Several months ago I posted about Moki, one of our female ferrets,
who would jump onto one of our cat's back and ride the poor animal
around the house.  As Moki has matured, she has abandoned her old
methods of feline torture and adopted a new, more subtle and, judging
from the cats' reactions, more hideous form of attack.  She has
advanced from physical abuse to psychological assault!
 
Moki will select the hapless victim, who is usually minding her own
business, sunning herself by a window while visions of open cans of
Friskies Cat food parade before her, then Moki advances, slowly, very
slowly, and with a very low profile.  When Moki gets six inches from
the cat, she stares at the kitty, goes flat and freezes.  It may take
only a few seconds, or it may take as long as half an hour, but
eventually the cat awakes to find the weasel from hell right next to
her!  But Moki doesn't move, and the cat begins to fidget.  A few
minutes pass, and Moki hasn't so much as blinked.  The cat begins
to growl and hiss, but Moki remains unmoved and unmoving.  Slowly,
the cat begins to inch away, arching her back in alarm.  Depending
on how far the cat backs away, Moki may now creep ever so slowly
towards the cat, but always stopping at six inches.  The cat is now
in a panic, and bolts from the room.  Moki gets up, shakes herself,
and runs around the room, happily chittering to herself.
 
The beauty of this plan, in Moki's eyes, is that it works on all four
of our cats, where as the physical attacks only worked on two of them.
 
Binky has tried to mimic Moki's behavior, but she hasn't the patience,
and if she doesn't get results within a minute, she gives up.
 
Leonard Bottleman       [log in to unmask]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0718]