Coons and Frogs

[FireCloud]

Since it was a holiday and I had some free time, I walked up to the beaver pond late this evening, took my light and my gun, along with my baby kitten, and sat on a log high on the bank hoping I might catch a coon coming down to the pond. The pond is the only large amount of water left in the creek. Nothing but a handful of small scattered pools of water remain anywhere else along the creek. Thus, I felt everything in the immediate vicinity probably visits the beaver pond regularly.

On the way I did see a large number of deer tracks, including one big set of tracks with visible dew claw imprints. Hope I see that buck this fall. The kitten had fun walking every fallen log in the area, climbing a few small trees, and exploring everything until dark, when she then curled at my feet for a nap. She was born wild in the woods and lived for a month or so in the woods ithout ever seeing humans so she really enjoys the woods.

We sat by the pond as dusk fell and night arrived, then left about 9 pm. The only thing I saw was one squirrel who did not appreciate me bringing the cat and scolded her for a while. It's definitely a good coon hunting spot as there were coon tracks all over the creek bed. I enjoyed the hunt and will be back one night soon when I don't have to work the next day and can stay longer.

On the walk back, I encountered a ton of bullfrogs at every one of the few water holes left. The lack of water has caused the frogs to really be concentrated and this should make frog hunting much easier. I did manage to shoot a big one and wounded him. He flipped and flopped through the water trying to escape. It was teasing for sure because as he flopped about I got a good look at a pair of big, fat frog legs and could just taste them fried up and on my plate. But it was not meant to be as he dived into some brush, found a hole into which he fled, and got away.

However, now that I see how the frogs are concentrated around the few water spots, I am going frog hunting soon and try to bring home a bunch. Frog legs make some good eating!

By the time we got home it was 9:45 which is past Mija's bedtime. I gave her a quick bath and she curled up and is out like a light. I think she was dead tired from our long day of adventure. And yes, she takes a bath very well. In fact, she actually enjoys being shampooed and clean. I give her one every single day (sometimes twice per day) and as long as the water temperature is plenty warm, she does not complain. She will actually sit in my hand soaking wet after her bath and calmly wait for me to dry her off. Most cats would howl, fight, claw, bite, and flee at any chance they got to get away from a bath. Very few will sit in your open hand and behave!

[Bullie]

I have never seen a cat sit for a bath.. or even heard of one that gets bathed every day. Heck, LG doesn't get bathed every day.

[gtk]

I have never seen a cat sit for a bath.. or even heard of one that gets bathed every day. Heck, LG doesn't get bathed every day.

Can't say I've ever seen a sit for a bath either..

[LazyGhost]

Your right bullie. That cat does get more baths than me. I am just glad I dont have firecloud givin me mine.

[jbullard1]

Your right bullie. That cat does get more baths than me. I am just glad I dont have firecloud givin me mine.

[FireCloud]

Next time I give her a bath, I will take some pictures of the process and post them so you can see for yourself. Most of the time she will stand under the tub or sink faucet with the water running on her back to wash the shampoo off without me even holding her. And she usually will stand still for me to work the shampoo in after she is completely wet, although she is not directly under the water while I am shampooing her. Rarely does she make any noise objecting to the bath once she is actually soaked. If she complains at all, it right before she is put under the water but even then it is usually very minimal complaint. She gets her ears swabbed out without resisting too.

The process is really not hard to accomplish with any animal if you do the training right. You have to spend considerable time with the animal you are training however, forming a bond of complete trust and mutual understanding by the animal of the dominant-submissive nature of a human master and owner. Once the animal accepts that you are the authority over them and they develop a strong bond with you, they will work to try to please you by being obedient to your desires. This works extremely well with training dogs but will also works fairly well with cats.

So yes, you can train a cat to overcome its instinctive resistance to water. The way you do that is simple. You don't give the cat a choice to avoid a bath and you repeat the process enough so that the cat becomes acclimated to bathing. Plus, you work to make the experience a satisfying one for the animal. Mija, for instance. likes hair shampoo to be used because it smells good to her rather than bath soap. So I use the shampoo. And I set the bottle in the bottom of the tub before we start the bath so she can see and smell it.

I go through several other processes exactly the same way every time and in the same sequence so that she becomes mentally conditioned to the structured way we do a bath. This helps the cat be assured that the situation is not going to be an unpleasant surprise but will be just like all the other baths which she successfuly completed. Therefore she does not tend to resist because she knows what to expect and that it does not hurt her.

By the way, I treat my kitten the same way I treat my women. I take care of their needs, teach them to be obedient, play rough with them, and always make them purr!

[LadyHunter]

I think everyone was to stunned by the last paragraph in this thread to post anything else!!

[LazyGhost]

I think everyone was to stunned by the last paragraph in this thread to post anything else!!

[jbullard1]

Go Ladyhunter

[FireCloud]

It does appear I have strayed a bit from the coons and frogs part of the thread. But I'd like to ask what part of the last paragraph stunned you, Ladyhunter?

[LadyHunter]

It does appear I have strayed a bit from the coons and frogs part of the thread. But I'd like to ask what part of the last paragraph stunned you, Ladyhunter?

If I tried to answer that my post might get as long as some of yours....just saying....

[jv]

Next

[Todd Macko]

Dang! Y'all gotta stop. I got a sinus headache and I just realized that laughing is about the last thing I want to do right now!

[LazyGhost]