Wednesday 13 August 2008

Furry Felines and Mesmerising Mantids


So, I am sitting here, watching the Olympics, hoping, beyond hope, that I might catch a glimpse of any competitor other than a Canadian. Now, just as an aside, that really bugs me. I don't care whether you are a Canadian, American, or Outer Mongolian, surely anyone who is interested in watching any kind of sport is interested in all the competitors, not just the ones that they are supporting? What is the point of seeing just one nation's competitors and not their competition? How can you judge how well they are doing if you have nothing to compare them to? Even if I were supporting the Canadians, I would like to see the best of the other countries. And, let's be honest, here is another example of why I will never be truly Canadian. Firstly, I don't like TimBits and secondly, I still root for the British.

Back to the plot - sitting watching the Olympics - when I hear what I think is the sound of a fire engine, just as it is starting up its siren. A deep whine rising in strength and volume, to a loud, rumbling wail. No, wait, it is not a siren at all, it is someone's weed wacker. Nope, the sound is emanating from inside the house. What the .............ah, now that I have levered myself off the sofa, I have pinpointed the sound - it is Tess, my sweet, furry, bundle of fluff, imitating a cross between a fire engine siren and a weed wacker. That can only mean one thing - another cat. Yep, there it is, beating a hasty retreat down the garden path. We seem to be getting quite a few feline visitors recently. That might have something to do with the fact that half the neighbourhood cats are now addicted to our little patch of catnip and so turn up every day, craving their daily fix. Neither Tess nor Willow appreciate this - they do not make very good pushers - apparently their patch of nip is not for sale!



On the Tess and catnip front, my little Tessie had a bit of trip yesterday. Mr. DBM had supplied her with her daily dose. She likes to pounce on it and then roll around on it before eating it. Unfortunately for her, on this occasion it got stuck in her belly fur, right where she couldn't quite reach it. So, much rolling over and over and over ensued. Mr. DBM thought she was having a fit. I just couldn't stop laughing. Tess was not amused and had to go for a nap after all that activity.

Back onto the sofa......................screeeeech, scrabble, yowwwlll, scrtchhhhhhh, scrttchhhhh, scrttchhhhh, whoooooosh, swish, thump, thump! Now what!?! Can't I get a minutes peace and quiet to marvel how badly the Canadian Olympians are doing? I prise myself off the sofa again and, yep, it is that demented cat again. Tess. This time, she has snorted half the container of catnip, which was on the table. She went to lay down, missed the table and fell off. In the process of falling off, she scrabbled around a lot, grabbed onto the table runner and and pulled 80% of it off the table. Luckily for her, the 20% on which my lovely fruit bowl sits stayed on the table, just.
I think perhaps she needs to lay off the catnip for a while - a little detox program might be in order.

As for my other feline friend, Willow, well she has found herself a new game to play. She seems to have gotten bored with the running from the back door to the front door game and has moved on to the catch, release, catch and release game. This involves her finding some poor, unfortunate rodent and bringing it home. To begin with, they would arrive back here, sans head, but she has since discovered it is far more fun to bring them home alive and kicking. She can then release them and sit back and enjoy the spectacle that is me, running around with a tupperware container, trying to catch the poor little bugger. Yes, I know, I could just leave them, but then Willow would be straight back out again, and after her second catch, there is no release. So, I have to perform the second catch. I then trundle off to the creek that runs down the back of the house to perform the release. If the owls living in the woods behind my house were smart, they would just sit around waiting for me to show up with my tupperware container:

"Ooooh, here comes lunch."
"Excellent - I quite fancy shrew today, what about you?"
"Well, I am hoping for a nice fat vole, but a field mouse would do."

Great game, huh? No? Well, I have tried to explain this to Willow, but, well, she is a cat, isn't she? And that means that she catches mice and ignores anything and everything that I say, except tuna - she never ignores that.

After all that hunting, Willow needs to have a nap too - at least she earns hers, unlike her sister! You know the saying "Let sleeping dogs lie"? Well, trust me, it needs to be applied to cats too. She may look all cute and cuddly, but you just try and stroke her tummy when she is all stretched out like that. Don't say I didn't warn you.................





Just as a contrast to all things cute and furry, let me introduce you to my newest pet - a praying mantis. OK, so even I can't claim this pet to be cute, but it really is quite fascinating and definitely mesmirising. Just look into those eyes...................




8 comments:

MYM said...

LOL @ stuck in her belly. OMG, those photos ARE adorable!!! Hunters need their sleep.

Praying mantis are odd little creatures, their faces are so animated looking. Rather alien like.

Now, I'm going to ignore the who timbits thing. As for the Olympics I kinda agree. There's always the American networks, but they're even way more patriotic then CBC. Overall, I'd rather see a variety and then maybe a recap of how all the Canadians did.

