Pookie's Minions - Pookie's Gone ☹

[Esther19]

There will be a special place in Heaven for you, Gina.

 

[Goonie]

Tell us something we didn't know Gina. :lol:

I am so transparent, huh?

There will be a special place in Heaven for you, Gina.

Thanks, Esther. I hope so.

Guess what happened this morning?! When I got up this morning, the first thing I did was to look out the kitchen window to see if the calico was on the deck, because she didn't show up last night. Sure enough, she was lying down in her corner, waiting for somebirdie to show up. I scooped out about a tablespoon and a half of wet food into a styrofoam bowl (which, by the way, is too light and the bottom bows out, so I'll have to go out and buy something different), then went downstairs. When I opened the back door, she immediately bolted across the deck and down the stairs. I walked out onto the deck and said, "Wait, don't go! I have yummy for you. Aren't you hungry?" She stopped half way down the steps, looked back at me, meowed once, then continued walking. I made my way to the top of the steps and squatted down, still talking to her and holding out my arm with the bowl of food. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and began meowing, a lot. Then, to my ultimate surprise, she turned around and started back up the steps. She made it up two steps, stopped, sniffed, and meowed. I showed her the bowl of food again and told her that it was ok to come up and eat, that I won't hurt her. She walked up one more step, meowed again, and stretched out her neck to get a better sniff of the enticing aroma. Then,--are you ready for this?--she walked all the way up to the top of the steps, 1.5 feet away from me, still neck stretched to smell the food. I know she wanted very badly to eat but was hesitant to take it from my hand. So, seeing that she was hungry, I put the bowl down and backed up to sit on the upper part of the deck, about 7 feet away. No sooner had I sat down that she came up and began to eat. Unfortunately, because the bowl was bowed on the bottom, it kept spinning every time she went to lick the food. It was fine when she was grabbing bites, but not when she was licking. I think the spinning of the bowl and Zim freaking out inside the house deterred her from enjoying her breakfast, because after about 5 minutes, she gave up and walked back down the stairs and under the deck. I ended up strategically placing the bowl on the grass so it wouldn't move, then watched her contently eat from above. She left a little less than a teaspoon of food in the bowl before disappearing under the deck (no clue where she went, because I didn't see her exit from either side). Then I had to let Zim out before he tore down the interior door or plowed through the sliding glass door.

Yeah, me so happy today

 

[sue09]

You are one special lady, Sue.

 

[diamc]

Oh, that's so cute. You have a new critter to love & take care of now.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm so glad she's feeling more comfy with you, but Zim is another story :lol: Guess you'll be getting a better bowl for her and feeding her more often. I still miss my cat Squeakers, he was 15 when he passed away in 2005. Enjoy her!
And yes, you'll have a very special place in Heaven...because you're a very special lady.

 

[Goonie]

She was on the deck again this morning. I had to laugh when I first saw her because she was having a standoff with a squirrel, and boy was that squirrel not happy with her being there. After pacing back and forth on the deck rail, and trying to figure out how to scare her away, the squirrel finally gave up and walked to the far end of the rails (by the steps) and started chirping and ferociously waving its tail.

I decided to try Squirt's old water bowl instead of the flimsy styrofoam bowls. Just like yesterday, she bolted as soon as the backdoor was opened, and just like yesterday, I called her back and she responded with lots of faint meows. I showed her the bowl and she looked somewhat concerned and wouldn't walk up the stairs, and even started to walk away. I told her that it was ok and reached out my arm so she could see/smell it better. She very hesitantly walked up one step, sniffed, then meowed; then she'd walk up another step and do the same. Finally, I placed the bowl down on the top of the steps and went to sit down a few feet away. She looked at me, then at the bowl, then at me again; that's when I knew that she wanted me farther away, to which I complied. I went to sit at the same place as yesterday and she immediately walked up to the second to last step up and started to sniff the bowl. The look on her face when was trying to figure out what that was was priceless. She so carefully sniffed it, then ever so slowly picked up her right paw and touched it. When her nail caught the edge of the bowl and moved it, she got startled and gave a :shock: look. Then she sniffed the bowl again and looked at me again. I finally had to tell her that it was ok to eat out of it. She again sniffed the edge of the bowl and gently touched it with her left paw, then again with her right. It was then that she finally decided that the strange looking gray thing wasn't going to bite her and she began to eat. Even with Zim standing at the sliding glass door didn't stop her. She had her head down and ate and ate and ate, until she couldn't get anymore from the crevices of the bowl and walked away, somewhat reluctantly though. I walked over to see how much she'd eaten and saw what she had left in the bowl; with my finger, I gathered up the remaining food and showed her that it wasn't stuck anymore. She still wanted to walk away into the woods (but kept stopping and looking back at me), so I placed the bowl on the bottom step on the other side of the deck and walked back up to the deck and proceeded to clean the bird/squirrel feeders. I peeked back over to see if she had returned to finish her breakfast, and sure enough, there she was eating away. She got to a certain point and couldn't get the little bit that was left, so I once again shifted the food for her. By now, she was making her way over to the woods again, so I placed the bowl down on the grass and went about my business of feeding the birds/squirrels. When I finished and went to see if she was still here, she was pouncing around on the grass chasing after something. At first I thought it was a cricket or some other bug, but then it squeaked whenever she pounced on it. That's when I knew that she was chasing a mouse, but she wasn't chasing it like she truly wanted to catch it. Each time she pounced on the mouse and it squeaked, she'd look up at me, then back down on the grass. This went on for a few minutes until she got tired of the game and walked away.

Oh, I finally got a good look at her ears and saw that her left ear was cropped, meaning that she's a TNR cat, not someone's outdoor cat. That's why she's always looking for something to eat.

