The Ups and Downs of May

Well, friends, it's been about a month since my last post.

I had been successfully vole hunting at the time.

Well, I almost had another vole, but I dropped it.

Yeah, that's right.  I'm ashamed to admit it, but I did indeed drop it.

I dropped it right down into the bottom of the empty fountain.

O.K., maybe not quite empty.

You see, there was just a bit of water in the bottom.

I thought I might go down and retrieve the vole since

it was just sitting there...

...but my strong abhorrence of water got the better of me.

In the end, I decided my desire to avoid the water outweighed 

my desire to catch the vole.

Then, to add insult to injury, an intruder wandered into my

vole hunting grounds.

All I could do was watch helplessly from my window.

My only consolation was that he didn't catch any voles.

Still, the days were warm, so I was able to spend some time

outside with Mom.

One day Mom and I sat out on the patio while Daddy ran the vacuum.

I could hear the noise and wanted to retreat to safety.

The only trouble was that my places of safety were overrun by the vacuum.

When Daddy was done, he came to open the door for me.

Unfortunately, he decided to take a picture before letting me in.

You can see the impatience on my face.

From there the month of May only got worse.

The dreaded day finally arrived.

That is, the day they got the fountain up and running.

WELL!

How am I supposed to hunt voles with all that water around?

So I took up a different post from which to watch the neighborhood.

I also had quite a bit of energy.

Mom and I had some fun days.

I just want to remember them in slow-motion.

Ah...good times.

Things were starting to look up again.

I would be quite content if May stayed warm and relaxing.

I had turned my attention from voles to birds.

Mom doesn't like me chasing birds, though.

I also spent time visiting with my friend Felix.

Then, when May showed its true colors and the rain began

to pour, I rebelled.

I ran over to see Felix despite getting a bit wet on the way there.

So, with intermittent sunshine, I had to enjoy it every chance I got.

I tried my best to take in the pleasantness of those brief moments.

My outdoor time has become my obsession.

There has even been an amazing change to my turf.

Management added these wonderful signs:

Hopefully this will mean a reduction of dog traffic on my sidewalk.

That way I can enjoy the tasty plant in peace.

The best part of May, of course, was my Gotcha Day.

That's right...

as of May 19th I've lived in my forever home for 4 years!

Mom made me a new catnip toy.

I found it quite satisfactory.

The other kitties in the neighborhood have been

trying to enjoy the bits of sunshine as well.

I was happy to see Tucker and Abby out on their balcony.

I couldn't reach them, though.

Tucker was a bit more social than usual.

I tried various angles of greeting.

Mom even helped a bit by putting my box outside.

Abby had been social, but then she chose to ignore me.

At least Felix was mostly reachable.

That's why he's my best friend.

>^.^<

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.

>^.^<