > kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the > unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later > it made lunch for the family, and Big Sam naturally got his tithe, > roasted. Is the outhouse refrigerated? SignatureVictor Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com >> kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the >> unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later >> it made lunch for the family, and Big Sam naturally got his tithe, >> roasted. > > Is the outhouse refrigerated? Pheasant is a "game" bird and should be "hung" to season it for at least a couple days after death, i.e. you don't slam it straight in the freezer. I think the big advantage of cat caught pheasant is that you don't break your fillings on the buck shot :-) SignatureNik Simpson > Pheasant is a "game" bird and should be "hung" to season it for at least a > couple days after death, i.e. you don't slam it straight in the freezer. I Ugh... at room temperature? Then by "season" you mean "rot"! Yikes! SignatureVictor Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com >> Pheasant is a "game" bird and should be "hung" to season it for at >> least a couple days after death, i.e. you don't slam it straight in >> the freezer. I > > Ugh... at room temperature? Then by "season" you mean "rot"! Yikes! You either like Pheasant or you don't, persoanlly I love it, very strong "gamey" flavor, if you tried to cook/eta it fresh it would be tough and rather tasteless. SignatureNik Simpson >>> kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the >>> unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >Pheasant is a "game" bird and should be "hung" to season it for at least a >couple days after death, i.e. you don't slam it straight in the freezer. Gee, all those Bugs Bunny-Daffy Duck cartoons were wrong. ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >>> kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the >>> unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > think the big advantage of cat caught pheasant is that you don't break your > fillings on the buck shot :-) By "outhouse" did he mean a one or two-holer? Or did he mean a separate utility building like a cool room? I tried to cook a newly killed pheasant once (I'm not a good cook). I treated it like chicken (not knowing any better) and I have to say it was a mess. MLB >>>> kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the >>>> unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > treated it like chicken (not knowing any better) and I have to say it was > a mess. MLB Pheasant are best kept for a few days before being plucked, dressed, and eaten. Then they are delicious roasted and stuffed. I had one only last week. I have a brace of ducks in my porch at the moment, that my neighbour gave me. It is very nice of him, but sometimes I don't want the bother of plucking and gutting them - I hate the smell of gutting - so the ducks are still in the porch. Shot last Saturday. <groan> What to do? without being ungrateful. Tweed Tweed >>>>> kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the >>>>> unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Tweed Have a proper ceremony then bury them. MLB > > kitchen, where my mother praised him extravagantly, before taking the > > unfortunate pheasant and hanging it in the outhouse. Three days later > > it made lunch for the family, and Big Sam naturally got his tithe, > > roasted. > > Is the outhouse refrigerated? No. "Game" meat, like pheasants, venison etc should be hung and allowed to "mature" (i.e. rot) very slightly, as this is what gives it the distinctive taste. Two or three days is about right for a pheasant. Of course, all this takes place in the UK where the temperatures are not extreme. In Texas it probably wouldn't need more than an hour ;) Cheers Al. > Of course, all this takes place in the UK where the temperatures are > not extreme. In Texas it probably wouldn't need more than an hour ;) That's what I thought... :) SignatureVictor Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com > <snip good huntin'> > Glad to hear Nikki isn't the only cat with illusions of grandeur. For Mojo, I'm not sure that a stalking a Goose represents delusions of grandeur, he's a big boy :-) SignatureNik Simpson Emily made it 2 today, another shrew. This one was part of her catch & release scheme. I tell you, you really have to admire a cat's hunting skills as you chase a shrew around your living room at 7am, they are tricky little suckers :-) SignatureNik Simpson |
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