The Three Musketeers

These three seem to hang out quite a bit - they are often found catching some sun snoozing together when the wind isn't blowing too much - or they are holed up somewhere fairly close when it is. The black dog is Babs - the stray that wandered here about ten years ago. The Jack Russell terrier is my neighbor's hound - there were two, but we think a coyote or some such got the other one. The remaining terrier is the "shy" creature, as shy as an overactive bundle of nerves can be. He is shy in the sense that he won't usually come to me if I have a treat, and if I toss it in his general direction, he yelps as if he's been struck in punishment. Of course, the fact that I occasionally step out and yell at him at 2am to get him to shut up may have something to do with that.

He and Babs have become quite close. At times, I fear Babs is getting old - particularly when she creaks around, sluggishly answering my call for a treat or to get petted. It seems the weight of the world is on my poor hound's shoulders. However, when the little rascal is around, she's pretty active. I suspect it's because she's jealous and afraid she'll miss out on some attention.


This cat slays me. She loves Beneful dog food, as do the dogs, the mice, the birds, and apparently any other creature except man that wanders by. She is obviously tamed. My neighbors picked up a bunch of barn cats several months ago, and I'm for thinking this one decided to check The Poor Farm out for a while. She won't let me pet her, but if I call the dogs, she comes running. If I step out with a fresh load of Beneful, she's right there, Johnny On The Spot. I think she has her preference of certain colored bits. The birds sure do - they'll pick out anything but the brown bits, and I think she's partial to the red ones. She'll run and leap onto the porch, and if I get too close, she'll jump off, then flop to the ground, to lie on her side and check me out. She's just not ready for me to pet her yet. I've taken some of Rooster's treats to her, so I think I'll win this one eventually. She obviously isn't afraid of the dogs, which is a surprise considering that I had to rescue my first cat Duke from Babs. Maybe the ol' dog is mellowing in her dotage.

And yes, that is an old hibachi grill. Lady had the bad habit of carrying away her food dishes, and this cast iron chunk was too much for her. It's been the dog food dish ever since.

And speaking of Rooster - this cat drives him nuts. I can't keep my old VHS tapes in order on my entertainment center - he has to bull his way through them to get to the window behind to see the interloper. He goes into show off mode - running the length of the house pounding his paws, thumping the screen door and crying about it as well. This sets well with me in the middle of the night - I generally just shut the front door so he has to look out the other window. At this moment, he's stalking the house piteously mewling, because she is taking some sun on the porch.

But, I've seen how he plays, and it's not nice. He's attacked a different cat I let in once. He acts like he wants to play, but he's just too rough. He's half again as big as his potential yet impossible playmate. He's just gonna have to deal with it, and I with his tantrums.

It's just kinda neat to have this unlikely trio greet me. They are characters, fer sure.