Sneaking up on Mr Owl

by Cathy Crossgrove, Redwood City, CA, USA

I USED to sneak up on my old cat Mr Owl, and grab his tail (near the base) and make that 'squirrel chat' noise. He'd turn around and say "(huff) AArrgggghh!" and stomp slowly off, lashing his tail and grumbling. Not the way to treat a dignified cat!

Scene switchs to the interior of my truck. Late at night, and I have to make a bank deposit on my way home. Mr. Owl is asleep on the seat next to me. I am SO paranoid, I park as close to the driveup as possible w/o scraping the paint off the truck. I even put the truck in reverse, so the back up lights would be on. I'm doing the deposit, checking the mirrors, then decide to make a quick cash withdrawal, since everything looked OK.

I put my card in the machine, punched the buttons, took another look around, and reached out with my right hand to get the $$$. Just as I grabbed the cash, I FELT A HAND GRAB MY SHOULDER!!! I'm not the type to scream, but I fully expected to feel a gun in the back of my neck any minute. I VERY VERY slowly turn, just my head, and saw - Mr. Owl.

He had gotten tired of waiting, hopped up on the back of the seat - without my seeing him, crossed behind me, and, because the seat belt was in his way, half hopped over, so his 2 front paws were on my sholder. His whiskers tickled my ear as he peered out, trying to see "what's the holdup?" HE WAS!!! Oh, did I mention he was a 22lb maine coon? My heart was pounding so hard, I couldn't hear anything else. I managed to get the $$ and the front end of the cat BACK into the truck, and drove home. My heart was still thundering when I got home, so I could hardly tell my husband about what happened. He nearly fell over, laughing himself silly.

Of course I knew exactly what the cat was doing, he was giving me a taste of my own medicine. So, as soon as I caught my breath, I picked up the cat, looked him straight in the eye, and promised "I will NEVER ever again sneak up and pull your tail!" Mr. Owl half closed his eyes and just PURRED.

I never did sneak up on that cat again. I also never went through a driveup window with him either.

Editor's note:

• Please let Cathy know if you liked hearing about Mr. Owl and his adventures. He died on September 4, 1996, at age 20y10, and she expects the anniversaries will be pretty tough.
• If you want to comment on this article, why not write direct to Cathy Crossgrove?
• She will be pleased to hear from you!
• This article is 1997 Cathy Crossgrove

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