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Meet Sonny

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As promised, here are some photos and a video of Sonny.  He’s been here since about 11 A.M. and will be here until my neighbors get home.  You can be certain I’ll give them what for because they continually put him out on the balcony and leave him there all day, he inevitably gets down/falls down and winds up roaming about the neighborhood, and he’s declawed—so he can’t defend himself or even climb, let alone catch the tree when he jumps to it from their balcony (which I suspect is mostly how he gets down, although I’ve seen him standing on their handrail and think he might also be falling from time to time).

First, here’s Sonny being very nice while making clear he’d like the door to be open rather than closed.

Sonny standing and facing the bathroom door (156_5605)

So far as size goes, he’s about Kazon‘s size with a bit more meat on his bones.  Kazon is a lean cat, although he’s muscular and large.  Sonny is about the same size but is filled out a wee bit more.

Here he is lying in front of the door to make certain he’s ready when I decide to leave.

Sonny lying in front of the bathroom door so he's ready when I decide to leave (156_5623)

This is a perfect shot of him coming back for move lovin’.  He’s a very sweet cat who likes to sit on your back, rub against you, be in contact with you however possible, and generally absorb whatever affection you’re offering.

Sonny turning around to get more lovin' (156_5611)

Finally, the video.  He’s quite vocal as you’ll see.  That’s a good sign because it means he’s learned from humans to communicate openly (most don’t know cats are normally not very talkative and only learn from us at an early age that talking and responding is acceptable and expected, and that it gets results and passes on information).

Daddy, I already lost it

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This is a quick little video.  Kazon was in the kitchen and spied a toy sitting near the cabinets.  As one would expect, he prepared to attack, and then he leaped.  The fun was short lived.  If you listen carefully near the end, you’ll hear the way he asks questions.

[note that I had to lighten the video in all formats because the original was terribly dark, so that explains the washed out appearance in all of them; sorry ’bout that]

I love watching them do that

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I have a strange fascination with animals that can descend headfirst.  There are very few animals capable of this feat.  Well, there are very few when compared to the total number of animals we know about.  Some types of leopards can do it, snakes can do it, squirrels can do it, and most certainly, opossums and raccoons can do it.  It takes physical traits as well as ability to pull it off without flying face-first into the ground below.  After all, think about climbing a tree and how you eventually had to get down.  It’s the same way bears get down: ass first.  That makes the descent more difficult since you don’t have a clear view of what you’re doing or where you’re going.

Anyway, I can’t explain why I’ve always been so fascinated with animals that can descend the same way they ascend.  Perhaps it has to do with envy.  If I can’t do something, I probably have a weird interest in those creatures that can.  This is undoubtedly similar to flying, swimming deep for long periods of time without respiration equipment, or seeing well in the dark.  Maybe it’s just a Superman complex in that I want to do all the impossible things I can’t do naturally.

The point of all this is that I accidentally scared a juvenile opossum (Virginia opossum; Didelphis virginiana) yesterday morning.  While it seemed rather late for it to be out and about, opossums are generally nocturnal but aren’t required to be so like raccoons (Procyon lotor).  This little guy was probably on his way to his daytime bed when he stumbled upon the cat food outside.  When I stepped out to the patio, he scampered into the tree.  Eventually, as long as I stood there quietly and without large or sudden movements, he became unable to see me and finally came down.  Although I know he could smell me (they have an excellent sense of smell) and therefore knew I was still there, I also know the pile of cat food at my feet was very enticing.

I was able to capture his descent on video.  Again, I’m just fascinated by the whole headfirst thing.  Oh, and take note of the expert use of its prehensile tail.

By the way, that’s Vazra you hear in the background.  The windows were open and he was talking up a storm.  He does that when anything or anyone is outside.

Will somebody please talk to me!

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Vazra loves to talk.  He’s very responsive when I talk to him, and he’s equally fond of starting conversations on his own.  In addition, he talks to anything moving about outside.  Whether it’s a wild animal or another cat, he’ll talk to it and will follow it around the windows so he can keep talking to it.

One day as I sat at the desk, I could hear him talking to something outside.  He rushed out of the bedroom long before I was able to go investigate.  Before I knew it, he was in the window next to me chattering away to Larenti who had decided to lie down right outside.

Although I missed most of the conversation while scrambling to get the camera, replace the dead battery with a charged one, and get myself situated to grab some photos and video, here’s a snippet of him after he got situated right next to her.  You can see her head through the window as she looks about while Vazra tries to communicate first with her, and then with me (after he noticed I was standing above him).

[do I have to bash the WMV file again?; yes, I do; it made Vazra’s voice sound so tinny and artificial; it also added all manner of conversion artifacts to both the audio and video; and the MOV file is so much smaller yet offers much better quality; I don’t know how to make the MS files better given I’m using the highest setting for the output; piece of shit…]

And things were going so well

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Loki and Kazon are buddies (I call the two of them together The Buds).  They hang out, they play, they explore, and they generally act like best of friends.  Of course, Kazon gets along with everyone because he’s just a kid.  But these two have always been close.

I was sitting at my desk one day and they both stopped by.  After a drink of water from my glass, they sat next to me quietly.  Loki began grooming Kazon, licking his ear and head and generally being very sweet.  Don’t be fooled.  Loki is not a sweet cat.  He’s devious.  He can be sweet, don’t get me wrong, yet more often than not, he’s up to something or will pull something to shatter your notion of him being pleasant.  This is just such a moment.

Watch him gently grooming Kazon while Kazon is suspicious of the whole thing—still enjoying it, of course, but suspicious nonetheless.  He was right to be.  Near the end, Loki proves exactly why he can’t be trusted.  Chomp!

[yes, the WMV file sucks as usual; both the audio and video are washed out, and that’s the “high quality” setting from MS; crap!; the MOV file is smaller and still is of a much higher quality; oh, and I think it’s extremely hysterical Stephen King’s Storm of the Century is playing in the background]