Man o man - what a great bunch of pets everyone has (or had). I love them all! You can see all the love and affection everyone has for their special pals! I don't know what life would be like without them. CT

Here's Smokey ... she's the drawer queen

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And she loves flowers ...

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Sometimes too much (so they end up on top of the refrigerator)

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Jean - what a beauty!

We had a cat when I was a kid that would get into a drawer but somehow exit out the back and get into different one, traveling all around from drawer to drawer.

sweethearts all of them.

it is pretty wild when you open a drawer and see three pairs of eyes looking up at you all snuggled into your tshirts...we had some kittens do that. the first time freaked me out. you don't expect your clothes to be staring back at you :)

LOL!!! FTM, I think I'd start keeping my clothes in garbage bags after that, just to avoid the heart palpitations. Well, I'd leave in enough clothes for the babies, of course. :D

Your pets rock, Catherine! :)

Jean, Smokey is so beautiful. She has the same face shape as my Pookie, only with different colors! She looks so cuddly.

Brenda

Smokey is a special kitty, she's so soft and a real sweatheart with a motor so loud you can hear her across the room. As a kitten she would play fetch for hours. She would bring a toy and drop it at your feet and then run to the other side of the room and wait for you to throw it. She used to crawl into the kitchen drawers by getting into the cabinets below and climbing into the drawer. She's too big for that now but she still loves to take a nap in the dresser drawers.

Nice gang!

Love the drummer! And Smokey lovin' those flowers!

Heres my "pond related" pet photo - my two frogs that insisted on returning to a post hole that had filled with water. I kept putting them back in the pond and the next day they would be back in the hole. So I left them there until we had to get the post in the hole. Here they are in a bucket on their way back to the pond for the last time.

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they are so adorable! they look like they are looking up at a ufo :)

Good one jeanner! Not to blur threads here, but if we ever start captioning these photos - those 2 of Smokey and the flowers - "Wow, what is that smell...whoa, head rush!" And #2 "Oh man, have I got the munchies!"

Sarah

Now where's that 'coon?

Jean - what kind of frogs are they? They are such a smooth, uniform green with no apparent dorsal ridge of any kind.

I believe they are bullfrogs ... of which I already have too many but what'ca going do? Hey FTM, I took that picture with my old Nikon Coolpix and it was just 4.3 megapixels - I am really looking forward to frog pixs from you!

Sorry no more raccoon pictures, after she lost her babies she seemed to lose interest in my "feeding" stations.

Will a chippie do?

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hey jean! about the third of hte way down are frog pics from my new camera. i was going to take anther one tonight since one is in clear sight, but it appears i left the camera in dh's car after our trip to the widewaters today (eagle watching!)

That is one delicious chippie! Those fingers, oh, MY! Too bad they don't come in XL sizes for cuddling...

Brenda

lol brenda! the bigger the fingers the bigger the teeth to bite your lip with :) oh, but i do want to smooch that nose!

I like his chunky cheeks! Cute little fella. CT

Drooling over your talent jeanner!

Still time to post your very own OCD pet photos!

Sarah

I hope Andrea (ademink) won't mind, but this is one of my favorite pics ever! And I love her darling Meerkat!!!

Brenda

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so snuggggllllleable! you know, that looks so much like it belongs in a calendar. and the scenery (jar and writing) is absolutely perfect for the birdwatching action. and what a poser, wrapping the tail around it like that!

Only a few days left to post your all time favs! We don't care if they're someone else's pets! I LOVE Meerkat!

I'm going to start rounding up a couple judges!

LOVE your photos everybody!

S

I agree, FTM! That pic of Meerkat definitely belongs on a calendar or in some pet mag for people with OCD (obsessive cat disorder) tendencies. :D

Here's another of my favorites from Andrea. I never did find out what happened to this adorable stray...but he is just awesome!!

Brenda

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The contest will officialy end on February 2nd, Ground Hog Day, fitting for all OCD owners and pets I believe (also my Dad's birthday, he's an obsessive worrier!)

So you've all got a few more days to dig out those photos!

After that date the judges may take a day or two to review all the fantastic pix, and we'll announce the winners!

So in the mean time, MORE, MORE!!!

Not really in competition with the other great photographs but just a bit of fun to share:

Clyde and Nikko sharing a smooch

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Bosco *LOVED* kittens! He was soooo gentle!

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Heidy checking for Christmas presents ...

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And Tonka, one of Bosco's sons, poolside.

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That's it from me, C3D. :-)

Thanks CD3!

Here's a pic I took over the weekend. Last weekend when my daughter came over she brought the "cat sitter" DVDs with her that her cats got from Santa Cat. My cats loved them. So guess who had to go out and buy them for their cats?

