If you stroke a shark on the nose, it goes into a trance. Even so, I wouldn’t read this and then go out and find a shark and stroke his nose. This does not work with all sharks, I believe, and I’m hazy on how to tell a shark which likes being stroked from a … Continue reading »
Should I be concerned that my cat has to think for a very long time before doing anything at all? I don’t mean when he’s hunting. When he’s hunting he’s razor-sharp with mighty fine reaction times to a point of movement. No: my concern refers to the time a cat takes to decide to do … Continue reading »
Poo: the great leveller. It does not matter what kind of doggie food you buy: the outrageously expensive bags of vet chow, or the bargain basement kibble at Aldi: it all ends up the same. The craven hunched form of a little terrier ejecting ballast is a familiar one. So much so that Cornwall’s doggie … Continue reading »
A very small black panther, a patch of black which eats light, lies at my side. It has green eyes and the languid air of a seasoned explorer returned home. He has had a busy day. Because after an eternity of dithering, Clive Bond, the family cat, has mastered The Outside. The development follows a … Continue reading »
Three walks in one day? What dog would not be delirious with joy? Saturday began with a romp round the forest, a five-mile run with the squirrels and the deer. Macaulay the family dog’s utter favourite. And then nine-year-old Felix expressed a desire to do one of his scooterthons. This entails the family hitching up … Continue reading »
A repost from my nephew, Big Al’s nursery days, when our old cat Kit Kat was still ruling the house with a rod of iron. Al was about three at the time. The dog has just looked up from Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and given me a baleful brown-eyed reproach. He has nothing whatsoever to … Continue reading »
Lost in the Mire of Research(similar to the Slough of Despond, only you need stouter wellies) I happened upon the Tin Man dog costume. Yes: someone actually conceived this idea. Someone designed a tin man costume, right out of the Wizard of Oz, only smaller and with four legs. I feel sure Toto would not … Continue reading »
My eyes snapped open. The clock glowed gently: it was three in the morning. I became aware of something hurtling around the room in disjointed dashes. It was the cat: months ago when he was a kitten, these charges which end in standstill stasis were not momentous because he was small, and light, and almost … Continue reading »
There comes a time in every male cat’s life where he becomes obsessed with populating the local area with kittens sporting his genetic imprint. Why making small versions of oneself should entail brawling with other local males, roaming an impossibly wide territory and spraying everything that does not move (and a few things that do) … Continue reading »
Do you remember Cato Fong? An employee of Inspector Jacques Clouseau and expert in martial arts, it was Cato’s job to ambush Clouseau unexpectedly to keep his razor-sharp defence skills finely honed. The two, from the iconic film series The Pink Panther, have delighted audiences ever since the very first film in 1963. As a child I … Continue reading »
