Cats Do the Darnedst Things

I'm not really a cat person. It goes with my thinking...if you really love dogs (I do), you can't really love cats. Or if you really love ice cream (I do), you can't also love frozen yogurt.

But once I viewed this video . . .

. . . I may consider a feline roomie.

Cousin Andrea and I used to spend precious time arguing whether her cats or my dog was the more intelligent. I'd call her apartment, get her voicemail, and claim that I was certain her cats could hear my message but were so intellectually-challenged, they couldn't even pick up the phone and say something. Even if they were smart enough to answer the phone but ignored me, then they were obviously ill-mannered.

The truth is:
I don't like animals around which are smarter than I.

Take the neighborhood crow, for instance. I have not liked crows ever since I saw Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." But just so long as they stay out of my way, I can put up with them. This crow, however, found my pristine fountain (in a city full of fountains) and he likes to wash his food in it. Everyday I find myself fishing soaked bread crumbs out of the upper trough.

Yesterday I spotted the bird landing on the fountain. I called out to Bob to scare him away. Unfortunately, Bob isn't very threatening.

So I've devised a plan to mount a fake owl or some shiny strips of paper (maybe even a scarecrow) on the fountain. But deep down I know who's going to win.

And it's humiliating.

I'll stick with a dog.