Volume I is a mixture of cat attractions: gerbils, hampsters, butterflies, fish, birds, etc. Boa doesn't like the gerbils or hampsters. She will hiss and hide behind the couch or under the bed until they are off the screen. So I bought Volume II too which is all birds. Bear loves this one the best. It has gotten to the point where if they walk into the room and their DVD isn't on they cop an attitude. They will sit in front of the TV and look at me and cry. But my cats aren't spoiled. My son drew the line yesterday so he could watch the Cav's and he was gettin' some nasty side looks.

I apologize for not posting pics of "Cheese Mountain", but whenever I went to take a pic they wouldn't play with it. My daughter took it to let her cats play with it for a while.

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Jenny

Fern does a mean Janis Joplin after she's had a couple of belts.
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ZC:

I love it. It looks like she is howling at the moon.

Jenny

that is good. and who is that gorgeous hunk of marble tabby? brings me bittersweet memories (looks like my dear sarge, except for the tail he always held tight as a spring)

LOL ZC~great pic!

Brenda...you're a hoot! Suddenly I see my cats!!! The "stray"...aka "Kitty Boy" was adopted by Victor, my outreach partner. He used to be homeless but moved into an apartment on my street. He fell in LOVE w/ the cat and I used to see him kissing him outside all of the time. One day, Josh and I talked to the landlord to see if he would let him have the cat for no additional fee and he said yes.

Kitty Boy is now "Pantera" and is BEYOND spoiled - fed an egg for breakfast, chicken and cat food during the cat. He is wiped down w/ a damp cloth daily, brushed daily and sleeps in bed w/ Victor. It's sooooo sweet. LOL We also found another stray the other day out at our storage facility and so now Pantera has a girlfriend...little Pee Wee. hehe By the way, Pantera is seriously TWICE as big now...he is an enormous, gorgeous cat!!!

Ok, on to the photos. I have no new ones. I'm sorry!!! I've had no time this year to be photo-happy but will post some oldies but goodies!

Meerkat w/ the counter pets:
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Cats stalking Phat Boy in the window birdfeeder:
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Meerkat w/ the rubber ducky:
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Olive begging to be picked up:
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Olive w/ a stuffed rabbit I was selling on Ebay:
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Judah looking like a piece of art: :)
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Martini in the shoebox:
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THE PHAT BOY CHRONICLES:

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This one makes me hysterical! It's like he's talking to the cracker or something! roflol

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Phat Boy is having a party!
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I want to eat him here...is he cute OR WHAT????
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Ok...so this isn't Phat Boy but it's one of my current residents when he was a baby next to an osage orange in the yard...adorable!! His first experience of peanut butter.
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OMG Ademink:

I just want to squeeze Phat Boy's chubby cheeks. He is so cute. I have never ever seen a squirrel so fat. I just love the one where it looks like he is talking to the cracker. Maybe he has a little mirror on the other side and is admiring his chubby cheeks. Do you have any idea how much he weighs? I can tell he just loves your squirrel smorgasbord backyard.

Jenny

Thanks so much for posting those pics, Andrea!! I've saved them in my Teen Idol folder (along with the kitty ones I didn't already have), because some days, I just need a little PhatBoy to cheer me up. :D Is he still around? Last I heard, he had those bald spots and was a lot thinner. :(

The baby has one long tail! LOL I LOVE squirrel fingers! And I LOVE your kitties, Andrea! Those osage oranges are wild. I don't think I've ever seen one.

Brenda

Andrea - wonderful cats! I love them all but the one of Olive waving to be picked up is simply darling. Also, the one with all the cats at the sink window:-) An the art cat - oh well....all of them!

Phat Boy is great - talking to the cracker is the funniest! I also will save them for a Phat Boy lift when needed. Thanks for reposting the chronicles!

Brenda, osage oranges are one ugly, inhospitable fruit. I don't think anybody eats them, not even the animals, but I could be wrong about that. They are even nastier on the inside, and why they call them an 'orange' is beyond me. All pithy and nasty. And they are listed in my Northeast Native tree book and just recently in AHS magazine as well, so they must be valuable to something or someone.

With all the great photos I would not want to be in Sarah's shoes - how to pick a winner! It has been a fun thread. Thanks.

Brenda - link to Osage. Answer: wood and dye

Here is a link that might be useful: Osage Orange facts

OK, one more pic and I'll be done. When my daughter was about five we had this cat named Coffee. He loved eggs. One day my daughter left her crate of easter eggs on the bathroom floor while she washed her hands. Coffee snuck in through the back door of the bathroom and stole one of her eggs. I snapped this pic before he took off down the basement with it.

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Jenny

Wow - I didn't think a cat could pick up an egg in their mouth. If I hadn't seen the picture I would not have beleived it. What a cute stinker pot!

its the chucacabre of eggs!

ct, i hve always been told osage orange refers to the orange colored wood. i grew up referring to them as hedge apples: hedge b/c farmers often used them as a living fence and well, the apples are a give away. they are a very strong wood and cutting them down is quite a business. other than that, i can't stand the things. ick. and thorns. i find them a lot in the wooded low areas here. and those rotten apples are slippery!

