Here’s photographic evidence that it’s not just your comparatively dainty backyard saucer-scraper who loves to play in boxes:
This tufted beauty also loves boxes every bit as much as cat wrangler Marc’s marauding kitten horde no doubt does:
I’m a dog person, but one thing I miss about having cats around is their box and bag antics. Someday!
Open thread!
Germy
Do you remember when A.H. encountered Serious Cat?
bystander
Vive la difference! Down the page here at le Figaro is a poll: Should police be allowed to carry a gun during emergency periods if the agent is not on duty? How quaint!
khead
1000 cat toys in this house and the only thing the cats want is my wife’s shoes to sleep on.
J R in WV
Wow, does the big cat in the “Rusty” box have some beautiful ears or what?
Our cats like their little cat caves too. And Punkin, the formerly fat cat with the drapey belly-skin now that she’s svelt loves to sit on a paper bag and tear it into shreds with her teeth.I love me some cats!
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
OMG don’t get me started about my kitty.
Germy
Rusty has the same expression on his face that our little kitteh gets when she sits in a shoebox. Dignified and serious contentment.
Betty Cracker
@J R in WV: Those ears!
Despite being a confirmed dog person, I love cats too, and someday, I will prevail upon the mister to add one or two to our menagerie. I’m just biding my time…
geg6
Beautiful cat! And I’m not even a cat person.
Lovey loves her some boxes. She loves to hide. In a box, her kennel, under chairs, under the bed, between the couch and the comforter that covers it. Pretty much anywhere she can burrow under or into.
Elizabelle
Did anyone see the Acrocats on Colbert a few nights ago? They, uh, pretty much stayed in their boxes. It was funny. The only one prancing through was Colbert, in cat ears.
Guess it was Monday night, commemorating the Paris attacks, they opened with blue, white and red (vive la France) and music.
Aha: digg is on it.
CAN’T TEACH A CAT NEW ANYTHING
Colbert’s ‘Fuck You’ To ISIS Was The Amazing Acro-Cats
jeffreyw
Where’s Bitsy?
Germy
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: This thread is a trap to lure me in, so I can post comments and then tear my hair out when my comments get eaten.
Gahh!!
shell
And laundry baskets!
Agreed, that Rusty box cat is one beautiful feline
Betty Cracker
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: We want to hear every detail about each and every kitty. And if you can supply engrossing accounts of any medical issues, well, that will just be the antibiotic on the anal sac impaction!
Germy
Our cat’s favorite game is called “Attack From Hidden Place”
She conceals herself under a chair (it has cloth cover all around the bottom) and then when I dangle a toy, one paw darts out to catch the toy. Claws out, she catches the toy and drags it into her hiding spot.
repeat until she loses interest.
NobodySpecial
I have always wondered about why cats love boxes but have never wondered enough to actually Google the answer.
And, of course, as a old gamer, this picture comes immediately to mind…
jeffreyw
@jeffreyw:
Dunno – I’ll go look.
jeffreyw
@jeffreyw:
She’s not in here!
jeffreyw
She may be outside.
Tommy
I read a story the other day that panthers are going to soon make all their way to Illinois. I find this kind of neat since like the first project I worked on in my professional life was a kit for school kids in Florida to save said panthers. Appears we did our little part to save them. Oh and yes there are panthers in FL if you wonder!
Roger Moore
Big cats also like catnip. It’s amazing how similar they are to housecats.
PurpleGirl
It may have been on National Geographic or Animal Planet but I saw a show about big cats and how they play with boxes. It was funny watching them.
At my friend’s kitten rescue housewarming on Sunday, there was a lot of paper stuffing from Amazon boxes. The cats and kittens love the paper, so it was saved. (There already are a lot of boxes in the house.)
ETA: I’ll have try to bring over some pictures from the party. There is one of a momcat and two kittens sitting in paper.
jeffreyw
She’s not in here, either.
The Other Chuck
@NobodySpecial: Something about claiming spaces with defined boundaries. Same reason they’ll sit on any newspaper you set down on the floor. Just put a circle of string on the floor sometime: they’ll invariably sit in the center of it.
jeffreyw
Maybe set out some bait?
khead
Has anyone grabbed Kevin Drum and slapped him like the scene in Airplane yet? So he can get a grip?
Tommy
Sitting at a vet. House sitting my brothers dog. He got really sick. I just had one thing to do, watch his dog. Clearly I was not successful in this little thing.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
I bet if we gave those cats Website in a Box they could build a better blog than this.
Srv
Cats are true conservatives. They’re happy with the simple things and satisfied with what they have. If only liberals could be more like them.
EZSmirkzz
Sen. Marco Rubio just called for shutting down the Republican Caucus in the US House of Representatives!
Goes without saying sir, goes without saying.
Betty Cracker
@Tommy: I hope the dog is okay!
