The Perfect Tree

  Little Miss Priss has got to be the silliest thing alive.  I am referring to the Bayou Princess Cat, Ms. Nycto.  Before she came to the Bayou in search of a new home (after being thrown from a car), she obviously was a pampered pet.  This was most likely not by those who did the tossing but by her previous owner.  Through observation of the cat, we have deciphered that she must have belonged to an elderly person who gave her unending treats and let her sleep wherever she wanted.  Son believes that perhaps the person was put in a nursing home or (worse) passed away.  Whoever was responsible for the estate took it upon themselves to "dispose" of the cat and decided to just dump her on the side of the road.  It happens far too often here.  It angers me to find more and more pets being discarded this way.  Throwaway pets...so saddening.

  Anyway, Ms. Nycto was in a frenzy this morning to exit the Little Bayou House.  After spending a peaceful night on the foot of my bed, she awoke with the nagging urge to go outside. Before even eating breakfast, she sat at the door meowing at her loudest.  I relented and out she went.  No problems.  She goes out every day to sleep on the garden bench.  I thought that was where she was headed this morning.  To bad it was not.

  Her idea was not to go to the garden but seek out a stray cat that visited last night.  She HAD to protect her territory.  This is all fine and dandy except for the fact that Ms. Nycto has no inkling of how to protect anything.  Her good intentions failed dramatically, once again.  Five minutes after her exiting the house, I heard a lot of hissing and howling.  Oh, my goodness...THAT CAT!  I stepped out the front door to see a blob of dirty yellow barreling down the lane.  This was a feral tomcat that terrorizes the entire neighborhood.  He is a royal pain!  

  Ok, so if the tomcat was here, that means one thing.  Ms. Nycto is in a tree somewhere.  Last time, she chose a thin sapling to climb and became hopelessly stranded.  The tree was far too thin for Son to climb so Ms. Nycto spent the night in the top of the tree.  The next morning, she came tumbling down and made haste to the house.  She did not venture out for an entire week.  With that memory, I started searching.  I immediately found her perched on a high branch of a live oak tree.  Well, Cat!  I am glad you chose that tree, at least!  If need be, Son can prop the ladder against the tree to retrieve the silly cat.  

  Thankfully, this tree was also easy enough for her to exit.  After about an hour of surveying the yard from her vantage point, she sort of tumbled to the ground.  Ms. Nycto is not the most graceful cat, that is for sure. It seems to me that she needs to learn a lesson about getting into trouble.  Feral cats are a lot stronger and feistier than she is.  At least, she chose the perfect tree this time so maybe she is starting to get the idea.  Maybe....probably not.