Feline Friday: Gopher Hunting - Part III

As soon as I took this last picture of Gracie in my last Feline Friday's post, Abby Gail took over the hunting and I put my camera down. I had taken many pictures of her gopher hunting - It was the same ol’ same ol’ stuff.

At one point, Dan (and I) decided to bury the hole since there was too much activity by the gopher. We then went about our business and I kept an eye on Abby. She soon went back to that spot and started acting like a terrier digging uncovering the hole. There is not much I/we can do except let her be a cat.

Unphotographable Moments #10

This is a picture I did not take of Abby Gail (flying backwards) spread eagle in the air about three feet of the ground with a tiny creature simultaneously appearing inches away from its hole in the ground.

~ November 8, 2014 ~

When I witnessed this, I immediately screamed and panicked. After Abby Gail landed, her whole being screamed “what do I do with it now?” She cautiously approached the tiny creature, bopped the gopher on the head and immediately hopped backwards because the gopher snapped back.

By this time, Dan had reached Abby and grabbed her leash. He held Abby in check and examined the gopher from a short distance. He informed me (via sign language) that the gopher had bloody gashes on his (or her) hind leg. He also told me to grab my camera.

I was able to quickly snap a few pictures in spite of my concern and nervousness. It looked like the gopher was not seriously harmed. Dan eventually guided it back to its hole that it came out of with a long piece of wood. At first, the gopher fought back; but, once he (she) reached the hole from whence it came, it perked up and scampered back into the ground. The gopher should survive as long as his (her) wounds doesn’t get infected.

When Dan saw the pictures I took (which are shown below), he said they were awesome. That made me feel good because most of the time, I feel like I am shooting and getting squat. I have to say that when I opened up the pictures to view, I thought they were rather good too. This is a rare thing for me to feel these days about my pictures.

{To see a larger image, go here.}

{To see a larger image, go here.}

I know we probably should have killed the gopher; but, I have such a tender heart and do not believe in killing critters unnecessarily even if they are a nuisance in the landscape. I do see cats -- strays, ferals, and the ones belonging to Gardener – hunting off our land from time to time. I have to confess that I secretly hope they find and kill a gopher or two. After all, some of these cats eat only things they are able to catch.

Anyway, Abby was so pleased with herself. She was also so exhausted that she slept like the dead for hours once we went back indoors.

Unphotographable Memories 8 and 9

Why Unphotographable? As explained years ago, I took it one step further and included moments in time remembered with such clarity and refuse to be forgotten. I thought it would be a excellent way to practice and stretch my writing abilities.

This is a picture I did not take of a dark gray cat lying flat as she can be amongst the Phloxes (wildflowers) intensely watching a hummingbird drinking nectar from an Indian Paintbrush.

{Witnessed and written in March 2014}

This is a memory forever engraved on my mind standing frozen with closed eyes while a pair of swallows circled so closely around me, feeling the brush of wings and hearing a tiny single squeak.

{Experienced and written on April 3rd 2014. This was a scary awesome blessing. }

Unphotographable Memories #6 and #7

Why Unphotographable? As explained years ago, I took it one step further and included moments in time remembered with such clarity and refuse to be forgotten. I thought it would be a excellent way to practice and stretch my writing abilities.

This is a picture I did not take of a half-grown gray cat flattening herself as flat as she can be on the dead brown ground while intensely watching a huge raptor sailing low through the air towards her.

{Witnessed and written on January 4, 2014)

By the way, this made me hit the pure panic button. I went running yelling and the stupid bird banked up immediately. I will never forget it because that was the closest encounter I have ever had with one of these birds and let me tell you, they are beautiful soaring through the air.

This is a picture I did not take of an adolescent kitten getting in the way of an elderly Maine Coon (huge cat) standing up with raised paws with an attitude of “hahahaha you can’t get past me”.

{Witnessed December 2013 and written in January 2014}

Note: This was very similar to the viral video except Chessie did not attack Abby – she just quickly pinned her down with a paw and walked over her leaving Abby in a state of shock.

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Unphotographable Memories: 4 & 5

Unphotographable Memories: 1, 2, & 3 {includes explanation}

I have been busy working on a blog post to be posted at a later date. So, I thought I share a couple more unphotographable moments that I have written.

This is a picture I did not take of a long haired brown patch Maine Coon cat calmly lying on her side on a cold steel table hissing in displeasure split seconds after receiving a Feline Leukemia vaccination.

{witnessed and written in June 2011}

This is a picture I did not take of a white haired balding man looking dazed and staring off into space with one hand holding onto the steering wheel of his fairly new white car with the driver’s rear wheel and bumper smashed into uselessness and a woman beside him obviously hurt, upset and being attended to by a police officer.

{wintnessed and written in June 2011}

Sidenote: It obvious the white car was spun around at least 180 degrees while the car that hit them was stopped dead in his tracks. The driver of that car was out walking with an ice pack on his face. Please folks. Be careful out there. Don’t be reckless, speeding and whatnot. There is no need for the vast majority of the accidents that occurs out there!

Unphotographable Memories:1, 2, & 3

I first encountered the concept of unphotographable moments quite some time ago and fell in love with the concept.

The purpose is to write an extremely long sentence or short paragraph about the "pictures not taken that weren't meant to be forgotten". I took it one step further and included moments in time remembered with such clarity and refuse to be forgotten.

I thought it would be a excellent way to practice and stretch my writing abilities. I have decided to share some recent ones with you. So, here are several that I have written since encountering the concept of unphotographable moments.

Warning: The last one may be a tough read.

This is a picture I did not take of a well groomed young boy sitting on a piece of burlap on top of a huge slide gazing up his Mother with utter trust in his face reaching out his tiny hand for her to hold while she sat beside him on the adjacent slide looking at him with a big smile and reached out her own hand to grab his.

{Witnessed at the San Antonio Rodeo Feb. 6, 2011; written February 2011}

This is a picture I did not take of a shiny black car with a man in white standing beside it in the middle of a brown field after it ran through a section of green grass, crossed an exit ramp, knocked down a sign, ran through another section of green grass, crossed the frontage road, and crashed through a barb wired fence finally coming to a rest in a field of brown.

{Witnessed on April 15th, 2011; written April 2011}

This is a memory forever engraved upon my mind of watching a man lying on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask having difficulty breathing slipping off to forever sleep under the influence of morphine all the while I am mentally screaming “That’s my Daddy. That’s my daddy. Oh daddy”.

{January 13th, 2009; This was not written until recently - May 2011}