01/30/08 Barn cat

Some lessons just have to be learned even in the animal world. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back with an example. A lot of what an animal needs to know to survive is provided by instinct, but sometimes even they have to be taught valuable lessons. The ranch inherited a large male cat his summer. I first noticed him crouching in the tall grass between the old ranch house and the shop. He was a pretty ratty looking outfit with long, matted hair and wild yellow eyes. I guess he figured if he was going to make any kind of impression that would get him a handout he would need to clean up and make himself a little more presentable because the next time I saw him there was quite a difference. I don't know how he got the job done, but his hair was sure in better shape  long and soft looking and his large eyes were a bunch more mellow with almost a pleading look. He was really quite a handsome big fluffy cat that I had to name Fuzzy because fluffy would have been way too obvious. Well, I asked Fuzzy if he needed a little to eat, but he really didn't have time to answer as he absolutely devoured the cat food I put in front of him. Over the next week or so I coaxed him closer to the barn and pretty soon he was regular customer waiting outside the door where I fed the resident barn cats. While Fuzzy was a pretty street-smart cat that could work up a nice act to get fed, he had a lot to learn about being a barn cat and I'll tell you about that tomorrow. I'm Jeff Keane.