Obsessed with a Cat

I am staying at a hotel in Austin, TX. One night after a long day, I came back to the hotel and was greeted by a skinny, young, all black cat. It was the day before Halloween – how appropriate. He was so friendly – rubbing up against me and purring and just so happy to have attention. I patted and talked to him for several minutes wishing I had some food to give him. He followed me part way to the door. I just wanted to scoop him up and bring him in – certainly not practical when staying in a hotel. I figured if I saw him once I would see him again. I took some bacon from the breakfast buffet hoping to see him the next morning. No sighting. It was raining the next night when I got in. But, I looked for the kitty by walking around outside the hotel calling. I didn’t see him. I looked in the morning, and the next evening – no kitty. That silly kitty wrapped itself around my heart.

It wouldn’t be practical to try and take the kitty home. I’m flying, I don’t know anything about this cat, and I have two cats who would not appreciate another cat joining the household. I wonder why I even thought I would see the cat again? Why am I so obsessed with this cat?

It saddens me to know that in a few days I will be home and I will forget about the black kitty and my brief encounter. It will become a distant memory. But why am I so damned obsessed? Have I become a crazy cat person? Is there some meaning in this cat? If so, I would hope I would find him again. I guess I should just enjoy the brief encounter I had and hope that he enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks, little kitty, for saying hello. I wish you well.

I guess the take-away from this encounter is to make the most of the time and experiences you have. This is what I was reminded of by a friendly little cat.

Chasing Butterflies

Yes, I was literally chasing butterflies. I decided to take advantage of the fact that I am only working part time. Today I attended a Monarch butterfly tagging program at a Mass Audubon property. I can confirm that butterflies are not the easiest critters to catch! I had to laugh at myself as I was tramping through the milk weed and goldenrod with a net chasing a butterfly. The butterfly escaped.

We did catch 4 and tagged them. The tag is a very small sticker that is attached to the underside of the butterfly’s wing close to the body. It is very light and researchers are confident that it doesn’t affect the butterfly. I learned a few facts about Monarch butterflies today. I now know how to tell apart the males and females – the males have a spot on each lower wing. Monarchs are the only butterflies to have a very long migration – 2000 or so miles to Mexico. The butterflies that migrate to Mexico do not go back to their original starting point. They over-winter in Mexico and then lay their eggs in the Southern US in the spring when head north. But they die before traveling further north. The next generation returns back to the migration starting point and breeds. The generations that are born in June and July die before they migrate. The ones born in late August and September are the ones to migrate. And, for every three tagged Monarch’s from the central US corn belt that are recoverved in Mexico, only one Monarch from New England is recovered.

Probably more than you ever thought you wanted to know about Monarch butterflies!

A Monarch caterpillar on a milk weed leaf.

 

This butterfly had just emerged from his chrysalis and was still drying his wings. The tag with url, phone, and tag number is visible on his wing.