The addition of two very lovable brother and sister Burmese kittens to our household in the height of the Australian summer caused us an unanticipated problem - their absolute determination to explore The Great Outdoors. We had thought that they would be happy to remain indoor kitties, at least until their vaccination programme had been completed, but oh no. Oscar and Charley were making it their life's vocal work to get out into that garden. They had been born on a farm outside of Sydney and were used to frolicking in the grass, so the garden was clearly what they craved.

Since our garden was very small indeed, just a little deck and patio, we thought that perhaps a supervised ten minute visit might do no harm. And besides, the yowling for exploration rights was reaching such a decibel level that we feared that we would be accused of child abuse by the neighbours since the kittens were so noisy in their demands. So we complied.

Out they went and they had a ball, chasing their tails round and round, catching leaves, sniffing plants and generally rioting about. And then Oscar, swiftly followed by Charley, discovered our one and only tree. Now our tree gave easy access to the roof of the pub next door and Oscar and Charley were delighted! Up they went quick as a flash. We were appalled. We couldn't have that. Supervised visits in our tiny garden were one thing, but going to the pub, quite another. They were clearly under age for a start!

Preventative measures were clearly needed, so taking a piece of gutter guard, we cut out a large piece and fixed it into a circle/umbrella shape round the tree trunk. They can't possibly get past that we thought.. They won't be able to climb over the gutter guard. Well pleased with our efforts we sat down, opened a beer each and watched to see what would happen.

Oscar as by far the bigger of the two kittens had nominated himself as leader and he went first. He was determined to get up that tree. He tried again and again to push past that gutter guard, up and through it. No joy. Just a crumpled, dispirited, exhausted little Oscar heap at the bottom. After many attempts, Oscar finally gave up. This was the very first physical thing in his young little life that he hadn't managed to conquer. Charley meanwhile had been sitting quietly at the bottom of the tree watching her bother's numerous efforts and taking notes. With Oscar completely vanquished, it was her turn.

She went up that tree like greased lightening. Instead of pushing into the gutter guard and trying to force her way through, she delicately hung on to the tree with her right paw and two back ones. With her left paw she reached back and up and pressed the gutter guard back flat on to the tree trunk. Clever girl, she'd done it! The pub roof was all hers and time she fancied. Oscar was appalled. You could see it in his eyes. After all his efforts, his sister had conquered that obstacle in her very first attempt. Charley held her position on that tree, meowed loudly for her brother to come up and waited for Oscar to ascend, whilst she held the gutter guard flat for him. The apogee of team work!

That was the end of Oscar and Charley's garden visits until they grew much older. Oscar learnt a valuable lesson from his clever little sister that day and it was this: Slender and Slight, with a bit of brainpower thrown in, can beat Brawn and Might any day. It was a lesson that he never forgot. Respect!

Copyright © Ali Cassel
March 18, 2001