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| Showing up for food |
Despite their welcoming expressions, we are making progress here! I'm not saying it's been a bowl of cherries, but we do have a mutual understanding of each other.
Tips for just getting along:
1. Spend many, many hours beside their enclosure, and eventually, they will view you as part of the scenery. It's very simple. I sit on a rock, I behave like a rock, therefore, I am a rock.
2. Move very slowly. I usually give them a warning by using my voice before I actually begin the slow-motion procedure of simply trying to uncross my legs!
3. Do not empty a water bottle while in their line of sight (which is everywhere!). I did this only once -thinking it would be an interesting form of activation for them to see a stream of water coming out from the container, but it backfired big-time! Nod, the little stinker, did watch the dripping water with intense interest, but then he suddenly raced up onto the perch that was closest to my location, turned his little back end towards my direction, and sprayed -a direct hit! So much for moving slowly!! And so much for novelty mind activation!
Tips for training
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| Negotiations begin daily, immediately upon my arrival |
"It's on our terms!
"We don't like you!"
"We don't want you hanging around"
"Be quick with the toss of food or we'll come get it ourselves!"
"Toss the food directly into our mouths or all hell will break loose
and it will be your fault!"
and it will be your fault!"
So, yes, things here are moving along at a rather slow pace, but there have been some significant observations that lead me to believe there's hope -and those odd occurrences involve Nod. His behavior has me somewhat puzzled. When I arrive, he trots down to the fence and sits quietly -as opposed to the other two who creep down cautiously. I can also move about with some degree of normality, and he simply waits. In addition, unlike Winkin' and Blinkin', there is no anticipatory growling or skulking around to get an optimal feeding location (-one which is not too near the trainer, yet near enough to get the fish first!). Nod's optimal feeding location is right by my feet. He has never once growled, hissed, spit, or attacked in my direction -instead, he's only displayed an extreme curiousity regarding my presense, and wears an air of total self-confidence.
Another unusual behavior that Nod has recently developed is during the training sessions themselves. They have become a game -one through which he can excel at "the flying swipe," "the two-pawed, mid-air catch," "the no-handed snatch (direct into the mouth)," and my personal favorite, "the 360 degree swipe and swallow." He's a one cat show! This greatly annoys the other two -understandably so, it's hard to score points when sharing an enclosure with a four-footed Magic Johnson!
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| Portrait of Nod |
I can't help but laugh (quietly, of course) at all the creative ways he manages to catch a small piece of herring. Sometimes I find myself wondering, "is he showing off for the others?" -or, "is this solely for the love of the game?"
Lesson learned:
Perhaps the wildcats are not as solitary as research has led me to believe.
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