First, a definition: You know when you see a kitten stalking something and it’s concentrating really hard? It has its head low to the ground, moving one…step…forward. Then…one…more…step. Butt wriggles. About to pounce…and…ooh, look something shiny! And suddenly the kitten is off doing something else, its prey forgotten? That is kittening out. Prepare yourself for some random, unrelated topics.
First, I bought ugli fruit today. And boy is it ever ugly. It is the cross between a grapefruit, and orange and a tangerine. If it turns out pretty they call it a tangelo. If it looks like this, well, they’ve decided to try to sell them anyway.
"Super nose says this is safe to eat. Super eyes say...eew."
The guy at the store who saw me laugh says they are actually quite tasty.
Did you know that raw peanuts lead to mangy looking squirrels? I found that out on a website for squirrel lovers that happened to be on a website for exterminators in Florida. The top picture is a gnarly looking dude holding a raccoon and a opposum. But he likes squirrels.
I was reading about peanuts because when I was home for lunch the squirrel feeder had grown a tail. A squirrel was all the way in the box trying to dig out the last of the peanuts. I was trying to find out where to buy more. I found some at Murdoch’s but I couldn’t tell if they were roasted (thus safe) so I bought HUGE sunflower seeds and “backyard buffet” that has a little bit of everything. That should take them a while to eat.
Also at Murdoch’s…baby birds! Chicks, ducklings, tiny quail and turkeys. So cute. For a moment I tried to picture Oli and Obi with a chick. I’m pretty sure the chick would win.
Oliver has been bringing his favorite toy to bed with him. He brings it up to my pillow, tucks it under the sheet and tries to lay down. But, to his great disappointment, I will not allow the toy in bed. It’s not like his favorite toy is the teddy bear mousie. Or even Mr. Cow. It’s a milk ring. Um, no.
Obi has been with us for almost a year. Tomorrow morning I take him in for his annual check up. Will he weigh more than ten pounds? Will he be charming? Will the girls ooh and aah over his glorious beauty? Will there be little kids who will be THRILLED to find out his name is Obi Wan Kittenobi? Will he still be terrified of the kitty carrier?
And now, for Thunder Thursday, I bring you Kitten Thunder’s future kitty-cousins. The Boy’s mom’s kitties. This is NOT an announcement of any sort; this is merely an assumption that some day in the future I will become Mrs. Boy.
"Touch the belly...if you dare."
Lacey is quite discerning about her humans. I didn’t get to interact with her much when we visited. But she’s a pretty princess. But check out this glamour shot of Chuck:
"It is hard to contain this much handsome in one face."
Kitten Thunder: Life lessons and cat tales 
Your momentary evil fantasy reminded me of something I did once as a young cat owner. I bought a young mouse and brought it home for my indoor cat to play with. Thats how I learned that mice have the ‘freeze’ instinct. The mouse wouldnt run franticly across the floor and my cat didnt play hunter. So I set the mouse outside. Am I evil? I would never do that kinda thing now though. 🙂
For a moment I couldn’t figure out why you were calling it an evil fantasy. Then I realized that most cats would kill a chick. I didn’t think about that for even a second – the boys wouldn’t even hurt it. I’m pretty sure they’d either snuggle it or run from it.
When I first got my dragon I felt bad that I wasn’t feeding him live food so I went to get him crickets. I battled the guilt of killing poor insects and the guilt of denying Zen’s nature. Lucky for me one climbed on his foot and he backed away, freaked out, and refused to eat them. Of course, then I had six live crickets. I had no choice but to release them…in December…in Wyoming. I hope they passed out quickly. Zenis perfectly happy eating freeze-dried crickets that someone else killed.
I agree, I am lucky that my cat didnt hurt the mouse. If she had, I probably would have felt guilty for the rest of my life. But I was very young and not thinking of consequenses. 🙂
Mine happened in summer
My cat’s don’t wiggle their bums, when they were kittens I taught them how to pounce, because they were clueless, I’d lay down with my butt in the air wiggling it and then pounce on a toy, and then they’d copy me. However apparently I didn’t wiggle as well as I thought, Roarke has taken to just shimming his Wight off one back foot to the other…and he looks stupid.
For the squirrels you could try some nuts in shells, it is hilarious watching them bust them open 🙂 and I’m sure it would make great out-tv viewing.
Our poor cats, having to learn how to be cats from their humans. That’s why Oliver is such a dork, too.
We have peanut shells all over the porch from the last batch. Now we’ll add sunflower seed shells to that. Fine in the winter, but this summer we’re going to want to sit on that porch. Ugh.
Your future cats-in-law are ADORABLE, even though Lacey may in fact be a rug, not a cat. And how can raw peanuts be bad for squirrels? It’s not like you see them in the wild, building teeny fires to roast their nuts! (heh heh, nuts.)
Ah yes, but this is what I didn’t think about…peanuts are not native to the U.S. so squirrels don’t eat them in the wild. And I also found out that they are actually beans. Oily, waxy beans that make squirrel hair fall out. But roasting makes it all better.
I do love the visual of squirrels sitting around the campfire…
so peabeans make their squirrel hair fall out? HOW DO THEY KNOW THAT?
Lacey, the one pictured on her back, loves to have her belly rubbed, by me. She is a one-person cat. I have seen this cat literally bite a mouse in two. Just a good crunch and the second part of the mouse fell to the ground. I will not describe other truly gross hunting things she has done.
Our friend Kevin’s cat, Katman, once took him a squirrel and tucked it into bed with him while he slept. Except when he pulled back the sheet it was only the back half of the squirrel. He spent a lot of time wondering where the other half of that squirrel would show up.
Never did.
Wow, It really never occured to me that peanuts are not native to the U.S. I cant even think ‘squirrel’ without also thinking ‘peanut.’ interesting.