She also trains very well. She knows that my bed and the sofa are off limits to her. She also knows she is not allowed on top of any counters. There has never been a problem, if she were to sneak up while I was gone, there would be evidence of it (like cat hair). I do allow her to sleep on the guest room bed but she rarely does that. She is really a very good cat and lots of company to me. At night I used to put her out on the balcony. One, I did not have a kitty liter box, but mostly because she never shuts up. She is mewing or yowling all the time. She got used to this and seemed to know when I was ready to go to bed and she would disappear. After over one year or more, I sometimes let her stay inside. She likes to curl up and sleep on my desk chair. She looked so cute and sweet I would let her stay there when I locked up. But then in the middle of the night she would say something. I always picked her up and put her outside. Recently she has even figured that out and remains silent if I let her sleep on the chair.
However she never lost the feral cat instinct to go after prey. She will chase anything that moves. After she has finished playing with it (that means dead), she will drop it on the door mat for me. I did like the cute little geckos that are everywhere in Mexico (climbing walls and ceilings). But she has pretty much eliminated them from my apartment. I was not too upset over it as they do poop over everything, The worst was when they would poop from the ceilings. She is also good at catching the huge green grasshoppers that used to devour my palm fronds. I am not very happy when she brings me a butterfly or moth, but then they do lay eggs that become caterpillars.
Birds seem to be one of her favorite prey. Most of the time it is a pigeon, as they are really stupid birds. She has never caught a humming bird (thank God) but she gets a few pretty small bright yellow birds. They might be some kind of canary. I have bought her toys, but she either ignores then, or she is afraid of them. She would much rather chase after insects. Butterflies and moths or her favorite dragon flies (or maybe they are just stupid and slow). One night I was awakened by her howling. I was afraid she was in trouble so I jumped up and slid open the sliding door (naked, but for a small T shirt). She was standing over a large pigeon. I petted her and closed the door. Big Mistake! In the morning there were a few wing feathers, one foot and the breast bone (licked clean) and blood. Not what I want to wake up to. The scariest thing she caught was a huge black rat. It was almost half her size. I do not know how she managed, but he was dead and she did not have a scratch on her. That was the only big rat, but she does find a lot of mice. She did once bring in a large lizard. It was an ugly black brown with tiny yellow spots. Most of its head was missing (like the eyes) but it was still moving. It did not get very far for it could not see where it was going. I later learned that the yellow spotted lizard is the poison one. Kitty is fearless (or maybe just stupid).
Recently she dropped a tiny mouse in front of me, but it wasn't dead. It ran in the house while she scampered after it. The mouse crawled through the lattice work on the equipali furniture while she kept trying to grab it. I had to keep turning over furniture so she could get to it. But she seemed more interested in playing with it than killing it. I got bored with it and went to bed leaving both of them inside figuring by morning it would be dead. I was awakened by a crash. The mouse must have crawled into one of the wine cases I keep under the bed (we have no closets or storage). She had ripped the box apart and wine bottles were scattered across the floor. Again I went to bed. In the morning there was a little blood and what might have been a small organ. No head, no feet nothing! I could not find the remains of the corpse, so hopefully she ate it all, otherwise I will have to wait until I smell something foul.
We have our "quality time" in the morning when I pet her as she eats while I drink my coffee. Then when I move to the computer she likes to curl up in my lap and go to sleep. Once I get up she will remain in the chairs and sleep all day. After her dinner she disappears, sometimes sleeps, but will join me upstairs while I have my cocktails. Her only toys are my rubber sandals I keep up there. She has already destroyed one pair. She will grab it with her teeth then roll over and kick it with her hind feet. Somehow she finds this amusing. She likes the deck as there is more prey up there for her to torture. But she is a lot of company and I love her. Sometimes I will leave her curled up in a chair on the deck. She can get off the deck by crossing to my neighbors deck and then down the outside staircase. (just like the robber did). In the morning when she hears me get up and she is still on the deck she will scream for me to open the door. She could get down to the balcony if she wanted to, but would rather I open the door for her. (and I do)
Kitty would not co-operate with her photo shoot. She also has only brought in one small mouse since I began this article over a week ago. I explained to her that after this is published she will be world famous. She did not seem to care. I did manage to take a quick shot of the mouse and took it away from her. You would not have liked to see the gory remains. So the pictures I have are what you get. You know I am a lousy photographer anyway. But I doubt many of you read my blog for the pretty pictures.
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Larry I know I am not alone in missing you. Your passing came as a shock to me as we have been friends since Elementary school. RIP dear friend.
ReplyDeleteHi, can you please send me an email, heleneanda@yahoo.no
DeleteI am Larry’s partner’s niece; I’ve been trying for years to find out what happened to Larry as my emails remained unanswered. Thank you in advance, Helene