Tag Archives: cat

Airship Kitty

As the crew, which also included a radio operator, a chief engineer and two mechanics, climbed on board, Simon picked up a stray cat that had been living in the America’s hangar. Like many sailors, he was superstitious. ‘We can never have luck without a cat on board,’ he wrote.

More at The Telegraph, and written up at Purr n Fur Famous Felines and Why Evolution Is True.

In Touch with the Inner Wildcat

Are you one of the many cat owners who has a “chitterer”? My current cat just gazes in helpless abandon at birds outside, but most of the cats I’ve had made a clicking chittering call. There’s disagreement about what this means, from the side effect of an anticipatory jaw movement to a deliberate “bird call” to sheer frustration.

In margays, though, it’s an explicit imitation of prey. It probably helps that tamarins have some calls that overlap with cat sounds. As Laelaps explains, because vocalizations can be used to mark territory, “a monkey or other prey animal that thinks it is coming over to tell a competitor to buzz off may instead come face-to-face with a margay.”

Daily Thing #1

Day 2 of August, my second round of making something every day for a month, and I did succeed in making something (and testing it, even). I also found the registration form for the 3-Day Novel Contest, which runs over Labor Day weekend. Most years, I try to be scrupulous to journal daily during the month of August as a way both to flush the pipes of my worst self-indulgence and get in practice sitting down and writing even if I don’t feel like it.

Making my daily thing something that isn’t writing might make this harder – I guess I’ll find out in September!

Anyway, here is my first thing: a Flying Spaghetti Monster cat toy. I dithered for a couple of weeks over putting this together, because my first couple of tries really didn’t work at all. This doesn’t match my vision, either, but, hey, the FSM is filled with catnip (little-known fact!), and Mr Bun embraced it with all 4 paws.

May I Have This Dance?

26th October 1956: Henry Behrens, the smallest man in the world dances with his pet cat in the doorway of his Worthing home. Measuring only 30 inches high, Mr Behrens has made a living by travelling the world with Burton Lester’s midget troupe. (Photo by Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images)

Thing-a-day 22: Finished Kitty

I straight-stitched the stripes on and then sewed front to back and stuffed kitty. Not exactly the result I’d planned, but I’m making progress matching the result to the intent.

Thing 22: Finished Kitty

The eyes are much lighter in this picture only partly because they light was different; in the first picture, the fabric and floss were still wet from being rinsed.