Now that I know she prefers wet food over dry, what the heck am I going to do with 5 lbs of dry cat food? :roll:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, if you had roaches, you could grind it up bit by bit for roach chow. I think your best bet is to give it to a local cat/dog shelter, there's one in your area, right? They'd appreciate the chow for sure.

I'm glad your little calico is getting food, but does this mean she belongs to someone close by? And just likes to visit? Funny about the mouse, she found a plaything that she didn't want to eat. And the squirrel, too, it knew better than to bother the lady :lol:

 

[Goonie]

I guess I'll start give it to the raccoon and skunks and birds, and whoever else likes to eat dry cat food. I even bought a more flavorful type this time, thinking that the seafood might entice her to eat it more. Who knew!

No. The cropped ear meant that she'd been trapped and fixed, then released back into the wild. They do that so whoever happens to find her again won't try to have her fixed again, or assume that she's out overpopulating the cat world.
If she'd been someone cat but just allowed to roam free, her ear wouldn't have been cropped. They only do that to feral/stray cats.

When I first heard the mouse squeak, I thought that perhaps she was going to kill it and give it to me, but then she let it go and watched it scurry among the grass, then pounce on it again. She never even put her mouth near the mouse whenever she got hold of it. Could she be showing me that she is capable of catching mice? Or was she simply being playful? Either way, I thought it was really cute and I chuckled at her for prancing and pouncing.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Gina,

That is such a great story of your new Calico stray cat. LOL It sounds like she is getting spoiled, too.
You have a soft heart. I am sure it wont be long until you can pet her, also.

Tracie

 

[Tonja]

Thank you for the advice on Emily, I wasn't sure how to handle her slow down and you helped. I don't talk a whole lot but do keep up. I tell ya, first a beardie whisperer, then a skunk whisperer, now a cat whisperer. Probably get on with the raccoons also. You have such a kind heart when it comes to critters. I am going to tell you my two little stories. I had a squirrel in Va that I could call to come get its dinner <I called it baby>. I would tap a peanut on the balcony railing and call for Baby to come get dinner. She/he would run from the woods across the yard and up the wall to the balcony and sit eating peanuts. It got to where she/he would twine around my feet and eat peanut butter from a lid sitting in my lap. She/he got so used to me she would come to the glass door to let me know she/he was hungry and would actually come into the house, eat then curl up with a ceramic dog and sleep a bit then out she/he would go till time to eat again. Cutest little squirrel I ever saw and tame to me feeding her/him. Then while living in Texas, we had a in ground and slightly above ground pool. Had my French doors open to the deck with the screens closed. I was vacumning the house when I noticed a bobcat drinking out of the pool. I watched her for a bit and started talking to her. Every day she would come and I would talk to her. It got to where I could go outside and stand by the door and she wouldn't so much as flinch a muscle. Finally I could sit on the deck with her drinking. One day she came up and rubbed against my feet and left. She did this daily and I would never touch her, was afraid to that she would not be back to drink her water. Well one day she disappeared <hubby never believed we had a bobcat drinking from the pool> and I didn't see her for a long time. Hubby was home one day and I was in the bedroom folding clothes and I saw movement out the window so I looked and there was the bobcat. I paid little attention to her, but she would go around the corner of the house, and back again. She did this several times so I went to the French doors and she was standing there pacing. She backed away and I opened the door and she ran to the yard looking over her shoulder. I didn't move so she edged up to the deck and back to the yard. I thought she wanted me to follow her <hubby was watching from inside scared I would be attacked> so I followed her around the bottom of the deck without getting to close. She stood with her tail up and twitching a little, ears up and forward and doing a bobcat meow without growling. So I walked over to her slowly and there she had brought her kittens for me to see. There were two of them. I talked to her and told her good girl. Hubby could not believe it. She came over rubbed against my legs grabbed a kitten and over the fence she went..came back got the other and never saw her again. I know that little bobcat came to show me her kittens. I know it in my heart. It took many times of her coming for a drink where we were both comfortable that we would not hurt each other and she knew I would never touch her or attempt to. it was a mutual trust I think. Had a bluejay that would sit on my shoulder and if I turned to look at it on my shoulder, it would lightly peck my face till I turned away from it...that silly bluejay would sit on my shoulder everytime I would go sit on the deck lol but I could not look at it sitting there, it would peck me to look away. I also could go out and with no fear, walk among the wild buffalo in the Wichita Mountain wildlife preserve to take their pictures. They never moved or flinched or acted aggressive, as long as I kept my head down and didn't make contact with my eyes,,got some awesome photos of them that way.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Wow, Tonja, those are wonderful stories, you're as much of an animal whisperer as Gina is. Loved your stories, especially about the bobcat.

 

[diamc]

I enjoyed them too Tonja, thanks for sharing. You & Gina have a special way with ALL animals and we love hearing about it.

 

[Goonie]

Wow! You befriended a bobcat?! And she came back to show you her babies?! OMG! I would've died on the spot from sheer joy!
That squirrel sounded like such a sweetheart. It must not know that it's supposed to be wild and a squirrel :laughing6:
None of the resident birds would allow me to get close. They would, however, crow and screech and chirp if their feeders were empty :roll:

 

[Goonie]

Please help me in deciding on which photos to submit for the calendar. My picks are next to their names.

Gianna (#2 & #4)

#1

#2

#3

#4

MoMo (#2 & #3)

#1

#2

#3

#4

Pookie (#1 & #4 [or #5])

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

 

[diamc]

Hi Gina. You always take such great pictures. All of them are very good.

I love #3 for Gianna the best. But 2 & 4 are really good too.

I love #4 for MoMo, #3 is a good one too.

For Pookie, it's hard to narrow it down, love 3, 4 & 5.