Saturday, December 13, 2008

Cat Fight!!

Occasionally, Chester has to show Shadow and Julie who's the boss. It will usually start with him slowly approaching one or the other until they can no longer ignore him and then they will start to growl deep in their throats and either strike back or light out running.

Friday evening, Chester started out after his sister(?). [She may be either a full blooded sister or a step sister having a different mother. Two females--one feral and one domestic but in the same yard--both giving birth the same day presumably having been knocked up by the same wandering tom.-ed.] He approached and she growled and started walking away. He lunged and tackled her and all hell broke loose. Spitting, screeching, howling Shadow broke free after a minute or two and raced around the living area with Chester in hot pursuit.

Shadow rounded the kitchen island, leaped to the counter top, to the refrigerator, to the pantry top and up to the beam that is her refuge in a storm. Chester stopped dead in his tracks on the floor in front of the counter. At 17+ pounds, he hasn't been jumping too high lately.

He looked at the height of the counter and screwed up his butt and leaped skyward landing with all the grace associated with a bull in a china shop. The first step accomplished he now looked at the even higher refrigerator top. And jumped to that. Now he had only short leaps to the pantry and then the beam and he could have at Shadow again.

But he didn't do it. Oh, he jumped up onto the beam--but not in the nook Shadow was in. He went to the one next to her and just lay there. While she hissed and growled her contempt, he seemed to be enjoying the view. He has eyed this perch from the stepps but could not figure out how to leap from the steps to the beam. (Secondary beams--floor joists really--block the path unless you've got a vine and the dexterity of Tarzan.)



Shadow (left) is joined by Chester (right). (Click to enlarge.)

I think he really enjoyed having climbed that high and was excited about having done so. Just look at his eyes. (And look at the oh-shit-there-goes-the-neighborhood glare Shadow is giving!)


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