Hey there everyone! Brenda, I know you would be drooling at the sight of PB. LOL!!! I think he's still around but it's hard to tell this year b/c he and another squirrel look like twins!

The squirrels aren't phat yet b/c we really JUST now got cold weather!!!! I made DH pick up a 40 lb bag of food yesterday so we could start feeding. We've had such wacky weather. "Teen Idol" folder...you are so stinkin' hilarious! You should consider writing for a living, you have such a way w/ words!!!

Jenny, I have NO idea how much PB has weighed in his prime. That was one BIG BOY - I mean he looks like a sharpei that has been blown up in some of the pics. LOL He has folds of "junk in his trunk". I laugh every time I see the one where he's talking to the cracker as if it's his lover. LOL

I actually don't have the osage oranges growing near me - I pick them up from alongside the road for the squirrels. They LOVE to eat them! I throw them in the yard and stomp on them once to open them up. They eat the seeds and pulp from inside. I first realized I loved them when I almost ran over a whole troop of squirrels in the road one day chowing down on them. I stopped and picked up a bag and have made it my Fall tradition since then!

Mmmm, coffee and eggs! I see a future business...Eggbucks. Amazing kitty!! I hear mongooses love eggs, too. :D

Interesting info on the osage orange/hedge-apple! It doesn't look like it grows in my zone, but it don't particularly care for thorny things with slippery bits. :D

Brenda

Thanks Ademink! For the kitties and Phat Boy! And that IS one phat boy! And Jenny too,"Coffee and eggs" TOO funny!

Working on the panels of judges, still time to get those photos in! I'll let you know when the phat lady sings!

I was slacking on my posting yesterday, so I missed yours, Andrea. I'm SO glad to hear that the studly PB is still around! LMAO!!!! @ folds of trunk junk!! THAT is hilarious. I never thought I'd find myself attracted to a male with that description....:D "Thass righ', pop that trunk, Phat Boiii!"

I've changed my mind. After your description, I'd grow things with slippery bits, if only for the sake of Phat Boy Unslim's relatives.

I can't wait to hear the Phat Lady!!!

Brenda

Ademink, I'd be glad to donate hedge apples to the cause - ours just lay on the ground and rot, I had a deer try them once. Postage could get pretty expensive though ....

lol, jean :)

interesting info, andrea! i had no idea squirrels had a taste for them. there is definitely food of plenty in the woods here. maybe you have smart squirrels that look beyond the packaging, eh?

The contest is officially over!! and if I can ever get this phat cat photo to cross over you'll see the phat lady sing!
Thank you all for the warmth and humor you've shared - I really need it now that we're not going to see 10F for another week. (-30F windchills for the next 4 days - yes, sympathy please).

SO! It's up to the judges now, the panel of 4 has their work cut out for them. We're picking 1 winner in the pond (aquarium) catagory, and 1 in the non-pond related catagory. Each winner will have $25 donated in their pet's name to HSDM.

And as I've told the judges, every photo here is fair game, because while some photos are of the pet involved in their OCD behavior, other pix are of the pets and the stories are of their OCD behavior. And, yes, the owner's OCD! We're all family here and a picture of Aunt Mable snoozing in the Lazy Boy may bring up fond memories of that great Thanksgiving when she got a little tipsy and fell asleep before the pecan pie! There's often alittle history behind a photo.

Winners will be announced SUPER BOWL Sunday!

Thanks everybody!

I just want to thank you, Sarah, for not only getting everyone to post their awesome pics, but for the donation thing. No matter who wins here, HSDM is going to come out better for it! :)

Ugh, -30!! Unh-uh, you couldn't pay me enough. Brrr!

Brenda

ditto!

hey sarah, do they issue cold advisories there? we have one through tuesday, but i'm thinking: it must be so commonplace in minnesota that people would laugh.

Yep, we're under a windchill advisory 'til noon Monday. It was -19F at 7:30 this morning, with the windchill - felt like 45 below. And we don't laugh, they're cancelling outdoor events like crazy. Now why anyone would want to jog - eewwww - around a frozen lake, at night, in February is way beyond my comprehension, even if it is by candlelight. And can you imagine 5000 little Boy and Girl Sprouts at the annual ice fishing derby? All hunched over tiny holes on the windswept lake frozen like little ice cubes?

Probably too much information for ya, huh?

yep, and to think the international wolf center is sponsoring dog sledding this weekend or next.

I bet the dogs love it though! No worries, it's supposed to be up to a high of 13 above next weekend!

Can't believe I've lived here all my life and never been there, sheeesh...gotta add it to the list...up at the top.

Ya know, if I won the lottery (if I played the lottery), I could work when I want and DO the list!

Ok, my brain is frozen and I'm rambling. Back to the judging :)

13 above....yowza! Next weekend, it'll be time to break out the shorts. :D

I just had to post this Get Fuzzy comic from today in honor of service dogs everywhere.

Brenda

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