Smokey watched the snow

I sit on things 7

A backpack on the floor makes a fine resting place. 

Smokey loves me

Smokey gave me the best Christmas present. He sat in my lap. Okay, so not exactly because, damn, he is a big cat, but he didn't just two paw me like he does with the other one. He had the entire upper half of his body stretched over my lap. Not only that, he wanted me to give him some love and purred when I did.

Then he bit me. Dude had had enough. He stayed in my lap, though, and proceeded to groom himself.

Hope everyone got Christmas presents as sweet as I did!

Full of hope

...hope to catch a bird, that is. 

With the roses

When the weather was much warmer.

Momma's boy

I recently bragged about Smokey's recent exploits to a friend and learned something cool. She told me that Smokey's familiarity with tree climbing likely came from time spent with his mom, an outdoors cat. Although a family took him in as a kitten, his mom and brother, who remained a stray with mom, would stop by the house to take Smokey out.

Sometimes I feel bad because we separated him from his mom and brother. When Smokey got lost when we first adopted him, we wondered if he had gone in search of them. On the other hand, if we hadn't adopted him, he would have been left outside a stray and he clearly loves having a home. He gets to eat regularly and sleep comfortably. During his time "out in the wild" he even tried to slip into people's garages and lure children with his cuteness in hopes of getting them to let him into their homes (He reportedly rolled around on the ground and let them rub his belly. He hates it when we rub his belly. Hm.).

On another note, I'm debating whether to keep trimming Smokey's claws. We don't like him scratching up our couch but I don't want to remove one of his means of survival either since he goes outdoors quite a bit.

Honeymoon

We left Smokey at home for over a week, with a sitter visiting once a day to feed him. Smokey loved us so much when we came home. The cuddle monster that he'd been when he first came to us returned. In addition to lots of face and body rubs, body curls, and paw plants, he went as far as to sit in a lap! We wondered how long it would last.

See, the main problem is that I work at home. So Smokey is baffled that I don't feed him when he is hungry. You are here. I am hungry. Why can't you feed me? The other problem is we suffocate him with love...

A week. Smokey lasted a week before he began casting disdainful looks at us again. Until the next time we leave him at home?

Secret hiding place

Or not so secret. He usually doesn't go into this space unless we are in the room. And then when we are sleeping. In order to get to the window, he must climb over us and cause a racket as he pulls his fat body over the bed frame. So then we are not sleeping anymore and we know where he is.

Smoosh again

Behind the screen

"My face is too handsome. I must hide it."

Are you going to feed me?

If I'm working at home, Smokey spends most the afternoon staring at me until I feed him.

Sniff

Our teenage cat son

Sometimes we think that having Smokey gives us a small window into what it would be like to have a teenager in the house:

Smokey is always looking for something to eat. And he can eat a lot when given the chance.

When guests come by, he stalks into the bedroom to get away from us.

He wants to exert independence by going out on his own.

He rolls his eyes at our expressions of affection.

He sleeps all day.

And to hit the nail on the head, we just found out that Smokey seems to have developed cat acne on his chin.

Unflattering

I wish I could say that this is Smokey after gorging on the Thanksgiving meal, but, alas, this is a typical look for him. 

"I don't care. I am comfortable."

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

One of Smokey's favorite spots

I don't know what about this spot attracts Smokey. Ok, so it provides a little hiding place. 

 But then he starts licking the window frame.

 And rubbing himself on it.

"What? I'm not doing anything."

Step softly

I am ready to go home

Grazes like a gazelle

Aware

When Smokey hears something that concerns him, his ears go back. 

Round

We bother Smokey

It was cold last night

Stalk

Laying around

Yaaawr--

Eats crickets

I was on the phone last night when I saw Smokey sniffing at something with his back towards me. "What is that cat sniffing on the floor?" I wondered. Was there some piece of dirt or crumb that drew his attention? The next thing I knew, he turned around and before him was a nice, fat cricket. Since I was on the phone, I don't remember clearly what happened after that. Was the cricket already immobilized at that point? It didn't try to hop away I don't think. Smokey bat it couple times and, then, he ate it. No, he didn't swallow it whole. It went in and out of his jaws a few times before he crunched down. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. Crunch. Crunch. And then out came the head and one leg. The cricket was otherwise gone.

We didn't know Smokey liked to eat bugs. Up until then we had only seen flying ones, which he watched for few minutes before getting bored. Eating bugs must have helped Smokey survive when he was lost in the wild. One or two probably wouldn't have been enough, however. 

Just a few minutes later, Smokey gazed up at me with his big, clear eyes, looking as sweet as possible: "I'm hungry. Feed me." 

Smokey, you just had a snack. Don't tell me you're still hungry. 

Disappointed, Smokey turned away and sniffed at the cricket head and leg he had left uneaten. In the head went into his mouth... and out it came again. Guess the head is the least savory part of a cricket. Good to know. 

Ready to leap

No, this time he did not jump up the tree.

Smokey hears a bird

Spooked

Smokey crouches down when a storm comes.

On the hunt

Have you ever seen the Discovery Channel series Naked and Afraid? For each episode, man and a woman are dropped off in some remote place without any clothes and with very few tools for a month. During this month, they have to build shelter and fire and find water and food to survive until they are rescued at the end of the month. It was pretty interesting. At first you expect there to be hanky panky what with a naked man and woman stuck together, but the struggle to survive wins over any initial sexual attraction. 

One of the women on the show was an expert hunter. I have never been hunting so it was an eye opening experience. Turns out you spend much of your time hunting waiting. And waiting. And waiting. She didn't catch anything, but she explained that in hunting you watch quietly. 

Watching quietly must be Smokey's strategy. Can you spot the cat? 

"I come out the other side. I am done hunting for now."

When people walk by...

Smokey crouches down. 

I sit on things 6

 "Hm. What can I play with here?"

 bat bat bat bat bat

"That was fun."

Smokey's neighbors

This is Sammo. I mentioned Sammo in a previous post.

This is Toro. He is Sammo's housemate.

Toro loves Smokey, but Smokey does not love Toro. Ever since Smokey moved in next door, Toro has looked forward to going home at the end of walks because that means he gets to sniff out Smokey's scent outside our door. They have met dog to cat several times and Smokey is not a fan. Toro is just too eager beaver for this cool cat. So Smokey hisses at Toro to keep his distance, at which point Toro sobers up from the disappointment that the cat does not share his desire to become friends.

I can see where Smokey's coming from. How would you feel if someone rushed at you and pushed himself or herself in your face every time you meet?

"This dog is too much."

Cat beard fail

Apparently there is this cat beard meme going around. The following is a failed attempt at the cat beard. 

In case you were wondering, Smokey was not amused.

The cat and the tree

Yes. Smokey climbed a tree. 

Can you believe I was taking pictures instead of trying to get him down? This is not the first time Smokey has jumped up a tree. The other times, he aborted halfway. This time he kept going up. Maybe it was time to clip his nails? 

Up he goes.  

He just kept going up.

Smokey doesn't look scared at all does he? In fact, I would say he was enjoying himself as he meandered up the tree branch and gnawed on some little twigs on the way. Meanwhile, I am down below, exhorting him to come down (and, ahem, taking photos). A neighbor came by and said that the scene looked like the classic little girl standing below a tree trying to get her cat down.

At least we didn't have to call the firefighters. Smokey came down himself, easy peasy.

I'm not sure I would let Smokey go up again, but then I'm not sure how I can prevent him from climbing the tree...just like I can't seem to prevent him from going under cars.

The cat