A Good Vole is a Dead Vole

Well, friends, it's time for another update.

The unusually warm springtime went away.

Fortunately, only one or two days looked like this:

The good news is, as some of you may know,

I CAUGHT A VOLE!

I say 'a' vole instead of 'the' vole because, well, there's more.

It was a relatively warm Wednesday afternoon.

Tornado Girl was visiting per usual.

I wanted to make sure she wasn't stealing all of Mom's attention,

so I made an extra special effort to catch a vole.

Needless to say, I was successful.

I delivered the death blow and dropped it onto the dining room floor.

I stretched my little noggin upward and waited for Mom to give me

the 'atta boy' pat.

She did.

Then, I glanced outside just in time to catch sight of a second vole.

So I quickly went back to work.

It was actually a few days later when I caught the second one.

I hadn't delivered the death blow yet, so I just brought it to the patio.

It turned out to be quite the vicious little beasty and fought back.

Then, just when I was having a nice game of cat and mouse,

this neighbor girl came by.

She commented on how cute I was, THEN she noticed I had 

caught a vole.

She decided to rescue the vermin and set it free back in the tasty plant.

I'm not sure how I feel about this whole 'catch and release' policy.

No...wait...I'm sure I feel that I don't like it.

In case you have any doubt that the vole is a vicious thing,

I give you exhibit A:

Well, that girl releasing my hard-earned catch just took 

all the wind out of my sails.

So I turned my attention to looking for my friends.

Felix was the only one that came to greet me.

I sat by his window for awhile.

Then the urge to hunt got a hold of me once more.

I was still feeling a little miffed about the whole vole situation,

so I tried for a different quarry.

Sparrows.

Mom doesn't like it when I chase after birds.

Neither does the neighbor lady who feeds them.

It seems running towards the neighbors' bird feeder

is a BIG no-no!

I got in trouble.

Then I got the harness.

So I returned to the vole hunt.

Well, I went from vole-hunting king to unruly brat real fast!

Then, with the weather being 'unpleasant for humans',

I found myself indoors with a lot of pent-up energy.

So, while Auntie and Uncle were visiting,

I took a little time to let out some of it.

I even went so far as to grab hold of Mom's camera.

(Check my YouTubes for the whole video.)

All in all, I'd say the time since my last blog post began

with high marks, but ultimately ended with disappointment.

Now all Mom does is argue with me.

Though, she sees it the other way around.

>^.^<

Crouching Winchester, Hidden Vermin

I have taken my mouse hunt to the next level.

Every chance I get I climb through the fence and

take up my post in the dry fountain.

Sure, there are times when I hang out

on the patio with Mom and Daddy.

They're even kind enough to bring one

of my boxes outside.

The grass is a bit damp, so

I'm happy to hop up onto my perch.

I have a decent view of the neighborhood from there.

I can also see Tucker and Abby's balcony.

Most of my time outdoors, however, is spent on the hunt.

Sure, I get a little miffed when I come up empty pawed.

Still, the thrill of the hunt outweighs any disappointment I might experience.

I remain focused.

(What's that blue thing anyway? I'm sure it can't be trusted.)

There was this one time when I felt certain I would catch

the little vermin.

Mom was almost certain too.

There I was, poised for the pounce...

 when the little beastie poked his head out.

Did you see it?!

It's blending in quite well between the rocks.

Here's a closer look:

Unfortunately, I found my pounce angle to be less than perfect,

so I let the little vermin get away.

Mom took that moment to inform me that he was likely a vole or shrew.

She didn't get a good enough look at his snout to be sure.

Mouse, vole, shrew....VERMIN!

Whatever the humans want to call it, I want to call it 'dead'.

After awhile I gave up the hunt to go visit with my neighbors.

Of course you know my best friend, Felix.

Then there's Coco.  I'm not really sure if we spell her name correctly,

but I haven't seen her all winter.

The three of us hung out for awhile.

Coco would look down at me...

...I would look over at Felix.

The three of us took turns looking this way and that.

Coco from her balcony,

me from the rock wall of Felix's yard,

and Felix, from his window.

Yep.

Good times.

Then, the next day, I would return to my hunt.

One of these days I'll master the difficult angles.

Today was not that day.

>^.^<

The Onset of Springtime

Springtime has finally decided to stick around for awhile.
I've actually been able to spend some quality time
outside with Mom's supervision.
Much of this time has been put to use continuing my quest
for the mouse that lives in the tasty plant.

I've even stepped it up a notch and passed through the fence barrier.

Of course, I do take snack breaks.

I couldn't possibly spend all that time near the tasty plant

and not partake in its tasty goodness.

Then it's back to the hunt.

Slowly I creep through the fence...

...and slowly I retreat.

I spend my nights either expending my

pent-up hunting energy...

...or staring at Mom wondering when I'll get to go out again.

Some spring days, however, are a bit chillier than others.

When the ground's cold, I don't like to leave the warmth of a doormat.

Fortunately, I have Mom trained to bring the tasty plant to me.

In other news...

Nice Lady 2 was kind enough to put my office chairs 

back where they belong near my exit door.

I am very grateful for this consideration.

It's nice to know that humans understand the importance

of keeping me happy. 

>^.^<

The Insanity of Humans

Hello readers!

It's been a bit of a crazy week and I feel like

curling up and trying to ignore the world.

First off, the office humans went crazy.

When Mom took me into the office on Wednesday

it looked like this:

Mom said it was because they put in new carpet.

New carpet?

The old one was just how I liked it!

And exactly HOW does that justify all the furniture 

being out of place?

I spent a little time investigating the situation.

I even found the refrigerator in the lobby of all places!

Well!

I had seen enough!

I wanted to go back home where the furniture was

still in a perfectly sane arrangement.

A couple of days later Mom took me to the office again.

I admit that I was in no hurry to return to that madness.

Fortunately, sanity had once again returned.

The furniture wasn't exactly the same as before,

but much closer than it had been the other day!

I tried out a few spots to see how I liked the new arrangement.

It was tolerable, for the most part.

One thing I completely disapprove of is the new placement

of MY chairs.  They are NOT next to the exit closest to home.

I considered actually using the front door,

but after a peek, (and smell) outside, I thought better of it.

Then there was the matter of the smells inside the office.

The new carpet smells quite strange to my senses.

I'm also very wary of any 'underneath' places.

You never know what could be lurking.

That's why I always make Mom look under the bed for

monsters before I settle down to eat my food.

No, really.  I do.

At least the humans saw fit to save me some old and new carpet scraps.

Caturday came around and I got to spend some quality

time with Mom and Daddy as we went for a car ride.

I was content to stay in my traveling bag at first...

...but eventually my curious nature got the best of me.

Caturday night, however, I noticed Daddy packing a suitcase.

That's never a good sign!

Sure enough, bright and early Easter morning, Daddy left.

Mom says he has to go to work far away for this next week.

I'm really confused by this, because I thought Daddy's birthday 

was this week.

So here we are.

Mom and I.

Sure, Auntie and Uncle visited and so will the 

usual humans, but it's not the same without Daddy.

So I'm going to take every opportunity to curl up and ignore the world.

Unless Mom lets me go outside to the tasty plant...

...or maybe a nighttime recon.

Then maybe I'll acknowledge the world.

>^.^<