Animal Cam – Stallone

Saw a cool news story earlier this week about this amazing footage of wild animals captured via web-cam. Basically the cameras blended in with the scenery and the animals went about their business, unaware of human eyes on them.

We know people in the picture changes things. I wonder what I’d learn about my boy via secret taping. He’s always happy to see me when I pop in at unexpected times on my day off, but often appears to be just waking from his nap.

As for the poor kitties at the shelter – it’s a life of constant nap interruptions and vigilance to strange sounds. No wonder so many of them are nervous and shy. Like my sweet boy Stallone. He’s a slender 3 year old, mostly white with Siamese splotches and pale blue eyes. He’s got scratches on his nose, and the chubby cheeks of a cat who wasn’t neutered young. But he’s happy to be inside now.

He’s cautious at first, and there a notation on his chart about not liking to be petted below his head. But after some gentle talk, he surrenders himself to my lap and curls there, head buried in his tail, purring while I stroke the length of his spine. He gets so snuggly and trusting that I feel bad having to tip him off my lap to see other kitties.

Darling Bella, a young super soft tabby and white medium hair girl in a condo down the hall, is scared of the shelter world too. She reacts to her situation by barely eating. She’s wide awake and happy to be petted at least. (Stallone, I notice, has gobbled up all his food in former fighter style.) When I walk by his door again, he mouths a silent and adorable meow.

It’s pretty slow at first, with just a few people wandering around for entertainment. After awhile, a group of wildly dressed young people come by, exclaiming over several of the cats. A pair of them want a second cat to go with their youngster at home. We check out all white Ivory, a charmer who shows well. But they want to look around some more.

Standing there chatting, we’re all quickly mesmerized by the antics of a new pair from Yolo, Lickety and Friend. They’re handsome, cheerful, rough and tumble tabby fellows. Lickety is burrowing under his throw rug, darting out a paw or his nose and waiting for Friend to pounce down on him. It looks like a routine they’ve had since kittenhood, and it’s hugely entertaining to them and us. These guys need their own show.