# Couple of our Cats Exploring the Snow on the Back Deck



## manaheim (Feb 9, 2013)

BTW, this orange cat is 20lb.  Big fella.  Maine Coon.  He's made for this weather.  I was sorely tempted to let him out into the snow proper to let him play, but with this guy... pfft.  He's be gone and we'd never see him again.  Real hunter/traveller type.  Totally fearless.


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## SCraig (Feb 9, 2013)

Aw, ain't they cute 

Maine Coon Cats are really interesting cats.  My sister had one and he was a good one.

The other one looks a little confused about what's going on outside.


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## manaheim (Feb 9, 2013)

That other one is a coon as well... we actually have four of them.  Two of them are more normal sized cats (including that brown one), and the orange one and his brother are  bigger.

They are VERY neat animals.  Very gregarious, very rugged, very smart.  You can totally see why they were such a successful breed and why so many cats look like they have a little maine coon in them.


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## manaheim (Feb 9, 2013)

Oh and yeah, the smaller guy there was like "Hey, this is kinda neat... err... it's cold... why am I out here?"


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## snowbear (Feb 9, 2013)

Both are pretty cats.


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## SCraig (Feb 9, 2013)

manaheim said:


> That other one is a coon as well... we actually have four of them.  Two of them are more normal sized cats (including that brown one), and the orange one and his brother are  bigger.
> 
> They are VERY neat animals.  Very gregarious, very rugged, very smart.  You can totally see why they were such a successful breed and why so many cats look like they have a little maine coon in them.


I didn't know that they came in varying colors.  My sister's cat was that same orange color and I guess I just assumed they were all that color.

They are great cats though.  My sister has always had a habit of getting pets and then giving them away after a while (one of ours came from her), and the Maine Coon she had went to my mom.  He was smart as could be, and my mom loved him more than anything, and he was absolutely spoiled rotten.  Guess it's a family trait though, both of our cats are to.


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## manaheim (Feb 9, 2013)

hehe.  Oh yeah they come in all the typical "tiger cat" colors.

Here, here are our four...

Josie...






Smudge...






Gibble (orange) and Oreo "Batman" Russo (golden - they call him a golden tabby because the alternate color is a rich golden color... not sure if it really shows here)  (My youngest named him, btw)


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## SCraig (Feb 10, 2013)

Gorgeous critters.  I love the "Why do you PERSIST in doing this to me" expression on Josie.

Both of ours are somewhat "Rescue" cats.  The oldest was one of my sister's cats.  She had 4 at the time and the other three picked on this one constantly so we took her.  She is perfectly happy now and the queen of the household.  The other was a street kitten who hung around a friend's office begging for food.  My friend wanted to find him a home so we took him.  He was 4 months old at the time, according to the vet, and is 18 months old now.  Both are spoiled rotten, want for nothing and need nothing except more hours in the day to sleep.


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## manaheim (Feb 10, 2013)

hahah.... yeah, Josie USUALLY has that face.  She's a bit of a little princess. 

That's awesome that you did the rescue thing.  We really should but we never manage to for whatever reason.


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## SCraig (Feb 10, 2013)

I'm not one of the people who try and rescue every animal they see, but I do have a soft spot for them and when I can help I do.  I'm realistic to know that I can't fix the world though, and two at once is about my limit 

I know that look well.  Our female usually has it on her face as well.  It's that "I was sleeping good until you came in, but since you're here FEED ME!" look.


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## PixelRabbit (Feb 10, 2013)

Gorgeous kitties all up in this thread! 

Fun shots Bunny Boy! Our guys don't understand the snow piled up in front of the windows, Angus tries to look out like he normally would then starts to howl lol I should try to get a video of it, they look very puzzled by the whole deal just like your gorgeous friends do! lol


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## manaheim (Feb 10, 2013)

SCraig said:


> I'm not one of the people who try and rescue every animal they see, but I do have a soft spot for them and when I can help I do.  I'm realistic to know that I can't fix the world though, and two at once is about my limit
> 
> I know that look well.  Our female usually has it on her face as well.  It's that "I was sleeping good until you came in, but since you're here FEED ME!" look.



omg she's beautiful.  I think it's totally the 'female cat' look... all the rest of our cats are boys, and their expression can generally be described as "durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... what?"

I'm with you on the rescue thing.  Some folks can go a little... crazy. 



PixelRabbit said:


> Gorgeous kitties all up in this thread!
> 
> Fun shots Bunny Boy! Our guys don't understand the snow piled up in front of the windows, Angus tries to look out like he normally would then starts to howl lol I should try to get a video of it, they look very puzzled by the whole deal just like your gorgeous friends do! lol



hahah... thanks.  LOVE the name Angus, btw.


