MISTRESS HOUDINI
This entire post will feature pictures of Sparky Tabasco frolicking in the great outdoors. She's only five months old, but she is the sneakiest, most determined, most independent-minded kitten alive. She's become extremely adept at getting past the barricades I put up in front of the kitty door. Even getting spayed 3 days ago hasn't slowed her down. Even locking the kitty door hasn't slowed her down--she figured out that if you can't use your head to push the door flap, you can hook your claws into the flap and pull it open. She's too smart for her own good.
HIGH ATOP MT. LOOKOUT
So what's the first thing Sparky does when she gets outside? She climbs the highest place she can reach. In this case, it's a 2x6 beam above my front deck. I built a couple of benches for the deck a few years ago, and installed a 12' beam above the benches for hanging flower pots. The beam is 9' above the deck, and 12' from the ground. Sparky is very nimble and runs across that beam like she's a mountain goat. From the beam she hops onto the windowsills (see second picture, below) of a bank of high windows that overlook my living room.
SHE FLIES THROUGH THE AIR WITH THE GREATEST OF EASE
But getting down is another matter. Once Sparky is finished cavorting in her aerial playground she discovers it's a long way down. A very looonngg way down. So she calls for help. (picture on the left) Like an obedient slave I fetch 2 tall ladders and set them up so that she only has a short hop and then she can trundle down the ladder. Instead of using the ladders like a sane cat, she plots her arc and trajectory while my new rescue dog, Kyanne, looks on in disbelief, 12' below Sparky's beam. And then Sparky jumps. She lands on the grass and nonchalantly walks into the house while I pat my chest and hyperventilate. Since, then, Sparky has made many jumps from that beam, sometimes landing on the deck, sometimes landing on the ground. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and built a plywood platform a few feet below the beam, and now Sparky uses it as a landing spot from the beam and from there, to the porch railing, and from the railing to the deck. I can't wait to see what new trick she comes up with that will no doubt give me more gray hairs.