Mrs. Falkenberg said...

I did read the whole post. Really. But I cannot get past the "I don't like Timbits" part. What is WRONG with you?!!! Do you not get the yummy, fit in your mouth, tasty goodness?

Anonymous said...

Great photos of the new bug. Drowsey Monkey is right, he looks like he popped right out of a science fiction movie. How big is the little devil? (I only ask because I know how powerful your new camera lense is).

I won't get started on the Canadian Olympic team, but I don't mind making the odd comment on the TV coverage. You are right, of course, about the fact that CBC does not give much time to coverage of other nations, unless it is in sports that Canadians are really good at.

Like swimming (no medals). Like diving (no medals). Like shooting, guns or bows, which we all do of course because we are a frontier society (no medals). Like cycling (no medals - but the track competition is coming up). So you want to see British athletes? You won't see archery or equestrian events on the CBC. You are going to have to wait for track and field, rowing (and only then if they compete against a Canadian boat), and team pursuit cycling.

No medals - Togo stole one from us. Things are not good.

Final comment on the CBC - they make us wait for hours to watch the finals of the womens' team gymnastic competition, and then break for a commercial so that the we miss the beginning of it. Unbelievable!

The bug did make me smile though.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

LOL! Those cats! LOL! She'd snorted half the container of catnip? Hahahaha!

I don't know what Timbits taste like but they look like little doughnuts so they'd probably make me feel rather unwell. I think I'll give them a miss, if you don't mind. ;)

Don't Bug Me! said...

DM: Yes, they are adorable and that is why they get spoilt rotten.

AM: Sorry about the Timbits - I really can't explain why I don't really like them. I have quite the sweet tooth, so I should like them, but they are not quite right somehow. Perhaps you need to grow up on them, a bit like marmite (not as in taste, obviously!)

Cortes: The mantid is about 1.5" long, but it is not yet full grown.
As for the Olympics, i am still waiting to see a horse and the equestrian events are nearly over! And it is not just the CBC, it is also the American channels, with a very selective coverage. At least they will clump their adverts so that they can give unbroken coverage when needed.

Jay: Tess has been gone cold turkey on the catnip front. To keep her happy, she is on a detox program of tuna.
Timbits are like mini-doughnuts, so if doughnuts don't work for you, then I would stay away from these. And really, I don't mind, but Average Mom might!

Baino said...

I have to say, your photography is STUNNING (poor antipodean hack still trying to work out the manual setting s on a Cannon 400D great tool, crap tradeswoman).

First, the Olympics I'm actually trying to boycott them but hey, they're on every channel and correct me if I'm wrong but only Australia is competing? (Except for that Phelps freak who seems to be jet propelled) Looks like biased commentary is endemic. As for the pussy schnoofs . .love 'em but I daren't have one here for fear they'd eat our parrots. (Used to have a very indoorsy Burmese so I know the sound)

Trophies, I've had birds, ducks to be precise and numerous road kill rabbit body parts. And there's something green and stinky that labradors mistake for eau de parfum and insist on spreading behind their ears and a total look of deep satisfaction that now they smell just gorgeous.

Then, the mantis . . .they are very, very cool. We have huge things here (well not prolific but occasional) and you can pick them up and put them on your shoulder and they kind of rock back and forth before taking a step. I had no idea you had them in Canada or is he a 'spesh pet'?

Don't Bug Me! said...

Hi Baino!
Thank you for the compliment!
Olympics - it is not just the lack of other competitors that bugs me, but the very patchy coverage - we get to see entire baseball, softball, football and beach volley ball matches, but we have yet to even see a glimpse of a boat or a horse, not even a mention. There are so many sports there and we get to see the freak Phelps swimming his race 50 times - OK, OK, I get it, he is amazing, brilliant, etc etc, but please, can we see something else?
Cats - at our previous place, Willow used to bring back ducklings - I spent many a trip to the pond looking for the right mother to return the little darling to.
Dogs - stinking, half decomposed salmon and duck shit are particular favourites for dogs that I know to roll in. At least my cats are clean and smell nice.
Mantids - mine is a pet, but we do have them here in Canada, although I am sure that they are quite a bit smaller and less impressive than you have downunder. I did have some monster Australian prickly stick insects as pets for a while......

English Mum said...

I'm with Baino. I love them and would have loads if it wasn't for Bert. I'm just dying to reach out and stroke that furry tummy - even at the risk of several hypodermic injections!!! The mantid (mantis??) is COOL! The kids are out but I'll show them when they get home. I bet I'll be bombarded with 'Mum, can we have a mantid? Can we? Huh? Can we?' for the next few months! x