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## MiFleur (Feb 10, 2013)

You have such beautiful cats, and the whole series is superb.

that last picture with the green eyes is awesome, I love the aristocrat look! the only thing that is missing is a crown!


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## SCraig (Feb 10, 2013)

manaheim said:


> omg she's beautiful.  I think it's totally the 'female cat' look... all the rest of our cats are boys, and their expression can generally be described as "durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... what?"
> 
> I'm with you on the rescue thing.  Some folks can go a little... crazy.


I think the biggest difference between male and female cats is that the females always seem to have that "Regal" bearing about them where males are more about "Hey y'all!  Watch This!"  Sophie doesn't walk into a room, she "Enters" a room.  She doesn't lay down, she "Assumes a reclining position".  Casey, on the other hand, is more the flop over on the back and shout "Whazzzzzzzzzup!" type.

I have a friend who does tend to go overboard on the animal rescue thing.  She always has a menagerie at home, and absolutely cannot pass a dog or cat on the street without trying to find out who owns it and get it home.  It pains me to see a homeless animal to, but to her it's almost like it's a personal affront that she can't leave alone.  I remember once she and her boyfriend were somewhere in the northeast (MA, CT, ME, somewhere that I don't remember) on a trip.  They were going through a residential area about 10:00 at night and she saw a dog walking down the street.  She stopped, got the dog, started knocking on doors until she found the owner, and then read them the riot act for not keeping their dog up at night.  There is a limit to what can be done, but she doesn't recognize it.


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## manaheim (Feb 10, 2013)

SCraig said:


> manaheim said:
> 
> 
> > omg she's beautiful.  I think it's totally the 'female cat' look... all the rest of our cats are boys, and their expression can generally be described as "durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... what?"
> ...



yes!  Actually with these two boys we got recently (the bigger guys), I think I finally put my finger on it.  They're male lions.  If you've ever seen male lions they're pretty much like "Yeah, I could kill you with a single swipe of my paw and I'm surrounded by ladies I can mate with pretty much any time I like.  Oh and btw, they hunt for me.  Isn't that badass?  Pass me that zebra.  I'm hungry."



SCraig said:


> I have a friend who does tend to go overboard on the animal rescue thing.  She always has a menagerie at home, and absolutely cannot pass a dog or cat on the street without trying to find out who owns it and get it home.  It pains me to see a homeless animal to, but to her it's almost like it's a personal affront that she can't leave alone.  I remember once she and her boyfriend were somewhere in the northeast (MA, CT, ME, somewhere that I don't remember) on a trip.  They were going through a residential area about 10:00 at night and she saw a dog walking down the street.  She stopped, got the dog, started knocking on doors until she found the owner, and then read them the riot act for not keeping their dog up at night.  There is a limit to what can be done, but she doesn't recognize it.



heh.  Yeah, totally.  A good friend of mine got very involved in the local cat rescue league.  He's a very practical, intelligent guy and was really enjoying the work and his contribution to both society and catdom... but the crazy "cat ladies" eventually drove him mad and chased him away with all their "aww we godda save da widdly kitties from the big evil man government!!!!!!!!!" and whatnot.  Whackos.


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## SCraig (Feb 10, 2013)

manaheim said:


> yes!  Actually with these two boys we got recently (the bigger guys), I think I finally put my finger on it.  They're male lions.  If you've ever seen male lions they're pretty much like "Yeah, I could kill you with a single swipe of my paw and I'm surrounded by ladies I can mate with pretty much any time I like.  Oh and btw, they hunt for me.  Isn't that badass?  Pass me that zebra.  I'm hungry."


Very good analogy!  And like lions when they are young all they want to do is play and wrestle with one another.  As they get older they start to develop that feline arrogance that only a cat can have.  They are just amazing creatures to watch.



manaheim said:


> heh.  Yeah, totally.  A good friend of mine got very involved in the local cat rescue league.  He's a very practical, intelligent guy and was really enjoying the work and his contribution to both society and catdom... but the crazy "cat ladies" eventually drove him mad and chased him away with all their "aww we godda save da widdly kitties from the big evil man government!!!!!!!!!" and whatnot.  Whackos.



Yeah, it's like that with so many things.  People just don't understand realistic limits, they absolutely have to go to extremes.  Why bother trying to clean up our one's own little corner of the world when they can try to clean up the whole world.  Goals are great things but they have to be tempered by reality to.


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