Pookie's Minions - Pookie's Gone ☹

[Goonie]

I love the dog and elephant relationship story. Every time I see their documentary on TV, I tear up.

We saw the bunny last night. He was sitting about 3 feet from the left side of the deck, munching away on grass. When Zim bounced off the deck, he strangely made a left (he always goes to the right) and went nearly as far as his line would allow, then pee'd. The bunny never flinched as Zim approached, nor did he move as Zim wandered the yard. Despite the bitterness of the temps and the fact that it was raining last night, the Bunny was out all night. We even got to say goodnight at around 11:30pm.

I think both Zim and the bunny had developed a bond over time. When the bunny was a wee bit furball, Zim used to chase him off; since the Fall, he would look for him and would refuse to go back into the house unless I promised him that the bunny would come out the next time we go outside :roll:

 

[Goonie]

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!

GUESS WHO I SAW THIS MORNING!!!!

Callie!

First thing I do when I get up every morning is to look out the kitchen window, to see who is on the deck (whether it be Callie or squirrels or birds). Since around Christmas time, my expectation to see a cat was fairly low, so I had gotten used to only seeing squirrels and birds eating from the feeder. When I looked out the window this morning, however, I was very surprised (to say the least) to see a furry being sitting in the corner on the deck. As soon as I caught sight of her from the window, Callie looked up and saw me as well, and she didn't even move when she saw me wave at her. Of course, I immediately went to open a can of food and scooped out about half of it into her bowl, told Zim that I had to go feed the kitty cat, went downstairs, put on my jacket and socks and flip-flops, and went outside. Because the dead-bolt had made a loud squeaking noise, Callie abandoned her corner post and walked to the left side of the deck, but didn't leave. As soon as she saw me, she immediately started to meow and walk towards me. I barely got to pet her before she started to eat her breakfast. She was eating so fast that she literally made snarfing sounds!

I knew she had to be starving since she hadn't eaten (at least not from me) since before Christmas (or whenever she last visited; can't remember anymore). She even licked the bowl and spoon clean!

After she was done eating, she of course rubbed against me and meowed a lot, and I gave her lots of scratches and pettings on her head and neck and butt. Then she proceeded to rub on her house (which she still has yet to go into, but did look inside) and against the railings. After a few minutes, she jumped off of the deck steps and onto the grass, which crunched beneath her and she didn't like that. She walked a little before deciding on plopping down to groom herself. That was when I decided to let Zim out, only because he was inside the house wailing like a big baby :roll:

Once Zim was outside, I went about my business of feeding the birds and squirrels. He must have seen her from under the deck because he promptly went onto the deck to stare at her, even though she paid him no mind and continued to groom herself. I stood behind him and watched them for almost a minute, just to see what he would do. Thank goodness he didn't make a peep nor paced like a mad man. Seeing that all was good with those two, I went back inside to put the bird food away. When I went back outside a mere 15 seconds later, Zim was no longer on the deck; instead, Callie was. She stood there, meowing away, and looking at me. I knew that she wanted me to pet her, so I walked over and gave her more love. Suddenly, she froze and from the corner of my eye I saw Zim walking up the steps and headed our way. Callie thought about bolting right away, but because I told her "It's ok", she stayed, but only for a few more seconds. She finally ran off the deck and headed towards the woods when Zim was about 6 feet away.

