Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
A Story of Tiger from the Early Days
This happened some years ago after I first came to live with Bob and Sue.
I’d just finished my bath and was relaxing on the desk under the fading light of winter sun….
when I felt a strange tingling in my neck and had the sense I was being watched. I turned around and saw two black eyes peering at me through the window.
I kept my cool but Sue came unglued and began yelling and waving her arms.
“Bob! There’s a raccoon on our roof!”
So there really were raccoons.
The next thing you know Bob’s pumping up the BB gun, running outside and firing away to scare off that old bandit.
But I was left wondering – what else was out there?
You see, up till then I’d been an “indoor cat.” I even hate the name, no offense to the rest of the kingdom. In all my previous lives, I was never allowed to go outside – not even for a short walk in a fenced yard. Never allowed to hunt in the wild like our ancestors did or jump high in the air to catch a winged creature. (Just for play of course.) Instead I had to content myself with the stray spider in the house, the slow moving housefly or worse yet, the taunting of crows and squirrels through the window.
Well, I thought, this raccoon may set back my efforts to ever get outside. Still, I determined to wear them down and day by day, I stood by the door with sad eyes and cried. I made promises to stay inside the fence (uh-huh) and to always come when called. And as the days grew longer and the sun grew brighter and the squirrels began running frantically to and fro, Bob and Sue FINALLY opened the door. And for that I will always be grateful.
~ Tiger
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Wow Tiger, what a great story! Yeah, I guess there really are raccoons…Mom says to tell you not to get too close, “there’s always an element of risk” 😬
Foster🐱🐼
This was the first time I saw one and hopefully will be the last! The woods in back are gone now so I think they moved away! – Tiger
Oh that’s true, I had forgotten about that🤔
It’s still smart to be watchful! 😺
Yay for Tiger. One happy cat.
Yes, he’s one happy indoor-outdoor cat! 😻
Cute story!
Thanks so much! It’s a true story! 🙂 🙂
A coyote just grabbed a pet cat near here. Hope Tiger stays safe!
Yikes! So sad. I haven’t seen raccoons in the area much since the woods were taken out a couple of years ago. Mostly Tiger stays in the yard but there are definitely risks to being an outdoor cat.
Our neighbor’s cat was fond of curling up under the car. I got used to checking for her. We still have plenty of raccoons. One of the perks of living in a place with very little new housing.
You should stay in where it is boring, but safe 🙂
Too late for that, the Cat is out of the bag! But I’m careful and Sue looks out for me! But thanks for caring! 😻 Tiger
We don’t have Raccoons here. Would they kill a cat? I always thought of them as mischevous animals that stole food, and never imagined them hunting other animals of a similar size.
Best wishes, Pete.
They’re slower than cats so I think it’s unlikely. Mainly they like to forage in the garden or eat pet food that’s been left outside (we don’t do that.) We saw them occasionally when we had the woods in back, but not since then. I think our cats are smart enough to stay away if they did come around.