@khead: What has Drum done? He’s usually fairly sensible…
Germy
I used to have a cat (30+ years ago) who looked just like Tunch. Except he had spots on his white fur. He was a big guy, and liked to stretch out on his stomach for relaxation, with his arms forward.
WaterGirl
@Germy: When he was younger, my boy kitty would hide behind the curtains and then jump out at my puppy when he walked by. It was pretty funny and I meant to take videos; I hope I did!
Funny in a different way was the day my boy kitty jumped out at me (!) when I was walking by the curtain. I think i blurted out a very real “eek!” and then laughed because he had gotten me, too. Kind of sad that he has given that up now that he’s 5. :-(
WaterGirl
@Germy: Hey! When I tried to post my kitty story below I got the evil server error. And of course I had forgotten to copy my comment before pressing post. So sad! Then I thought to try the back button, and there was my comment sitting there, just waiting for me to press Post.
Maybe try that next time you get the evil error when you try to post a comment?
Tommy
@Betty Cracker: I sure hope so. Couldn’t get my brother on the phone so I took him to my vet. Lady is a rock star. When not tending to a dog or cat she is mobile looking at horses or cows. Always felt she might know what she is doing.
Bobby Thomson
@Betty Cracker: Drum has been a pants wetting squish.
khead
@Betty Cracker:
Pour a stiff drink. Start here:
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/11/liberals-should-knock-mockery-over-calls-limit-syrian-refugees
Germy
@WaterGirl: thanks, I’ll give it a try.
The pounce from the curtains is a favorite of young cats. It’s a great game for them, and I think they’re even happier if you let out a yell.
khead
I’m in mod. Not sure if it’s the link or a word I used.
Edit – Heh. Spoke too soon.
Mike J
@Elizabelle:
Nobody told the cats, “qui ne saute pas n’est pas Français.”
Tommy
I am a cat guy, but have thought more than a little about getting a dog. But I will tell you this, housesitting a large dog for a week, I really like my cat is not as needy.Put out food, water, and she doesn’t need me. This dog so much more effort.
TaMara (BHF)
We have a bobcat wandering around Boulder these days. People have pictures and video of him/her – stunning looking. Very unusual, but kind of fun. When I moved to this side of the Front Range, I did so because I wanted to be closer to the mountains and wildlife. Not disappointed – mountain lions, bear, moose and now the bobcat all spotted nearby. Not that I have spotted them, but I am content with the eagles, hawks and osprey I see all the time.
Germy
A cat can be easier. “Here’s the food dish, here’s the litterbox, you know the drill.”
But our cat will complain loudly several times a day if she wants to play and nobody gets up to participate.
odd thing is, I bought some cat toys called “solo play” or something like that, and in fine print it warns not to leave the cat alone with the toys. (choking hazard?)
But our cat will have intense fun catching a tossed crumpled piece of paper.
Germy
I remember reading Fabulous Freak Brothers comic books. They had a pet cat “Fat Freddie’s Cat” who was smart and crafty. They took him along on adventures. Camped out, and showed him a teepee. The cat circled it several times and then complained he couldn’t find a corner to pee on.
One day during a camping trip the cat wandered off and encountered a lynx. Asked him if he was where “Lynx (linked) sausages came from.”
Anyone remember him?
Mandalay
@Bobby Thomson:
That’s completely misrepresenting his position. He’s saying that liberals should stop mocking those who have concerns about refugees:
Drum is saying that mockery is a dumb approach if you want to win elections, and he is right.
Tommy
@TaMara (BHF): We have been very successful in reinducing cats, deer, wolves, you name it. Some would say to successful. Where I live we have an over deer population. You need animals that kill them. But people are scared of the animals that do that.
rikyrah
Support pours in for fired E. Greenbush Walmart employee who redeemed $5.10 of cans
November 19, 2015
A Times Union story about a Walmart employee fired from his job for redeeming $5.10 worth of empty cans and bottles he found discarded in the parking lot sparked widespread outrage and is gaining traction nationally via social media.
Local readers wrote and called the Times Union to express their anger at Walmart and vowed to boycott the store and to send the fired worker donations. An Altamont woman fired off a letter of indignation to C. Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart.
This groundswell of civic action was touched off by a Times Union story Thursday about Smith, 52, who liked his job gathering shopping carts from the vast parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter here, where customers often left trash and empty drink containers.
Smith picked up the garbage for more than two months until Nov. 6, when he was fired for redeeming $5.10 worth of empty cans and bottles he found discarded on two occasions.
He was called into the security office and interrogated by a manager and two security staff members.
“I didn’t know you couldn’t take empties left behind. They were garbage,” Smith said. “I didn’t even get a chance to explain myself. They told me to turn in my badge.”
[…]
Smith was fired from his $9-an-hour job a few weeks before his 90-day probationary period was up, denying him a 10 percent employee discount and other benefits.
Smith, who is African-American, contacted prisoner advocate Alice Green at the Center for Law and Justice in Albany. She took up Smith’s cause after hearing his account that alleged racial discrimination. During his interrogation, the manager told Smith that a store cashier, who is white, was caught on camera stealing $20 from a cash register and stuffing it into her bra. The cashier paid the money back and was not terminated because she has five kids.
