As you may remember, this fall Deberah, Jerry and I got a kitten hoping it would keep those darn critters out of our garden. After some debate we named him, Mr. Basil and since the garden is at my house, he resides with me. As you can see above, Mr. Basil is a Tuxedo cat and to my delight he doesn't shed. The first part of his training included my Corgi, Tia, my Chiwheenie (part chihuahua and part Datsun), Todd and a Schnauzer, Sunny Boy (my mother's dog I adopted after he acquired cataracts and diabetes), and me. We all had to learn to get along living in the house together. But this wasn't hard because Tia took on the role as mother, Todd was a playmate and Sunny Boy couldn't see Mr. Basil so well.
Often, I took Mr. Basil out to the garden to acclimate him to the territory, but I was a little concerned that he might think he was a canine instead of a feline, especially since I taught him to shake hands (very easily) and he was being raised with three dogs. However, recently, as seen above his innate predator genes kicked in and so far he has killed three rats to our excitement. I don't take credit for this training since he was born with hunting instincts.
When all of us are chilling out, watching TV or napping, Mr. Basil has learned to join in by curling up around my neck and shoulders.
Although, I intend to keep training our garden cat, the first five months have been a success.
So, until next time.......
Happy Garnening 2013!
Posted by Wilma Smith
I LOVE "Mr. Basil." He's very much like my tuxie, "Gob," who acts like a dog even though we don't have any. He is a pretty good hunter, too!
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...but finds a more exciting challenge with birds, unfortunately.
:(
Happy gardening!
Amy thanks for your comment, I was excited that you have a tuxie too! And hope you both like gardening as much as Mr. Basil and me.
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