Music to Her Ears
My cat Phaedra is a great hunter, getting up at 5 a.m. for the best prowling.
Initially, she would run from window to window in our bedroom, causing a ruckus. This would wake my partner Robert, who would yell and throw her out of the room, thus defeating the purpose of getting outside to the hunting grounds at the prime hour.
One day she inadvertently stepped on my radio alarm clock. Gentle music from my favourite classical-music station woke me but not Robert, as I have come to associate the tunes with getting up.
I got out of bed half-asleep, stumbled down the stairs and opened the door for Phaedra. The next two mornings, she again stepped on the clock, turning on the gentle music. Seems she had worked out how to turn on the alarm clock to get me up without disturbing Robert, who had not been as accommodating as I was.
Robin Wassong, Bellingham, Washington, US
Restoring the Pecking Order
Lake Horowhenua is a great place for birds. They know they are protected and that friendly motorists with cars full of ankle-biters will occasionally pull up and feed them bags of bread.
One day I was sitting in the car, watching the lake when I saw a hawk circling several ducks. It swooped on a half-grown duckling, and with one mighty leap the mother duck shot up in the air to see it off. The hawk flew up but came back for another attack. The same thing happened, the mother duck again taking the hawk on. After a third attempt, the hawk gave up and flew up and over the reeds to head towards the far side of the lake.
Immediately, two seagulls took off after the hawk and then proceeded to beat the bird lower down towards the water. The hawk broke free and flew upwards, but again the gulls pushed the bird towards the lake. Eventually, the hawk escaped the gulls’ attentions and flew away.
I watched as two satisfied gulls came back to where the ducks were, circled them, making a mighty cawing sound, then did a few acrobatic loops. I had the feeling they were saying to themselves, “Gulls – 1, Hawk – 0.”
Babs Spencer, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Here’s Looking at Chew
One day I was busy sewing at the table while our two-year-old Labrador/German shepherd mix Ebony played with a little piece of chew rope. Ebony indicated she wished to go out, her rope still in her mouth. Our rule is “inside toys” are not allowed outside and “outside toys” cannot be brought in.
I took the rope from her and opened the door but she wouldn’t go out. I went back to my sewing, while Ebony continued to go back and forth to the door with her rope and I continued to ignore her, after trying a few times to let her out without the rope. About 20 minutes later, my boyfriend heard her whining and went to the door to let her out.
I told him she had a rope with her and was trying to sneak it outside. He looked all round the porch and didn’t see the rope. Thinking in her eagerness to leave, Ebony must have given up on taking the rope outside, he opened the door. To his surprise, Ebony stuck her nose under the doormat, grabbed her rope and ran outside.
Serena Saunders, Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, Canada
A Cunning Bunny
Smoky, our grey rabbit, lived at the bottom of the budgies’ aviary. The birds didn’t seem to mind the intrusion – until Smoky decided he rather liked budgie seed straight from the container rather than from the floor. In order to solve the problem, my husband installed one of those seed bins that hook on the aviary wall.
Smoky slept in a large upside-down flowerpot. We heard a scraping sound coming from the cage, and saw Smoky pushing the flowerpot across to the new seed bin. Then he jumped on top of it so that he could reach the seed in the new holder.
Yes, he got to share it ever after. How could you deny such a clever animal a meal of birdseed?
Ivodell Hyde, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Stories compiled by Jenny Campbell for the book series “Smarter Than Jack.” © 2005 Avocado Press Limited, Victoria