I watched her carefully maneuver through the crunchy leaves and crumbly branches until she was out of sight. After listening to rustling sounds for a couple of minutes, I decided to walk down to the side of the house to see where she was going and what she was doing. Just as I got up to the corner of the house, I saw Callie standing on a downed tree, looking surprised that I was there. She hesitated in getting down and out of the woods, because my next door neighbor had someone standing on their driveway with a car in idle (grrr). It wasn't until the guy walked away that she decided to jump down and walk to me. I didn't expect her to welcome my touch because I was wearing gloves (it was way too cold to not have gloves on anymore), but she actually didn't care. About a minute later, she headed towards the street but hesitated at the corner of my driveway because the car was still parked on the street, and she wasn't sure if it'd suddenly move and scare her. She looked left, then right (towards the abandoned lot), then left again, then right again; it was like watching someone trying to cross a street with heaving traffic :laughing6: Finally, she took a deep breath and made a quick right jump onto the lot, looked back at me, waited 2 seconds, then ran to the safety of the dirt mounds. I waited for about 30 seconds to see if she'd come back, but she didn't, so I made my way over to the lot. Again, she looked surprised to see me walking over, but quickly nixed the apprehension and came over for some more loving from me. Then I watched her walk back to and under the construction trailer, then to the middle of the trailer. I walked over to the trailer door area and squatted down, seeing what she was doing. I chuckled when I saw her tilt her head to look at me. She did a little more grooming then walked to the other end of the trailer before disappearing.

As it turns out, she didn't live inside the trailer, but inside one of the many plastic drainage pipes that were sitting next to the house, because that's where she disappeared to.


So, since 8am this morning, I had been on total cloud 9 because I finally got to see Callie and that she was ok.

 

[sweetiepie9]

That's such good news. Sounds like Zim is getting used to you feeding Callie and not making a fuss anymore. Good Zim. Hopefully Callie will feel comfy to come visit more often.

 

[Goonie]

Callie came to visit again on Saturday afternoon, literally seconds after Zim and I went back inside the house. I think she'd been out there prior to us going outside because Zim kept sniffing the deck, and she appeared way too fast to be coming from elsewhere.

When I went upstairs and into the kitchen, I peeked out the window to see what birds were eating from the feeder. Instead of seeing birds or squirrels, I saw Callie sitting in her corner. I was shocked and blurted out, "Callie!" without even thinking, and I guess I was loud enough for her to hear because she immediately looked up at me.

I scooped out the remainder of the food and went back outside. She was still on the right side of the deck, but instead of staying there to eat her dinner, she walked to the left side. I guess that's now the side to eat her meals. Just like on Wednesday, she snarfed down her food, and "asked" me to scoop out the last spoon and a half full of food. After she was done eating, she kept wanting to go back to her perch by the bird feeder, but hesitated because I was there. She walked to the middle of the deck then back to me twice, until she finally caught sight of Zim standing at the sliding glass door. That was when she decided to walk off of the deck and toward the front of the house. She came back once because I asked her to, but didn't stay. I sat waiting on the deck for about a minute, then I went to see where she walked off to. She was slowly (seriously, like a sloth slow) walking alongside the edge of the woods, looking around for something. When she saw me behind her, she turned around and started to make her way to the driveway. When she got to the end of the driveway, she suddenly froze, because she heard a car coming down the street. Turns out that the neighbor across the street came home. Well, as soon as the car doors opened, she got scared, but instead of bolting to the lot and hide, she turned around and ran towards me (I was still crouched by the back corner of the house), and hid behind me. She ran TO ME and hid behind me! She hid behind me for nearly 10 seconds, and only moved to my side when I told her that it was ok, that I was there to protect her. She stayed with me for another minute or so, got lots of petting, then decided to brave the adventure to the end of the driveway again. Just before turning the corner, she looked back at me. I guess she wanted me to follow her, which I happily complied.

She walked up her dirt mounds, rubbed on the piece of wood that'd been sticking out (and with nails attached :x), rolled around on the dirt mound, then back down to me. I petted her again then she suddenly bolted away (next door neighbors were out :x). She went under the construction trailer and walked to the middle of it. I walked over to the makeshift steps and knelt down, asked her to come back out, but she wouldn't. She paced a little under the trailer, then headed for the pipes. Because it was still light out, I finally got to see where she went after disappearing from under the trailer. Instead of going inside the pipes, she walked on top of them, and from there she made a right through a fence, then I lost sight of her.

