Ember the cat freaked out over a skeleton today.

[wnylib]

Last edited Sun Oct 2, 2022, 10:55 PM - Edit history (1)

I bought a skeleton to put on the outside of my door. It has a skull with sunken eyes, arms with bony fingers, and a raggedy, gauzy, orange and black material draped over it.

When it moves, the eyes light up in a flashing Satanic glow and it makes groaning sounds.

When I took it out of the bag at home, the movement activated it. Ember was on the window sill and perked up immediately. So I walked over to let her see it, which caused the glowing eyes and groaning to continue as I walked. She arched her back and turned sideways, ready to attack.

But when I stood still, the action stopped, so she stretched her neck out to sniff it. She stared into its eyes, close enough that her nose touched and triggered the eyes and groaning. Instant jump backwards. But then I could see her body language change as she mustered up her courage and moved in on the flashing eyes as if to say, "Huh! I am not afraid of you."

She got close and stood her ground until it stopped. Then she laid down on the window sill. "Some monster. Didn't even try to hit me when I stared it down. I think I'll take a nap."

[Karadeniz]

1. What a little trooper!!!

[wnylib]

2. She's a brave lady. She has been known to

guard the home against fireworks in the sky and parade floats passing by in the street by growling at them from the window until they stopped.

[NJCher]

3. Great story

I think I’ll save it and re-read it on Halloween.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. She would really hate the house at the front end of my street

They set up an entire cemetery with animated skeletons and other monsters all over their front yard - already!

[KS Toronado]

5. Will opening & closing the door set it off?

Hope Ember doesn't use up any of her 9 trying to be protective.

[wnylib]

6. Yes, any motion sets it off.

I think that she will get used to it after a while. When she encounters new "threats" she gets protective and defensive, but once she satisfies herself that there is nothing to fear, she ignores it.

When she was a kitten, she used to watch me blow dry my hair, but hissed at the dryer. One day, after I turned the dryer off and laid it down, Ember got up the courage to sneak up on the dryer and swat it - hard.

Shortly afterward I opened the closet to take out the vacuum cleaner, which Ember had always run away from as soon as she saw it. But that time, she rushed into the closet while it was turned off and just sitting there, and belted it hard several times. When I plugged it in and turned it on that day, instead of hiding, she sat in a high place and watched it move around the room.

She has never feared the dryer or vacuum since then.