27 What a Tigger does in the woods
This cat is something else. I marvel at how he enjoys himself
outside. Especially in the woods. He must have watched squirrels in the
trees because he moves up and
down the trees like they do. He went up a tree about the size of my wrist,
about 12 or 15 feet up. Once up I expected him to come back down backwards
like most cats. Oh no, not Tigger. He came down sideways!!! His front paws
on one side of the little tree and his back paws on the other. He just walked
sideways just about to the ground before he jumped the last little bit.
He spent almost all day in the woods again today. When he came in for a short break in the house I finally got to talk to him.
"Well, Tigger, you sure are spending a lot of time in the woods these days. Do you have some friends there or are you just spending time in the woods by yourself."
"Mostly by myself." he said as
he did his figure 8's around my ankles. He always does that as soon as he
comes back inside.
"You used to spend the day around the carport. Why so much time in the woods now?"
"It is quieter back there. The things going by in the road make a lot of noise." He was grooming himself, something else he always does after he comes in.
"Boy, do I know! I don't blame you. It is a lot quieter
back there. I wish they had built the house at the back of the lot. I was
watching you climb the trees. You are really good. I can't believe you figured
out how to do all that by yourself. Sure you didn't see a squirrel and copy
what they do?"
"Of course not. Uh... what is a squirrel anyway?"
"A small animal with a real bushy tail. They live in
the trees."
"Oh, those. Well, I guess I have seen them. They sure can climb." he said as he did a little jump like he was starting up a tree.
"Aha! I thought so. Not that you aren't smart enough to figure it all out yourself but you do it so much like a squirrel that you must have seen one do it."
"Of course I could have figured it out for myself. I am much smarter than any old squirrel, right?"
I could see he was on the brink of having his self esteem wrecked. "Of course you are much smarter than any old squirrel. You are a cat."
He sat up a little straighter and stuck
his chest out with pride. He, of course, is a cat. He was tired out from
all the climbing and started across the living room for his little bed.
It looked like a nap attack was after him. I couldn't resist playing with
him a bit.
"Watch out for that tail behind you!" I called.
He spun around and launched a full attack on his tail. Of course he immediately identified it correctly as his own. He stopped and shot me a dirty look and proceeded to his bed. He pulled his tail up with both front paws cupping it and began to groom it. He shot me another dirty look and I began to feel rotten for playing a trick on him.
"Sorry Tigger. I just couldn't help
that. You didn't hurt yourself did you?"
"Of course not. I just hate it when you do that. There was a nap attack almost catching me. You could have made it get me before I got to my bed."
"Sorry. But you are so funny when you attack your own tail. I would think you would know it's back there by now."
"Of course I do. It's just that sometimes I can't be sure if what I see is mine or a strange one so I just attack to be on the safe side."
"Well... as my mom would say.... GOOSE!!!....."