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Posts: 280I've been following the posts about all the new baby kitties, and just love every one of them. My own little darlin', whom I affectionately refer to as Soxilla, kept hanging around today, just inside the back door. She's usually outside all day, and comes and goes, so I was a little suspicious of her. One of my daughter's cats, who now resides with me, also hung around inside the back door. I was working on restoring an antique composition doll today and looked up to see the two cats in the breakfast room, lying on the floor, very close together facing each other. That's when I KNEW something was up. I called, no answer. Called again, no answer. I got up and went in there. They had a snake in my breakfast room! It was cornered between the two of them! Wiggling for all he was worth, tongue slithering, etc. My heart was pounding, and naturally, I am here at home by myself. I was afraid to leave because I didn't want him to get into another room where I might not be able to find him. At the same time, I had to do something! I finally managed to get outside and get a shovel, scooped him up and threw him out (WAY out). Couldn't kill him in the house, as I knew I'd ruin my linoleum. What an afternoon! I think I need a baby kitty whose eyes are still closed so that it can't see to bring stuff like that in the house. Soooo, what have your cats done for you today? Ha! Luann
Newcastle, OntarioHi Luann,
Aww, your kitties brought you a gift and you didn't show them any appreciation - bad mommy LOL!!! Maybe they know that Mother's day is this Sunday! What kind of snake was it? We only have harmless snakes in eastern Ontario.
Hugs,
Brenda
Cleathero CreationsCats are loyal even iftheydon't show it like dogs.... they really do protect their own
Aren't they great.
Posts: 280If that was a gift for Mother's Day, I'd rather they just got up in my lap or twirled around my ankles! I'm not sure what kind of snake it was, but have been trying to look it up on a website with snakes common to our area. I'm almost certain he wasn't poisonous, as I would surely recognize those. We have plenty of poisonous snakes in this area, though they tend to keep their distance.
Luann
My kitty, Walker, decided to play with my challenge mouse while I was downstairs getting a cup of coffee. He had him by the tail before I shot this picture. Of course, the camera is never loaded and ready when they're actually doing the evil deed!
Warmest hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Newcastle, OntarioHi Luann,
Where do you live in the U.S.? I wouldn't be happy living in an area with poisonous snakes. The only one in Canada is the Mississauga rattler, but it's quite rare and nowhere near where we live.
hugs,
Brenda
Newcastle, OntarioAleta, your challenge mouse is adorable - have you posted a picture of him in showcase yet? I'd love to see him up closer.
Is Walker a Birman? He's gorgeous! My sister and her hubby found a purebred Birman kitten while camping in Grand Ben National Park a few years ago. Someone had lost him, obviously. He's dark chocolate, and absolutely beautiful. I love Birmans.
hugs,
Brenda
Hi Brenda, 
Yep. Mr. Fancy Pants Walker is, indeed, a Birman. I imagine that whoever lost that Birman kitty camping was just heartsick. They're wonderful cats! Affectionate and very playful. My husband did a contract job for a gal with cancer that couldn't pay her bill. She was a Birman breeder. My husband, lovely softie that he is, told her he would take a kitten in trade and call it even. She has a beautiful custom fireplace to keep her warm and we have Walker. He keeps our laps warm at night! I think it was the perfect trade.
Warmest hugs, :hug:
Aleta
P.S. I posted pictures of my Mousie in the challenge section a few minutes ago. 
Happy peeking!
Newcastle, OntarioAleta, your hubby sounds like a real softee! That is such a nice story and I agree it's a fair trade for two warm laps LOL!
We actually babysat my sister's Birman, Ben, for three months - they were going on a sea kayaking trip. It was hard to give him up, but he has a wonderful life, in a farmhouse by the ocean in rural Nova Scotia, with two other kitties. I'll have to get her to send me a current pic of "Ben". I always wondered if they had him "scanned" if they would find a chip to identify him, but by then they were so attached to him, they didn't want to know where he came from.
hugs,
Brenda
Luann,
I'm glad I wasn't at your house today! I'm scared of snakes! 
Newcastle, Ontario
Aleta, my sister just sent me these - this is Ben, her Birman. I would definitely like to have one of these beauties.
Hugs,
Brenda
Brenda,
Ben is a beautiful kitty. Have you seen the orange Birmans? I really, really would like one of those lovelies! I think you need a Birman kitty too.....as soon as you get settled into your new home.
Warmest hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Newcastle, OntarioAleta, I hadn't heard of the orange ones, so I googled them. All I could find is "red point", but it looks orange and they are gorgeous. I never knew there were so many different kinds of Birmans - I'd take any of them LOL!
Hugs,
Brenda
ToadBriarfree snake!!! 
roflmao
We did have just such a guest winter before last - a small juvenile eastern milk snake
was in our utility room, coiled around the dryer exhaust pipe! It was Octoberish & in
the 50's out so I couldn't see fit to put him back out in that weather. So I set him up
in a little 10 gallon tank with a heat lamp etc & 'Autumn' spent the winter with us. He
went back outside in June. He was marvelously tame, no biting or pooping on me or
even waggling his tail. Snakes wiggle their tails when they're nervous - if they're in
dry leaves, any snake can sound like a rattler. But little Autumn was even happy to
eat right out of my hand. Much better manners than the garter snakes who usually
hang around! He sure knew the right house to visit - I was glad to have a chance
to enjoy him.
