Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: ditzy
  • Music: Glen Hansard, "Alone Apart."

Update to yesterday's winners, a note about Maine Coons.

Item the first:

lilysea was one of our winners in the random book drawing, but had forgotten that she had already ordered a copy of Late Eclipses. So, because she is a glorious and generous soul, she has allowed me to draw a new winner! calico_reaction, you have won a copy of Late Eclipses of your very own. Please email me with your contact information, so that I can get your book into the mail. As always, you have twenty-four hours (although I may not pick again if you don't claim your prize, as I want to do my mailing this week).

Item the second:

All my cats share the same favorite toy, a fuzzy red squid on a stick from the Animal Planet line of cat toys. They made cat toys for like, six weeks, and then discontinued them, which is terrible, because their toys were AWESOME. The squid is the last survivor of the original batch, and is put carefully away when not in use, since otherwise the fur squad would turn it into so much cotton calimari.

Last night, Thomas and I had a good squid-swing, and I put the squid away, not noticing as I did that he was watching, intently, to see where it went. On a shelf. Six feet above the ground. Fifteen minutes later, I heard a loud clatter, and got up to see what was going on. Nothing appeared to have been knocked over; I shrugged and went back to watching Glee.

Clatter clatter clatter. Clatter. The hell? I got up again, and discovered that the clattering noise was the stick, banging against things, as Thomas proudly toted the squid around the house. I took it away. I put it away. Ten minutes later...

CLATTER.

Sigh.

So yeah. Maine Coons are a) capable of logic, and b) big enough that they can jump really bloody high when they want something. You have been warned.
Tags: cats, giving stuff away, late eclipses, thomas
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vettecat

February 23 2011, 19:54:27 UTC 6 years ago

Hee! Yeah, our cats have done similar things. Anything I really don't want them playing with goes in a cabinet or closet.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:29:10 UTC 6 years ago

Good plan.

touch_of_ink

February 23 2011, 20:00:50 UTC 6 years ago

Sigh. We put ours in a hall closet, only to discover that's just a good way to teach cats how to open doors and then jump really high. So be warned.. Your cats will learn to open doors much fast than ours did, and they will then apply those skills to more doors than just the cat toy door.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:29:25 UTC 6 years ago

My cats already open doors.

I am doomed.

tikiera

February 23 2011, 20:04:45 UTC 6 years ago

When I was a teenager, we had a cat that would leap up to turn the doorknob to the living room, and land quickly to slip her paw under the door. It would take her numerous tries, but eventually she would get the door open.

This was... loud when one was trying to sleep. And it meant one had to lock the door to keep the cat out of the living room.

I never again had a cat that managed to figure that one out.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:29:39 UTC 6 years ago

Dude.

tikiera

6 years ago

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beccastareyes

February 23 2011, 20:05:39 UTC 6 years ago

Mom's cat, Peppy, is pretty smart too. He has a ragged old teddy bear that he carts around and talks to, so Mom will put it away when she wants him to be quiet and not tear more holes in the poor thing.

This was how he learned how to open the drawers in the TV stand. So now Mom only puts the bear there when she wants to show off how smart the cat is to guests.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:29:48 UTC 6 years ago

Wise Mom.

aryana_filker

February 23 2011, 20:09:24 UTC 6 years ago

they can jump really bloody high when they want something. You have been warned.
Ohhhh, yes. And I have "only" Coon mixes. Kater goes up the cat pole like a lightning, and Moon jumps on all pur fish tanks from the floor. And both LOVE shelves. And I learned to tidy up things really fast.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:30:11 UTC 6 years ago

Gravity is Thomas's second favorite toy.

aryana_filker

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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aryana_filker

6 years ago

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besanderson

February 23 2011, 20:12:38 UTC 6 years ago

I think the stray we rescued and nursed back to health is a Maine Coon (from the size and the markings). Max is great, but he's certainly not like any other cat I've ever known. You can actually see him reasoning things out sometimes.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:30:23 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, it's scary when those big brains get engaged.

brownkitty

February 23 2011, 20:20:12 UTC 6 years ago

Yes, very true. Cedric, suspected Maine Coon, would get into cabinets and close the door after him. This sometimes made getting a glass more of an accompanied activity than one would expect.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:30:28 UTC 6 years ago

WIN.

textileowl

6 years ago

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phoenixsansfyr

6 years ago

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stevemb

February 23 2011, 20:20:44 UTC 6 years ago

Vir (in userpic) learned to find and retrieve the battery-powered massage bug after the humans use it on him. However, he hasn't figured out how to push the button (yet).

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2011, 20:30:36 UTC 6 years ago

Give him time.

bloolark

February 23 2011, 20:33:24 UTC 6 years ago

I have a rescued blue and white classic tabby Maine Coon. He is also polydactyl. This means he has opposable thumbs, essentially. He opens cabinets, opens TUPPERWARE, can break into the coat closet to steal dog food out of closed containers....

Good thing he's really cute because we've had to baby/cat proof the house more than we might if we had children.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 04:32:55 UTC 6 years ago

Yeeeeeah. Cute is like, his only salvation there.

