Conference misery::feline_v1

Yes.

I have a blue longhair, named Ming, aged five.  He loves travelling in the
car with me.  I have a VW Polo Hatchback, which if you dont know what it 
looks like, has a near vertical rear window.  He likes to sit on the parcel
shelf looking out at the driver behind or to admire the scenery.  No need
for a cage or anything like that, he sits there quite contented.

Occasionally, he'll jump down and come into the front and sit on my lap,
then onto the passenger seat and stand with his front paws on the dashboard
and look out the front windscreen.  This causes some astonishment to passers-by
when I'm stationary at traffic lights or whatever!

John

This weekend I was looking out the kitchen window and saw a handsome
young brown-tabby longhair sitting watchfully at the base of the big
oak tree. I waited to see what he was looking at, and presently a sleek,
fat squirrel climbed down the trunk to within five feet or so of the cat.
The cat made a mighty leap up the trunk, landing about six inches short
of where the squirrel had been; the squirrel scampered easily around to
the other side of the trunk, and the cat clung for a moment or two and
then dropped down to earth again.

Well, the squirrel had it scoped. The cat couldn't climb trees worth a
darn; all he could do was jump once. So the squirrel spent the next
fifteen minutes (I clocked them!) teasing the cat. He'd peep around the
tree trunk, get the cat to jump at him again, and then meander easily
up or around, just barely out of range. He'd leap to an adjacent branch
and chatter amiably at the cat for a while, as Jim and I tried not to
laugh too loudly. And if the cat showed signs of losing interest, the
squirrel came right down to the ground, and even moved away from the
tree just to entice the cat back.

Poor cat! He was a handsome thing, with bright yellow eyes, with which
he glared at the kitchen window every time we laughed at his antics.
He finally gave up the chase and went home, leaving the squirrel in
command of the field.

I just hope that squirrel never tries that game with Chiun, who for all
his ailments can climb like a - well, not quite like a squirrel, but
a lot better than the little tiger!

-b
  

Hmmm....Beth, this sounds like the same kitty that was teasing Bruce's dog
when it was tied up outside.  He used exactly the same method on the poor
dog.  It's satisfying to see the cat got paid back for its dog-tormenting!

RE .2

     I had sort of forgotten this until I read your squirrel story.
Before we get to the cat part of the story, I have to tell you about my
camera.  Several months ago, I made the leap from disc camera to 35mm.
I bought an Olyumpus OMG.  It took two months to go through a 36 print roll
of film.  I finished it on a backpacking trip, went to change rolls and
broke the film.  Now it has been another two months and I am about to finish
the next roll.  I've still never seen a picture but I look for opportunities.
Somewhere after the start of the current roll, I found myself being a
couch potato on a very warm day.  Being a Maine Coon Cat and having long
hair, Einstein sleeps a lot when it is warm.  I got up to do something like
stretch or get a beer and I looked out the screen door.  There was
Einstein sound asleep on the top of the steps and one step down there
was a squirrel eating a nut.  I, of course, rushed to get the camera
and came back.  After 3 hours (okay it was really about 20 seconds) of
trying to adjust the camera, the squirrel sighted me and decided to leave.
Alas, I got no picture.  Einstein never moved.  This is the same cat that
will wait hours (motionless) waiting to make a kill.  Sometimes I wonder
about that cat (Honestly, he reminds me of baby Huey).

My husband told me this little tale when I got home today. Seems he was
napping - trying to shake a nasty cold - when a horrible howling and
groaning awakened him. The first thing he thought of was that one of
the cats was in its death agony, having swallowed a fish hook or something,
and he rushed out to see what was going on.

Well, both cats were fine. Both cats were perched on the window seat,
Abigail with her nose against the glass, making the racket that Jim had
heard, and Chiun hovering behind her, trying to get a look himself.

Jim couldn't figure out what had them so excited, so he peeked out the
window - and there, not two feet away, was the neighbor's little tabby-
and-white cat, sitting nonchalantly on top of the garbage can, gazing
back at our furious cats!

Jim just about fell over, trying not to laugh. Chiun and Abigail were
both threatening the stranger with the most awful fate if ever they got
outside, but the little neighbor cat just sat there, happy as could be.

Now I'm tempted to stay home and see if she makes a habit of it!

-b

p.s. This is *not* the same cat who was teasing a visiting friend's
Sheltie. That's the one who had the run-in with the squirrel; this
one's a different beastie altogether. For some reason the neighbors'
cats like our yard. (I don't suppose the bird feeder has anything to
do with it...)