2011-10-29 // 02:02:20
LiA
Ok - i love them all.

he is a little squash-snout-sweetie- bonbon.
For sure.
Cross my heart..
Lili

2007-12-16 // 20:27:42
LEjovik
most adorable!
and that is coming from someone who hates most cats.
not all...
but most.

2006-11-27 // 17:40:34
Jose605
I am fascinated by cats. I can´t help trying to comprehend what goes inside their minds and why they act like they do. It wasnt my intention to analyze Mouse´s personality in any way. It is always good to learn about new theories anyway, so thanks for sharing the links.

^ I'm almost as much fascinated by cats and domesticated animals in general as I am of the hypotheses humans develop to explain the behavior of the former. I would think that it would be an interesting approach to psychoanalysis to examine the relationship a patient has with a pet and how they choose to describe it :-) Not too long ago I've done some reading up on human consciousness and self-awareness research (some really great titles have been published in those fields in the last 15 years,) thus my little nudges in the direction of those Wikipedia articles. It wasn't meant as a reprimand or anything of that nature. Sorry if it came across as such. My use of Theory of Mind was a bit clumsy there ;-)

2006-11-27 // 16:55:59
LiA
and this one!
the rest of it was too much for me, but these two are just great!

^ Too much - too much - too much is not enou-ough! Well, it is very rare that I take pictures of the cat and even rarer that I take more than one picture of any one thing from essentially one point of view, even if the thing's a someone and the someone's writhing around non-stop. I probably did go overboard, but since it's an exception to my rules, I'm liking that. And thank you for pointing out the ones that you do like :-)

2006-11-27 // 10:19:30
Jose605
Funny procedure you followed :-) Anything for the shot.. What I really believe is Mouse was fully aware of everything that was going on that night. He just thought "hey, lets give this good old Ulf the chance to get his pola shots so he´s happy..." all while he was pretending to be asleep...or maybe not... That´s the great thing about cats; you will never guess what´s on their minds.. :-)

^ One of these days we should have a talk about the contemporary state of scientific research regarding self-awareness and something called the Theory of Mind. In lieu of time, I'll do the lazy thing and just add two Wikipedia links on the subject which point to articles that indirectly explain why I believe your anthropomorphization of Mouse went a bit far this time around :-P ;-) Self-awareness on Wikipedia »link Theory of Mind on Wikipedia »link Teehee.

2006-11-26 // 18:13:12
Jose605
What a great description of a cat behaviour. That is exactly how they are! And now the most important question of all: how did you do so he didnt wake up with the sound of the camera/light of the flash?

^ Why the flash didn't appear to wake him up even once I have no idea. I suppose feline eyelids might be pretty good at blocking out even intense bursts of light? As for the sound bit...it's a pretty stealthy camera, because the initial exposure click is comparatively soft. And as long as you keep holding the release button, the ejection mechanism (which is as loud as on any other integral film camera) doesn't kick in. So I shot these at a proximity of 10 inches (~25cm,) kept holding the release button, carefully got up from the sofa, walked into the kitchen and only then eased my finger off the release :->

2006-11-26 // 17:16:00
Donna
oh, he's adorable, and he has quite the life.

^ Those are kind words, thank you. Sometimes I do envy him for his way of living.

2006-11-26 // 13:35:16
Jose605
Such powerful shots Ulf. I love them all. You cant really tell if the cat is feeling perfectly comfortable or in total agony. Simply wonderful. Among the best pola series I have ever seen.

^ Dang Jose - cheers! There's something about Mouse's sleeping, unconscious body language that I presume other predators share...stripped of his being on guard and ceaseless observation of his surroundings he strikes me as quite vulnerable. When his paws and his lips start twitching I wonder whether he dreams and if so whether he's the hunter or the prey. Sometimes, when he wakes from such a twitchy phase he looks so surprised and almost in shock to me. Then he inevitably stretches and usually settles back into a more guarded position. I wonder whether such an area as feline sleep research exists. Where's Michel Gondry when you need him? :-P

2006-11-26 // 10:37:38
brother_james
i don't know which one to choose..
i'll take this one ^^

^ Good. Probably my favorite of the bunch.

2006-11-26 // 02:50:48
ColorblindArtistWhoCantDraw
i think mouse may be a moocher/sponger/cheap- skate. he needs to get a job...

^ You know how it goes...is born and grows up on a farm, never really learns anything of bread-winning value and now just acts out his innate instincts (which would be chasing and killing animals slower and weaker than him, eating, sleeping and guarding an area that he regards as his personal territory and hunting grounds.) Definitely a moocher, but I enjoy having the guy around.