Because curiosity got the best of me, I decided to walk around to the other street to see if she ended up in someone's yard. As I walked down the street, I called out her name, especially by the homes that were connected to the unfinished house. No meows. No sightings of Callie. By now, I was starting to turn into a frozen popsicle, so I decided to abandon my search and go home.

 

[Esther19]

How sweet. You have become The Protector of Princess Callie. You should add that under your signature every time you sign something. :love5:

 

[sweetiepie9]

You should, you two have such a strong bond now!

 

[Goonie]

Who would've thought that a stray cat would bond with someone who never liked cats. It's like an episode out of the Twilight Zone! :lol:


So, I finally have a beardie-related story to tell.

Nearly all day yesterday, Pookie had been black bearding, head bobbing, and chasing Digi up and down the couch. Of course, it didn't help that Digi was incredibly restless and kept wandering. I kept telling them that they can't sit together because they're not allowed any more babies. I finally gave up in trying to separate them around late afternoon/early evening. Well, if I had known that it was going to turn out as well as it did, I would've given up hours ago.

Digi was already in front of the window, and Pookie was behind her on the couch. He sat there for a long time, then slowly walked over to her and lied down. He rested his head on the turtle stuffy's head and looked quite content; so much so that he dozed off for a nap. In the next 10-15 minutes, Digi slowly moved herself over to the right until she was touching Pookie's head with her nose. They stayed like that for a long time until Pookie suddenly woke up and started bobbing at her. He turned himself around and Digi somehow ended up sitting on top of him. To my amazement, Pookie didn't get upset nor black beard at her for doing that; instead, they stayed like that for hours until Digi finally crawled off of him and back to leaning against the window for night night.

I left them sleeping like that and covered them up with a blanket. When I got up this morning, Pookie was already up and sitting on the seat of the couch, but Digi was still under the blanket.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Wonder what that was all about. If he wanted to make babies, he would have, so guess that's not what he was about. Guess he just wanted her to stay with him, but on top of him :mrgreen: That must have been hilarious. They are the strangest pair but you can see how much they love each other.
Twilight zone, indeed :lol:

 

[Goonie]

Pookie doesn't like it when anyone is restless, including the dog (remember years ago when Zim was pacing back and forth from the living room to the kitchen, and Pookie chased after him and head bobbed at him?). So, I think he was merely trying to keep her still just so he could sit with her for awhile . . . that or he got tired of chasing after her and simply gave up :laughing6:

Yes, they are the strangest pair of beardies ever and truly do love each other.

 

[Goonie]

A little past 8am this morning, I went to let Zim outside for potty. As soon as I opened the back door, he immediately looked left and took off running. Of course, I ran out after him, just in case he caught up to whoever was on the deck. To my surprise and delight, it was Callie! Instead of her usual retreat to the edge of the yard/woods, she sat at the bottom of the side steps. As I got within 4 feet of the steps, she meowed and started to walk up. By now, Zim had walked away to do his business, which was a good thing, because Callie was determined to come back up on the deck whether Zim was still there or not.

She pranced up the 3 steps and over to me, meowed quite loudly, and stretched up her neck so I could pet her head (our usual first greeting). We got to spend some quality time before Zim walked back up on the deck. Callie didn't run off right away, not until Zim was nearly right behind me. Again, Callie didn't retreat to the woods, but instead sat at the bottom of the steps. She even walked up to the second step and looked at Zim as if she was asking for permission to proceed. When she stepped onto the top step and onto the deck, that was where Zim drew the line and he lunged forward, scaring her off the deck. She walked to the edge of the yard/woods and took a couple of looks back, to ensure that the evil dog was still there. At this point, I decided that I'd better get her breakfast before she ran off and decided to not come back. I told Callie to stay put, that I'd be right back with her breakfast, then told Zim to leave the kitty cat alone.

