Going Undercover

No doubt about it, humans are weird. For one thing, they behave differently if they think you're watching them. I'm not sure what deep-seated insecurities or instinctive guilt this is an expression of, but it seems to be hardwired in them. We cats don't mind if we're being watched or not: with us, what you see is what you get. 

Undercover at the Council of Chairs

The human reaction to being watched means that it can be hard to observe the full range of their natural behaviors. To remedy this, I have taken to going undercover. In one undercover investigation recently, I attended a Council of Chairs meeting. I'm not sure why the chairs were so important to the humans attending the meeting virtually, but I did learn that preventing an uptick in covid cases when the fall semester starts is important to them. That part sounded very reasonable. 

As is so often the case, the interim conclusion of my study is that humans are a baffling mix of neuroses and rationality.

Alarming Additions to the Life List

I have two new sightings to report. Both of them alarmed my human, but they looked intriguing to me, especially when viewed from the opposite side of a good window.

Barred owl (Strix varia)

My human tried to say that her concern about the first one (owl) was only on behalf of my housemates and me. That may have been just an excuse, but maybe it was true--she took special care to make sure none of us stayed out on the deck after the humans went inside. We tried not to be too insulted: what cat is afraid of a bird?

Eastern rat snake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis)

As for the second one (snake), this time it really was my human who was alarmed. The startled shriek she gave when she saw it was the giveaway. Granted, these types of legless creatures are not normally found in bushes in my experience--and apparently not in hers either. I am not completely sure of the identification of this one (the leaves were in the way), but I think it's a young one, which explains the crosshatched coloration.