Murray's New Hobby

Murray's new hobby is squirrel-watching.  A couple weeks ago, when he discovered the squirrel that taunts him from our backyard, he raced up the tree without thinking and got stuck halfway up.  We, overprotective parents that we are, were worried that he was going to get up there really high and touch the power line and get electrocuted.  So I scaled the tree and coaxed him into my arms.  Back inside we went, and Murray was forced to watch from the kitchen window for any signs of squirrel life.

The very next day, he did it again.  Climbed that tree and looked stuck.  I called him and when he didn't come down right away, I took the tough love approach.  "That cat will just have to learn to climb down trees that he climbs up..."  I went back to doing my thing.  Thirty minutes later, I took another look.  He was still in the tree, and he didn't have that intent, hunting look on his face.  He just looked frozen.  He didn't even glance at me when I called him.  Tough love was over.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the back gate and saw two dogs lounging five feet away from Murray's squirrel tree!  They were a casual, friendly-looking couple of dogs - a terrier and lab mix, maybe - but Murray definitely did not have the same opinion.  Once again, I scaled the tree.  This time, getting Murray into my arms was next to impossible.  I'd pull one paw off a branch and go to work on loosening the other, only to have him throw up the first paw in a desperate attempt to Stay High and Safe in the Tree.

Thankfully, Murray has learned to come down from the tree on his own, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of the dogs since that day.

The squirrel, however, seems to be a permanent neighbor.  Good luck to him.