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My Beloved Mommy and Me

Teaching Mommy to Hunt

The latest edition of Sable teaches Mommy to hunt is being brought to you by Sable Kitty Productions in association with Frogs 'R' Us... Yep that's right I said frogs. You see, I thought that Mommy had completed my mouse catching training so I decided to move her on to the next level. Frogs!

I walked into the dining room in that peculiar way, after being on one of my excursions, with a prize for my beloved Mommy. It took longer than usual for Mommy to realize that I had a present for her because apparently frogs are not as obstructive to meowing as mice. So Mommy was all prepared to go mouse hunting again until she saw the froggy little legs dangling out of my mouth. And when Mommy realized it was not a mouse, “That's a frog!” I decided to drop the bouncy thing on the floor.

This brought back memories for Mommy of those first few furry little misfortunate creatures. She had gotten quite used to the mice. She didn’t seem to enjoy them the way I do but... she at least had gotten to the point of it being a casual occurrence. With a heavy sigh she would lazily stroll over to the cabinet. Grab one of the plastic Disney cups her sister gave to her for Christmas. (Aunt Stephanie purchased a set of cups for everyone in the family and was so astonished to hear that her siblings drank out of them, I can only imagine how she would react if she knew what Mommy was using them for now.) Anywho… Then Mommy would pick up a semi-used hand towel from the nearest location. Go over to where ever I happened to have the poor little thing cornered (usually behind the stack of computers in the dining room corner) and gently encourage poor Mickey into the cup with the towel.

That was for cute little mice. They really are precious vermin. Their sweet furry little faces with pitiful little eyes and mini hands gripping for dear life at the bottom of the cup. Adorable! But This! This was a creepy frog with bulging eyes and ugly slimy leathery green brown skin. Not that I have anything against frogs but they're just not very attractive.

So after about a minute, (that seemed like an hour to Mommy) of just gaping wide mouthed at the scene unfolding before her, Mommy calmly jumped up and panicked. “A Frog!? How am I supposed to catch a frog?! Mice I've done a thousand times but mice don't HOP and I've never even really seen a frog!” Yes, Mommy lives a sheltered life.

I had to help calm Mommy down. “Jeeze Mommy, get a grip, it’s not as if the frog will jump up and bite you or some other nonsense.” Finally Mommy got her wits about her and realized it was just a silly little frog, no big deal. She decided to handle this the same way she’s handled all those silly little mice.

So she quivered over to the cabinet, and grabbed one of those “collector’s edition” plastic Disney cups. She snatched the nearest hand towel and trembled over to the computer corner (apparently a well known sanctuary in the small animal world). So I casually walk over to offer Mommy assistance. I may have been drooling a tad at this point, although I can’t quite remember. But, Mommy decided she didn’t need my help and pushed me out of the way. The nerve! I bring her this delectable gift, and what thanks do I get?

Anyway, Mommy dangled the hand towel over Kermit and he began to hop right towards the cup. At this point Mommy thinks “Ok, maybe this isn't so bad after all.” So, mommy coaxed Kermit a little more and... 'hop-hop' right over the cup. Mommy gets a little upset now, "NO!!!! Not over! In the cup! In the cup! You are supposed to go INTO THE CUP! Don't you know this is your ticket to freedom?!" I wonder what Mommy meant by that.

Anyway, at this point Kermit had moved to underneath the dining room table only Mommy didn’t realize that right away. Unfortunately by the time I had shown her where he went, he had moved again. So, when Mommy got down on the floor and looked beneath the table, Kermit wasn’t there anymore. Mommy got a little frantic again, searching for Kermit everywhere she could think to look. Under the desk? Nope. In the kitchen or bathroom? Not there. Mommy is now quite a bit exasperated. “I hope he's not in my bedroom.” She decided to shut that door. So after looking around the tiny apartment (he couldn't have gone far) for about 5 minutes she decided to take a break. She went to that computer thing and was typing very fast and laughing a lot. I can’t figure out why she does that so much.

Then after about 20 minutes of Mommy discussing with the computer whether or not frogs can jump into beds she turned around to see the little bugger in the middle of the living room. Of course Mommy being who she is jumped up to do something (what I don't know) and Kermit hopped frantically under the sofa. I think Mommy scared him. Then Mommy started tearing up the place. She moved the sofa away from the wall and Kermit responded by scooting back under. But, Mommy got smart and flipped the sofa over so Kermit had nowhere to go.

Mommy didn’t really know what to do next. “Ok... great... now what? OH, I know! I'll throw my trusty hand towel over him and then trap him under the cup.” So far so good, Kermit was under the towel. Mommy reached down with the confidence of common poultry but much to her dismay she felt the strong little froggy body jumping out from under the towel. She in turn jumped out from inside of her skin. What a sight to see. But I have to give Mommy some credit she was a real trooper. She picked up the towel and threw it over Kermit again. She Missed. Kermit then hop, hop, hopped away. She snatched up the towel and threw it down again. Missed again. Kermit: 'hop, hop, hop', the towel left dangling on the cord from the floor lamp. This action replayed itself several times over the next few minutes until finally Kermit was snug up against the wall between two towels. Mommy reached down with the cup in her left hand and scooted Kermy into the cup with the towel in her right hand. "In the cup! In the cup! Get in the cup!" Mommy encouraged Kermy.

WOOOOHOOOOO! Victory! One frog under glass! Mommy’s heart was pounding so fast that I could hear it. Mommy went to that computer again and trumpeted her triumph. Then she carried our green friend outside to dump him in the grass. Farewell little fella.

Now I thought Mommy had had so much fun that I was going to go get her another friend to play with. But I guess I was wrong. Just as I was heading out of the window Mommy grabbed my tail and then grabbed me and she shut the window. "Oh, no you don't! I've had enough fun for one night." I wonder what she meant by that...