When I went back outside, Callie had made her way to the backyard, standing at her old stomping grounds (the drainage pipe). When she saw me with her food bowl, she immediately galloped her way back by the side of the deck. I had given her nearly two-thirds of a can of food, and she ate all but one teaspoonful. During this time, Zim was on the deck howling like a wolf on a full moon night. When she was all done eating, she headed for the front of the house. I tried to convince her to come back and play with me, but she kept on walking. Then I told her that I'll put Zim back into the house so we can spend more time; unfortunately, even after Zim had left, Callie still wanted to go home.

After watching her walk away, then disappearing onto the lot, I finally decided to stand up (had been crouching on the lawn) and follow her. As soon as I reached the end of my driveway, I saw Callie sitting on the ground about 10 feet in, grooming herself. She stood up when I approached and reached up for head scratches. A couple of minutes later, she turned around and walked away from me, then under the trailer she went. For the first time, I saw why she always stopped at a certain spot to groom herself or do whatever -- it's because there's a piece of 2x4 on the ground, a perfect perch spot that prevented her from having to sit on the cold and dirty ground. What a smart girl!

Shortly after she groomed herself, she walked to the other end of the trailer and within a second, appeared on top of the pipes. Instead of walking on, she actually stopped and turned around to look at me with the same look whenever she wants me to follow her. Seeing that I wasn't moving, she crossed the fence opening, but not before turning around once more to look at me. Again, seeing that I wasn't moving nor following her, she kept going. I watched her walk and walk and walk, until she finally disappeared deep in the brush of the creek. Now I'm dying to know where she goes after she leaves me.

A few hours ago, I had taken Squirt out of his tank for some play time (Pookie had decided to go home and stay there). While I was busy with work and not thinking straight, I suddenly wondered why Pookie was shuffling his feet when he walked, but because I was busy, I didn't bother to look. Finally, about a half hour later, I looked up from my computer and over to where the shuffling sounds were coming from. My immediate reaction was, "Oh my goodness! What happened to Pookie? He shrunk!", then my head cleared and remembered that Squirt was out.

 

[Goonie]

Remember a while back when I posted about seeing a cat very similar in markings to Callie, but much smaller? Well, I'd seen this cat wandering around my backyard a few more times and even once coming from the lot and onto the driveway.

A couple of weeks ago, when I went outside in the morning to fill the bird/squirrel feeders, I saw a cat run out of Callie's house and bolt to the front of my house. I didn't get a good look at who bolted out of the house, but I did see a blur of white and black fly off of the deck. I went to look at the house and the mat inside it, and the mat had moved an inch towards the back.

Then, just last night, during Zim's second potty session, another cat tried to enter the house, but my presence on the deck frightened it and it made a quick retreat off of the steps, and ended up landing on the downspout which made a loud clanking sound. I ran (as much as I could with the deck already freezing up) to the side yard and saw a small white figure run towards the lot and disappearing. After coming back to the backyard, I looked inside the house to see if anything was moved, but it was still the same as before, with a little dirt smudge on the entrance.

At least somebody is using the house

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm glad to hear Callie's house is being used. It must help at night when it gets even colder

 

[Goonie]

I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore by anything that Pookie does, but . . .

Last night, sometime between 7:40pm and 8:30pm, Pookie was pacing a bit in his house, going from the couch to under his tree branch to the front of his house. He finally stopped pacing and propped himself on his mattress, with his hands clutched on the edge of the couch. I walked over, straightened some things, told him to settle down because it's close to night night time and patted the other end of his mattress without saying a word, then walked away. About 10 minutes or so after his lights turned off, I looked over to see where he finally decided to settle down, and to my surprise, his entire body was stretched out on the mattress with only his tail hanging off (of course). He understood my patting the other end of his mattress!

I love my smarty pants!

 

[sweetiepie9]

He is such a smarty pants! He has a bigger bed now that he can stretch out on? I remember the bed as being too short for him. Good man, Pookie!

 

[Goonie]

He really is smart. Too smart.

Pookie broke the bed a long time ago. The headboard came undone when he stretched out on it one day, so I decided to not give it back.
He only use the mattress now. It sits right in front of his couch.