I keep a ball python girl named Harper & a corn snake fella named Ted. They're
6 & 5 years old, & fully grown at about 5 feet long each. Harper will go to sleep on
my lap, & her belly is ticklish. if I touch her tummy just lightly, she twitches away
just as you do when it tickles. But she does seem to enjoy having her back stroked
with a more firm hand. Holding Teddy is like getting a hand massage, or playing a
more interactive version of cat's cradle.
I am glad you didn't kill the snake - & glad that the kitties didn't, either! They are
good neighbors & eat all manner of garden pests. Poor fellow was probably just
trying to catch some rays when the kitties found him!
Did you ever get a bat in the house? THAT is some cat entertainment. 
That's how I was convinced that my strictly indoor cats really DID need their
rabies vaccs kept up to date after all (we need an "eeek!!" sorta smiley) I do love
bats - would love to put the bat house up this year, after the people house gets
painted - but if he'd smacked into a window or gotten snagged by a kitty I'd have
felt horrid. Was marvelous to see him up close when I threw a towel over him
to take him outside, though. He flew three 'victory laps' around the clearing before
he fluttered off, & I took it as a 'thank you'
Newcastle, OntarioKim, it's nice to hear about your snake stories. I loved snakes as a child - used to be a tomboy and loved to scare all the "girly-girls" with them, when I was a kid LOL! We only have garter snakes here, but we used to get HUGE snapping turtles. Our house is built just off a flood plain, and every spring (up until the last couple of years) they would come up to lay their eggs. One neighbour bought some top soil, and was having breakfast one morning and realized a female turtle was laying eggs in the topsoil! LOL! They can be sooo nasty, but we've found some babies and they are really cute.
We've had bats in our house twice, when we lived up north. They got in when we were raking leaves in the fall. We managed to get one to fly out the door on its own, and the other one we trapped in the bathroom and then opened the window - it was gone after an hour. I don't mind them, but it sure scared the bejeebers out of me when it flew across my face in the dark!! We don't have them where we live now.
hugs,
Brenda
Wild Thyme OriginalsAleta... Walker is a beautiful cat! :hug:
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Past Time BearsAaaahhhhhh, Luann . . . I have a similar strory! One night not so long ago, we were preparing to go to bed and when I started to turn off the lights/fans in the pet room, two of my 4.5 cats were on alert - staring at something just inside the door. On closer inspection, I discovered a young copperhead snake lying right up against the wall. EEEEEKKKK!! Hubby got a broom, I called off the cats and opened the door . . . we literally 'swept' the snake out without any trouble! Whew! It had evidently made its way in through the cat door (wow, I really need to get a new one - or just permanently close that one!!!). We have 4 poisonous snakes in our area . . . copperhead, rattlesnake, water moccasin, and coral snake. Have observed several harmless snakes over the years, but this is a first for the poisonous ones. Hope he cleared out as he matured!!! All of the cats above are just gorgeous!
Newcastle, OntarioSue Ann, I don't think I'd be nearly as comfortable with snakes that are poisonous LOL! I'll take my itty bitty garter snakes and even my big water snakes, any day!
hugs,
Brenda
Posts: 8,574
My two.
They aren't allowed outside....they would be just a little juicy tidbit for tomse of the critters in the forest.
Cats are such a comfort. Kwatzu, the big one knows when I don't feel right...and makes a nuisense of himself trying to help. And when you know that is why he is being a pest, well? I just have to put down whatever i am doing and curl up around him and let him work his magic.
I have IBS and used to throw up alot. Its really silly and very annoying, but I have learned to control it, but pretty much any type of stress, even the slightest good stress can make everything cramp down and whatever might have been moving out of the tum comes back up cuz there is no place for it to go. So I will be standing at the bathroom sink, in super cramped up pain and have a cat on either side looking at me....like they want to help., That or they are hoping to drop Q-Tips down the drain!
The one with the smaller head is the poor wee one who just can't cope with life at all. She is happier in the darkened room with no noise and then she still jumps at every little thing.
hugs
dilu
Newcastle, OntarioDilu, your kitties are beeeaaauuutiful. Black cats are some of the very best - we have had 5 jet black cats and I have adored tham all. Your's have a very oriental look to them. I was told long ago that all black cats have some oriental in them - don't know if it's true or not. Hope you are recovering nicely and are starting to feel better!
hugs,
Brenda
ToadBriarwow, other people with IBS. I don't feel barfy very often (thank you God) but
that's ok, the other stuff is fun enough. I do have panic attacks about having a
flare-up when I am out & about. Tummy troubles + anxiety is a fun combo
I'd get into, say, a traffic jam on an L.A. freeway & my mind just tortures me by coming
up with "wow, wouldn't it be a nightmare if you got crampy upset tummy bathroom necessity
stuff right now?" hooray for prozac, I tell ya.
Here is an old photo of Harper - she's still pretty much the same size. They grow
slowly once they're adults. I admit I'd be rather taken aback if I were to see
'someone' her size in the house uninvited, though!
& the obligatory kitty pics - mind you he's lost about 3 lbs since this photo,
& it's made a lot of difference:
Goblin loves all dogs. Tice the boxer knows all 3 cats by name & if I
scold one of them by name, he will go to that cat & stand too close/loom over
the kitty until said kitty is escorted out of the room. He's like the cat bouncer. 
No dignity: here Goblin wears a small animal cuddle bed as a hat.
Dilu, is Kwatzu like a very very dark siamese, or is it just the finer fur of his face
looks darker? They are both extraordinarily beautiful kitties. Ben & Walker are so
lovely, too. Aleta, remembering your lovely studio photos, Walker totally looks like
he belongs in that environment, taking up a convenient sunbeam!
Past Time Bears:crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: Love Goblin's chapeau, Kim!
