We are cat people, and this page is dedicated to
our cats:
This is one of our sadder pages. Living in a redwood forest has its
attractions, but also a drawback that we did not
envisage when we moved here: predators. We've seen
coyotes regularly, a fox or two and, increasingly, bobcats. The bobcats that we
saw lounged across our garden with the look of kings, clearly conscious of being
at the top of the food chain and not the least concerned about the people
staring at them wide-eyed. Mountain lions have even been sighted in the area
recently.
Pucci (nella)
Our most recent arrival was
Pucci, in May 2007 in the arms of Alban. He had been talking about
bringing a kitten home from the home of one of his friends, where a litter was
eager to be distributed. We had no-no'd the idea, because Snip (see below) had been
the lone cat in the house for about nine months, had never had kittens, and was
not particularly fond of other cats. There was another reason: we'd already lost
Mittens (see below).Needless to say, such concerns had no impact on Alban, a
teenager,
who did what he'd wanted to do and brought her home, so that Snip would no
longer be lonely.
Pucci was one wild and crazy kitten. She played with everything and everyone,
even Snip. The latter began by growling every time the kitten approached, but
grew more playful herself as she accustomed herself to her new little pest.
Pucci was short for Puccinella, and congratulations if you know where her name came from!
She loved to explore. On the left, she's poking her head into the breakfast nook
from the buanderie.
On the right, here she is upside down
on Charlie's shoulder and going pretty much crazy, which she did a lot.
This kitten played her heart out!!
Then, one day before she was a year old, she disappeared, as Mittens had before
her. Alban won't be bringing another kitten to our home
in the woods. There are predators here.
Snip
(& Mittens)
This is Snip (we don't know the mouse), doing what cats are supposed to do.
At least, it appears that she is doing what cats are supposed to do.
Unfortunately, although she is a fearless hunter, her principal prey consists
of
gloves, socks and shin guards. She knows where the gloves are kept, and will
pull them out just to bring them to us. We are, of course, very appreciative.
Although we have been obliged to acquire plastic boxes which close and lock the
soccer and gardening gloves inside so that she
cannot constantly find the easiest prey and bring it to us!
Mittens was our hunter. She brought in the mouse, not Snip. And here lies a problem with
our cats. Cats are supposed to dispose of vermine in the house.
Mittens brought the vermine in!
Mice, rats and moles inhabit the forest we live in (see
our home). Until Mittens stumbled across them.
She then felt compelled to bring them in to show us, although not as proudly as
Snip still shows us her gloves!
Sadly, Mittens did not come back one morning in late 2006 from her nightly
wanderings. Like Pucci, we don't
know where she went . . . Like Pucci, we miss her.
We miss her little presents. Mitty was
a loner, hunted effortlessly, and avoided looking us in the eye. We have very few
pictures of Mitty looking at us. Below right is one, on
the deck. Her eyes were almost never opened so wide.
Snip and Mitty came to us from Project Purr, a local SPCA-type organization, shortly after Banane, our first cat
(see below), died. Sisters, they had been
abandoned very young and then looked after briefly by human "foster parents
affiliated with the organization until we came along.
Above, here they are in 2004 on the roof of the studio (or in-law cottage) that
was Nick's room before he moved out and then
Daphné's
from the summer of 2006 on. They were not easy to distinguish
physically, with Snip having a white spot on her nose and the end of her tail,
and Mitty having white mittens on her paws. It was Charlie
who christened her because of those mittens. Mitty is rolling over in the photo,
and Snip behind her.
Personality-wise, Snip is social, hangs around us a
lot, tended to bully her smaller sister and lacks some of the key feline skills. We have quite a few
photos of
Snip. Here and here are
two photos of her doing what she does best, joining in.
On the left, another typical example of Snip doing her thing, in this case
taking a drink of water. For some reason that we have not been able to fathom,
they do not care to drink water from the bowl that we put out next to their
food. Rather, they drink from vases, as Snip is doing in the photo on the left,
or from other places where water can be found lying around in a house. Gross!
Charles and Alex appreciate having her
around, in fact even our teenagers let their guard down for the cats. They all play with
them and give them plenty of affection. On the left, Snip
joins Charlie for an early morning lie in in
2005. Below,
Alex scratches her chin in the sun on the dining room
floor the same year.
Other extended family members include Grand-père,
Grandma,
Courtney and Antony, her family and
his family.
Before Snip and Mittens came Banane, our little globetrotter, who moved
from France to join us in Santa Cruz to in August 1999, when
Nick and Tom returned to live with us again. She spent a good three years here, and loved the
forest in which she is now buried. She died of old age, and came home to
Alban's
room to see us when she knew that she was on her way.
Banane, notre premier chaton . . .
D'origine de Malakoff, en banlieue parisienne, Banane nous a suivi dans la
forêt
de Rambouillet, et ensuite en Californie. Elle nous a quitté brusquement
au printemps 2002.
Marie-Hélène
a pris cette petite série
superbe.
La voilà
à gauche
à la Bellanderie avec Charles avant notre départ en
1997. Voyez-vous ce
qui va se passer ? Voyez-vous les petits "LU"s de Charles ?
A droite, elle s'approche
de sa proie . . . .
A gauche, la victoire arrive à
celle qui la mérite
!!
La voilà encore veillant sur deux papillons, Alban et
Thomas, au Tahu,
juillet 1995.
Fourteen years together, and we have shared four cats, but only one is still with us.
