Bring on the Squirrels!!
Editors Note: It’s been a while since we’ve heard from our buddy Zeuss Catt from Boston. With fall just around the corner, it got me to thinking of when I used to live in Upstate New York – it was right around this time that we would start to see squirrels getting ready for the upcoming winter. I happen to love squirrels, so you can imagine how happy I was when Zeuss decided to share this story about his own fascination with this creature.
Fence Walking
by Zeuss
I’ve been studying squirrels lately, and their climbing habits. These small, spastic creatures have some impressive skills when it comes to avoiding a much smarter, handsome animal. Squirrels are able to climb anything, it seems, which facilitates their escape from yours truly. Fences, trees, houses, recycling bins… you name it, and a squirrel has climbed it.
I’ve been able to master climbing to some extent, but “there’s always room for improvement”. (Shout out to Morris the Cat, who coined that inspirational ditty.) Indoors, there’s nothing that I haven’t either climbed or jumped to the top of. Doors, shelves, appliances, furniture, curtain rods… all conquered, and conquered a second time. I’ve even conquered window-screen climbing, but I did that from the inside.
So, inspired by the squirrel, I looked outdoors for my next challenge. And I found it.
Fence-walking.
I began by practicing simply standing on the fence. This was tricky, but I was able to fit all four paws comfortably on the top of the fence so that I held my balance. I call this form of balancing “bird position”. Yes, I know- birds only have two legs.
Once balance was established, I began practicing walking. At first, I thought it was going to be easy. I was able to begin walking from bird position, and made my way over towards the house with little difficulty.
After a short break, I was turned around and walking in the other direction. I used careful steps and great concentration (did I mention that it was drizzling out?) to walk the 20ft. length of fence along the driveway. After a quick stop at the corner of the driveway, I continued the trek along the front sidewalk-side. All was going well, until I got distracted.
I couldn’t resist turning around to look at the car as it approached from my hindquarters, and that threw my balance off. I shook off disappointment, hopped right back up where I fell off, and continued on towards the gate. I wasn’t going to let a car distract me a second time!
That time, my slip had nothing to do with the car! It was drizzling out, and my paw slipped!
Truth is, fence-walking isn’t as easy as squirrels make it look. Although next time, I’m practicing on a dry day.
PS Belated birthday shout out to my dad Zee. He turned the big 06 earlier this week. Happy BDay, old cat!
Happy Birthday to Zee. I have to admit I am a little jealous of your ability to walk that fence. I do not get to out at all. Of course, getting me in harness like that would be near impossible if you must know the truth!
Thanks for the BD wishes Chey! Zeuss lives the life of a bachelor – he has been brought up in a predominantly male world and might perhaps fancy himself doglike (actaully, I take that back – truthfully he finds dogs to be a bit obtuse and stupid). Since he has been wearing a harness since he was just a youngster, he takes to it quite well. Who knows how he would react if they introduced it to him for the first time now!! You might not have a fence, but I bet you still do your best to jump up to real high places and do balancing acts!!
What a handsome chap Zeuss is! But what do you expect given his ancestry lol His determination to get round the fence is impressive.
I love the picture of the squirrel looking in the window. On the island where I live, we no longer have grey squirrels. The wildlife trust have reintroduced the red squirrel which used to be indigenous until the introduction of the grey which killed them all off! They are now trying to get the red to breed once again. xox
Zeuss sure is handsome and one of the most intelligent cats I know of! Oh… good luck with your squirrel population! I love to watch them, and surprisingly, due to the hot weather, we actually have them year round here in Florida. They don’t have nearly the big, bushy tails of their Northern friends, but they are fun to watch and feed nonetheless. Many come close to our front window and torture the cats endlessly!
Hi Zeuss! Do you know how happy my Mom was when she saw SQUIRRELS in it?
Mom is a HUGE squirrel freak from back in the day and she STILL IS!
She has even done posts about them! (Mostly on Dakota’s blog)
I am quite impressed with your fence-walking skills, you are a veritable circus kitty!
Love, your pal, Cody
Hi Cody! We remember a post your Mom did about SQUIRRELS, so we were really hoping you would see this post, cuz we knew she would LOVE it!! The picture of the squirrel on the window is so funny and cute!!! A circus kitty…. hmmmm…. the mind is racing now!!
Zeuss, you keep practicing like this and you’ll do just fine at your next sobriety check-point! =^..^=
Zeuss, could perform in Cirque de Soleil! The squirrels here drive our gang crazy but they’ve never come close to catching one.
I think you are right Layla! Zeuss is a very friendly cat and probably would enjoy being a performer! Our cats very rarely see squirrels when we go out on Saturday mornings, most of their viewings are from the entryway window. I put seed and nuts down – the doves provide mild amusement, when a blue jay comes with the loud cawing, that causes a major tizzy, but when a squirrel happens by to grab a peanut, the cats go into full force, insane mode!!! It’s a riot to watch how they react!
Wow ! That’s really cool walk on the fence ! cause that is so round , small, and solid metal. For me, That’s so hard for the claws to grab and walk..You are Cool !!! Paw Up !!!
xoxo
I agree Puddy – it really is cool that Zeuss can do that!! If you are ever in Boston, he will show you how to do it!!! xoxo
Look at that tightrope walker!! And that up-close-and-personal shot of the squirrel is hilarious! My cats are quite fond of chipmunk-watching 🙂
That is my favorite photo too, Angie! I love chipmunks but have not seen one since I moved from Upstate New York… they are so cute!!
A fence-walker–wow! We don’t even have a fence. We do have squirrels, though, and we know how to yell at them! Hope you see lots more squirrels before winter!
LOL Bernadette… there is nothing better than the chattering and tail twitching wars between a cat and a squirrel!
Happy birthday to Zee!
Wow, your pal Zeuss is pretty amazing with those squirrel-like moves! We are impressed! We’re also impressed by the brazenness of that squirrel in the second picture … it’s like squirrel TV in 3D. 🙂
Thanks for the BD wishes meowmeowmans! I love the idea of 3D squirrel TV – it sure would be a favorite channel at our house!