CATS & DOGS

This here is our Family of Cats and Dogs. I was a bit late for breakfast so I missed one cat and one dog, though their pictures are in the panorama. Lets introduce them all.

I'll start with Toby the bull mastiff cross who we got from the SPCA. We were the third family to pick him up from there. He had been either too much trouble or had wandered off never to return! His first wander from us and he was picked up by the City Animal Ranger and returned. He's got a chip in his neck. Second and third time he actually came home after a couple of hours so I guess he really feels he's a member of the family now.

Our next is Froggy, our blind black Lab, there's a picture of him on the fridge. Sue, my wife, got him from a couple that were going overseas. He had been in an accident and they had spent megabucks putting him back together and he has arthritis as a result. He is the friendliest old boy and just loves it when we take him to the beach. At thirteen he goes for a daily walk and can still eat his dinner in half a second flat.

I'll start the cats with Ginger George (Mr. Dribbles) as he's the most unusual. Yes, that's him as a kitten with his three mama hens. On the Free Range the mother Wild cats liked to put their kittens in the nesting boxes, warm, dark and dry. Late Spring one was just as likely to find their kittens under chooks as eggs. George had three brothers, we managed to catch him and one other, sadly Archie, his brother, was hit by a car. When Toby arrived he wanted to eat the cats. He was tied up so he couldn't but George was determined to make friends with him and day by day got closer and closer until Toby just melted. I have photos of them licking each other. George is the sleekest of the cats and can be seen prowling and pouncing on things in the garden any time of the day. He is also most likely to initiate some altercation with the cat next door. He's a dribbler, wow, I've never seen anything like it, and mostly when he's really contented, sitting on your lap.

I've got two shots of Jerry, his full name is Jerry Puku Domesticus. Puku is Maori for stomach and right from a kitten he would eat and eat until his stomach had blown up like a balloon. Domesticus cos he was the only non-Wild kitten we had.

We got Jerry as a mate for Puzzle. There's a picture of Puzzle and Jerry as kittens on the cupboard door by Jerry. Puzzle was the first Wild kitten we got. I was collecting the eggs one morning from the farthest shed when I happened to look down at my feet and there was this tiny white and black kitten hissing at me. Well I scooped him up and took him home. He is still the wildest of the cats except with me. Always greets me when I get home and is a constant companion when I'm gardening.

You're going to have to do a bit of looking for our youngest puss but you'll find him. He's Freddie, Son of Fred. Fred was the dominant Tom down in the Wild lands and Freddie is just the spitting image of him. I caught Freddie by creeping up behind him as he was eating some of the chicken food. Too hungry, not listening and I grabbed him by the scruff and his tail and managed to get him into a feed sack. He's still a bit timid with us but he's as solid as his dad and has no qualms challenging the cat next door.

It's winter of course at the moment and we've had a couple of four-cat-nights already, usually we're having three-cats. Well, that's it really, the six of them get on pretty well and they're very generous sharing their home with us!!

Australia - New Zealand / New Zealand

Lat: 37° 56' 8.03" S
Long: 174° 38' 23.19" E

Elevation: 79m

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 10.5mm, PC Core2, Adobe Bridge, PTGui Pro 9.0.4, Photoshop CS3 extended, Pano2VR

I did this handheld and when I came to process in PTGui Pro it came out very strange. I'd like to thank the folks on the PTGui Support list for setting me right. Thanks Guys!