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:06:03 UTC 6 years ago

I believe it.

sbisson

February 23 2011, 20:55:51 UTC 6 years ago

And of course there's familiar Maine yowl of triumph. The Jeffster would march around the house yowling when found his favourite toy, and now (even though he's part British Shorthair) Bentham is doing much the same. That and he has recently learnt "paw of command" from our grey mog Pebble...

sbisson

February 23 2011, 20:57:37 UTC 6 years ago

And of course you do not want to thwart Bentham in any way...

This isn't going to end well...

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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ladymondegreen

February 23 2011, 21:14:10 UTC 6 years ago

I live in fear of the day that they learn to pick locks.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:06:42 UTC 6 years ago

Gleh.

END OF DAYS.

kippurbird

February 23 2011, 21:25:19 UTC 6 years ago

When Chaucer was a wee one, I came into my bedroom one day to discover my desk drawer open and everything on the floor. I couldn't figure out how that happened. This happened a few more times before I caught him opening it up and knocking things out.

Since then he has figured out how to open drawer like things and rearrange them to suit his fancy.

And I think lots of cats are capable of logic. Lord knows mine is.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:37:18 UTC 6 years ago

They just don't bother a lot of the time. They have better things to do.

kippurbird

6 years ago

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the_s_guy

February 23 2011, 21:34:07 UTC 6 years ago

It seems only fair. You gave Thomas some exercise in chasing and retrieving a red tentacled thing, and he returned the favor. Sort of a squid pro quo.

mephron

February 24 2011, 02:09:17 UTC 6 years ago

*slow applause*

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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hvideo

February 23 2011, 21:38:22 UTC 6 years ago

I, for one, welcome our new Maine Coon overlords.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:38:19 UTC 6 years ago

That's for the best, truly.

purrplexitty

February 23 2011, 21:56:37 UTC 6 years ago

Amazon has the squid toy!

http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Planet-Squid-Wand-Cat/dp/B003O2SM2E

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:38:27 UTC 6 years ago

SQUEE!

aliciaaudrey

February 23 2011, 22:50:56 UTC 6 years ago

Well if it couldn't go to me, at least it could go to a friend of mine. :)

(going to poke her to make sure she sees this)

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:44:57 UTC 6 years ago

Yay!

calico_reaction

February 23 2011, 22:55:39 UTC 6 years ago

Oh wow, thanks! I'll email you right away!

And your story? Totally awesome. Cats are hysterical. And those toys sound awesome, which makes me sad they're no longer being made. I was a click away from shopping for my own cat!

dormouse_in_tea

February 24 2011, 03:28:21 UTC 6 years ago

psssst, purrplexitty found them. http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Planet-Squid-Wand-Cat/dp/B003O2SM2E


also, congrats!

calico_reaction

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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calico_reaction

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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calico_reaction

6 years ago

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eoforyth

February 23 2011, 23:30:29 UTC 6 years ago

I've not seen those toys over here, which is a shame as I think they'd keep my kids amused as much as the cats. There seem to be quite a few on Amazon - rather liked the look of the jelly fish :)

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:51:11 UTC 6 years ago

The jellyfish was quickly shredded, but oh, you squid.

winters_queen

February 24 2011, 00:15:05 UTC 6 years ago

Oh yeah. My cat isn't a Maine Coon but he watches where I put things. We used to keep the cat toys in the entertainment center behind the one glass door. We kept coming home to find them out and would put them back. This happened about 4-5 times. The back is blocked off so we don't know HOW he was getting them out. Finally, we put the toys in a drawer. He knows they're there though and just hasn't figured out how to get it open.

Anything with a bell gets his attention like no one's business. I had mice with bells attached to them and would sometimes sit on my bed and throw them across the room and damned if he wouldn't go and fetch it and bring it back for me to throw again.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 16:51:29 UTC 6 years ago

...so basically, you're teaching your cat to open drawers now?

We'll miss you.

winters_queen

6 years ago

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trialia

February 24 2011, 00:17:06 UTC 6 years ago

Hee. This is not only a Maine Coon thing. My kitten, Loki, has been known to jump higher than my head (5'4") when being played with by someone much taller than I am and a cuddly mouse, and he's so destructive and I-want-to-play-with-EVERYTHING-OMG that I have to lock most of my stuff down when he's here. (Long story; he's sort of a shared kitten?)

Fortunately for me, Gemma (in my icon) is far better behaved. She's kind of a LOLcat in one way, though - she doesn't know the word "food", but she does know the word "noms" and will come running!

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 17:08:56 UTC 6 years ago

That rocks.

ravenclawed

February 24 2011, 01:12:48 UTC 6 years ago

Have I mentioned that I love hearing about your cats? They are pure entertainment wrapped in furry packages.

I just pre-ordered the paper version of One Salt Sea on Amazon. They don't waste any time, do they?

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 17:09:08 UTC 6 years ago

They definitely entertain me!

judifilksign

February 24 2011, 01:20:09 UTC 6 years ago

My Maine Coons can open door knobs, too.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 17:09:15 UTC 6 years ago

We're so doomed.

yellowblackhaze

February 24 2011, 03:51:44 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, pets that can climb, never a good thing. I'm sure this is one of the reasons my wife won't let me have a monkey.

seanan_mcguire

February 24 2011, 17:09:27 UTC 6 years ago

Among a great many others...

sheistheweather

February 24 2011, 04:38:45 UTC 6 years ago

*giggling aloud*
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