“It raised issues of race and gender,” Green said.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Walmart-fires-East-Greenbush-employee-for-6642073.php
bemused
@Tommy:
We have the big cats in NE Minn. My husband was just telling me of a friend catching pic of one on his trail cam at their hunting shack. We have also heard the screaming of a big cat in the middle of the night a few times during summers. Haven’t gotten any pics on our trail cam or seen one ourselves yet but one was taking a nap on neighbor’s driveway one sunny winter afternoon.
PurpleGirl
@Tommy: When my friends lived in Peekskill, I’d move in for the week or the few days they needed me to house-sit their menagerie. They’d pay my train fare to go to work. In a nine room house they had: 1 Doberman pinscher, 3 (then 4) retired racy grayhounds, a cat, 2 parrots, 3 ferrets and an every changing number of gerbils. The cat was the easiest critter to take care of; the dogs, not so much.
bemused
@Germy:
Ball of paper is a favorite of our two kitties too. They sit and wait, staring at us to throw the balls for them to chase.
bemused
@rikyrah:
That’s just bizarre and petty.
Tenar Darell
Yeah, they like the boxes, but you know they’re all Miss Purrfect Small God of Sarcastic Pets.
JCJ
@Germy:
Yes! I remember the Fabulous Freak Brothers! I had not thought of that comic in years.
Betty Cracker
@Bobby Thomson & khead: Do y’all think Drum is saying we should change our refugee policy? I didn’t read it that way. Sounds like he’s just tone policing. I think he’s wrong about mockery on Twitter’s potential to change electoral fortunes — nobody gives a flying fuck. But I don’t think he’s saying the Republicans are right.
kindness
Ya know Betty, it is OK to have both cats & dogs. I do. My cats are fine with my dogs. My dogs don’t really care about the cats unless the cats are fighting, which they do. Wish they’d get along but they don’t.
Peale
Pretty much sums up 14 years of the GWoT, that we’re still concerned about attacks by the same terrorist groups that we were when it started. Only added a few new ones. Hollande have any better solutions than declaring war and complaining that the US is not moving fast enough? Is he planning on sending more troops to Mali now that his country’s victory over terror in that country appears to be shaky?
Germy
@JCJ: The cat was proudly unfixed as you can see from the illustration.
jeffreyw
@Germy: I remember him shitting in Fat Freddie’s shoe over some slight and hiding out in anticipation of Freddie putting them on.
Goblue72
@Bobby Thomson: He’s a Nancy buying into the rightwing’s arguments. Yes, mocking cowards – and calling them pantswetting pussies – is exactly the correct response.
Germy
@jeffreyw: They made an animated film but I’m not sure if it went anywhere. Fat Freddy’s cat looks good.
EthylEster
My cat ignores boxes. Very strange. Also he does not hang around doors, waiting for them to be opened so he can escape. He has no interest in being outdoors. He likes to watch what happens outdoors but he doesn’t want to be there. I don’t get it. But he is otherwise very nice and smells great.
Bobby Thomson
@Betty Cracker: he’s saying their concerns are perfectly reasonable, because he’s steeped in WASP privilege. He’s calling for the same squishiness that worked do well in 2003 and made him Instaracist’s favorite “liberal” blogger.
Manyakitty
So, since this is an open-ish pet-themed thread, is there going to be a calendar this year? I can’t find anything about it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss the info,
kc
OMG, where are these beauties? Is that your backyard, Betty?
kc
I think Kevin Drum has a point, but people who are more invested in signaling their moral superiority than in effectively helping refugees may disagree.
WereBear
I think boxes and and rugs indicate the way cats think of territory. I can put a tissue on the bed, and they will lie upon it.
So, every year, I get them a rug.
The Holiday Rug
WereBear
@kc: If solemnly pointing out pants-wetting Republicans are wrong worked… we’d get more results from doing it.
Iowa Old Lady
If I can make the link work, here’s an orangutan caring for big kitties:
https://www.facebook.com/kyleandjackieoshow/videos/984625398239035/?fref=nf
ETA: The actual link box didn’t work, but someone (Debbie, maybe?) said I could just paste a naked link in the edit box and that did work.
Amir Khalid
@Germy:
I remember that the cat was considerably smarter than Fat Freddie, and had more exciting adventures too.
workworkwork
@Srv: Cats are actually libertarians – they want all the benefits of being part of a community without any of the responsibilities that go along with it.
Come to think of it, you could say that about conservatives as well.
Huh.
Stan of the Sawgrass
I only had time to scan this thread, but just in case no one mentioned it, I present Maru and the Box Experiment:
Maru and his family live in Tokyo, and I seriously thought about looking them up when I went to Tokyo for the first time earlier this month.
There are a bunch of well-made videos on YouTube, and Maru is one seriously funny cat.