Life doesn't get any better than this.

You may have seen me slipping through my neighborhood, but I doubt it. Ask anyone if they have seen a black cat, and they will reply,"No, I haven't seen her." That's just the way I want it."

You see the guy on the couch. That's Jim. He's my bitch, but he doesn't know it. He thinks I'm his pet and calls me Ebby. His wife, Marion knows I manipulate him, but she's loves me, too. So I usually get what I want. I've tested both of them. She is harder to convince. He's easy.

I'm a ferral cat. I was dropped off in an empty lot seven years ago in August. Life was a challenge then. I weighed less than a pound at six weeks, and every predator within ten miles tried to eat me. When dogs chased me, I ran through the briars the way the rabbits do. When fox and coyotes chased me, I climbed oak trees and sat on a limbs high off the ground until they gave up and left. Sometimes they would try to hide to catch me, but I could tell where they were. When a redtailed hawk tried to catch me, I hid up in a juniper bush. Then it beat the bushes with its wings to scare me out, but I slipped down to lower branches until it left. Once my bitch, I mean Jim, chased the hawk with a big stick. I was happy about that. He chases  foxes out of the yard whenever he sees them. He used to tell me, "Watch out for the foxes." Now, he knows I'm smart enough to keep out of their reach."

At Thanksgiving seven years ago, it was so cold the water in the puddles froze so I had a hard time finding something to drink. Whenever I licked the ice, my tongue stuck until I pulled it free. I was hungry, too. All the chipmunks had hidden in the rock walls at the edge of Jim's driveway. Then Marion put some turkey on the side wall of my back porch. I snuck up and took some when no one was there. I did that everyday until January third of 2005. I didn't feel very well that day. So when Marion tried to catch me, I didn't jump away. She scared the wits out of me when she carried me into the house, but after I ran around the livingroom and kitchen, she let me out again. The next morning she picked me up again and my whole life changed. I've lived with Marion and Jim for the past seven years and I'm stickin' with these two guys. Look for my next blog after I go mousing. I have lots of stories to share.

Ebby