Hale Bopp's favorite toy is a 4-foot strip of elk hide, cut from a jacket sleeve when resizing. Because the material was designed to protect the original wearer (the elk) from thorns and branches much bigger than a house cats, the Bopster has a hard time holding on when we play tug of war. To make it easier for him, I tied a couple of knots in one end. When he would try to hold on anywhere above the knots, I would pull it loose with ease.

I had begun to notice that when he would drag the thing to me for the first play of the day, there would be 2 or 3 new knots along it's length. Having had much experience with cats and yarn, I knew that active play can cause knots, so I thought nothing of it, untied the knots, and played the game as usual.

Well, I am here to tell you that this morning the picture changed. Bopp brought me the thing as usual, I untied the knots as usual, tossed out the knotted end, as usual, but Hale Bopp's reaction was not as usual. He just sat there and looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. I dropped the thing, and sat back to read my mail.

After starring at me for another 2 or 3 minutes, Bopp picked up the end of the thing, dragged it over to the "hallway" and proceeded to tie new knots in it! He first laid his left paw on the strip, then lifted his paw and wrapped the strip around his paw. Then he placed his paw on the carpet and pulled back, forming a loose knot. He then pulled on the ends, one at a time, until he had a nice knot about 1/3 of the way down the strip. I stared in total disbelief as he then repeated the process to make a second knot. When he was satisfied with his work, he got up, dragged the thing over to me, and waited to play.

I admit, this is not a good description of exactly what he did, but I promise, if he does it again in my sight, I will take notes. I am still in shock!

Copyright © Reggie
February 12, 2000