Jenny and other wildlife

This week wasn't terribly interesting for me. I was still at home by myself.

The only other being at home with me was our cat, Jenny, whom we have had for nearly thirteen years now. Most of my interactions with her this week have been to let her inside or outside or to feed her, although I do think she may have gotten a bit lonely at times. One of her strange quirks is that she doesn't usually like to be petted by hands, but she loves to be petted by feet. Sometimes you can put your foot out and wiggle it around, and she will come right over. Most of you probably have never seen her, since she doesn't like strangers, and she hisses at children. (It's only been within the last year that she's quit hissing at my twelve-year-old niece, even though she has lived or practically lived with us her whole life.)

Jenny in March 2015

On Monday night/Tuesday morning at about 3 AM, I heard a strange noise outside, and I worried for the cat's welfare, since I knew she was outside. I turned on the porch light in the sideyard and opened the door and saw an animal moving. I figured it was Jenny wanting to come in, but instead there were raccoons in the yard! Our previous cat, Dinah, went missing in 2002 on the same night that my dad spotted a raccoon in our yard, so I worried for the Jenny's welfare. The raccoons were behind the air conditioning unit, so I couldn't see what was going on, and since it was the middle of the night I had paranoid thoughts that maybe they were attacking Jenny. I shined a flashlight on them and made noises; then three raccoons wandered off into the backyard. I don't know if they were scared by me or not, because they certainly took their time in leaving. I then worried that Jenny was lying mutilated somewhere in the yard, so I put on some flip-flops and went outside to find her. I hadn't been out long before she came trotting back. She came from the direction that the raccoons had gone, but there were no signs of her having even encountered them; she seemed perfectly calm and her tail was its normal size (as opposed to the poofiness it gets when she sees another animal).

I like the word raccoon. It comes from a Native American word describing a native American animal. I like words like that, since most of our words are of European descent.

I don't recall personally seeing a raccoon in our yard since I was probably 10, when one was trying to go into our yard, but other members of my family have reported seeing them on several occasions. I've also seen a skunk, mice, and lots and lots and lots of deer. I've seen foxes and squirrels in the neighborhood, and my dad once even saw a cougar in the neighborhood.

Last night I heard a weird noise outside again, and once again I worried about Jenny, so I got up but she was inside. I didn't see what made the noise, and I didn't feel like finding out in the middle of the night, especially since Jenny wanted out and I wasn't going to let her. After I went back to bed, I had a dream that there were foxes, baby porcupines, a beaver in a puddle, and an owl in our yard. (I've heard owls in or near our yard, but I've never seen one.) I was a little sad to wake up and realize I hadn't really seen all those things.