The Life and Times of Mingus the Cat

What a stunningly beautiful cat.

Don't tell Mingus that. It'll go to his already inflated sense of self-importance.

Very sad. To me, "cat" is short for caterpillar, and I'm not even a professional entomologist. People who like cats, and men especially, I lump together with the morbidly obese in the category of "severe emotional problems." And when a topical blog starts including personal posts it is often the beginning of the end. All good blog authors have a moral obligation to continuously fight the constant temptation to include personal posts. I'll still read this blog, and I'm still very impressed by everything you so, but my personal and professional opinion is that cats are
vermin and it should be illegal to possess them. For shame. :-) Yes, I played it up to be more entertaining. But that is really how I feel. And I am not alone.

Wow. 'Very sad' is the crux of that comment. "All good blog authors have a moral obligation to continuously fight the constant temptation to include personal posts." I think that's called radical fanaticism when a reader presumes to tell an author what they should and should not write about. The notion that a writer owes you something is preposterous. A good blog author has no moral obligation save that to his/her own intentions--especially considering the blog belongs to the author, not the random visitor. If you want to control blog content, Warren, please feel free to write your own blog.

(Sorry, Alex. It's really not my place to say as much.)

I love the dinner party photo! Mingus seems an exceptional host. He's delightfully handsome when flitting about the rafters or holding his own on the rug.

I do write my own blog! But it's not as good as this one :-)

Telling an author what you like and dislike is not "radical fanaticism." It's being a fan. As Alex said, it's his readers who keep him going, and I'm expressing an opinion for a number of them who aren't as rude as me :-)

Ultimately, no one is forced to read anything (except kids in school), so I can just tune out. But I do enjoy the blog, and I will continue to read it. My comments are just the sweet breath of suggestion rustling softly through the petals. It appears that I've disturbed a bee!

lol

Warren

Oh please! "It appears that Iâve disturbed a bee!" -- It does indeed, Warren. Okay, so you've got issues with cats. Me too (read below) but I do also have pet cats who are quite pleasant, indoor company, and I say with some assurance that neither Alex nor I are people with severe emotional problems. I would note that it's a holiday weekend here in the US (Don't know where your dingy corner of the blogosphere is.), a time for family, memories, appreciation of loved ones, including the furry ones. So, I believe the blogger gets to indulge in homey thoughts without being attacked -- Indeed, it should be so any time. Furthermore, even if it weren't such a time of year, people often love their pets like family, so I would give it a rest on what amounts to a near personal attack, and perhaps introspect a bit about your own emotional situation.

This is not to say that feral cats and wandering feline pets of irresponsible owners are not problematic. They are. Huge numbers of songbirds are killed by the millions of free-roaming individuals of this non-native predator. This is particularly true during spring migration when birds arrive exhausted and less able to escape at the end of each day's long flight. This is a real problem in urban green spaces which serve as "fall-out" areas for these migrants. But are cats the big problem? Not at all! It's the "elephant in the living room" of habitat loss and degradation on the massive scales that modern humanity allows them to happen.

Anyway, Mingus is obviously a cool cat, whose lithe, feline athleticism is a wonder to behold, whether you know him or not.

Jeez Alex he is high flier that cat of yours plus he likes to the centre of attention.

Kittie! :)

Goodness. Of all the stuff I've posted here, it's the cat photos that set off a comment war? I never would have picked it.

I do appreciate the comments, including Warren's. Tastes differ, of course, but I find I most enjoy blogs with about an 80-20 mix of topical to personal content. So I aim for that with Myrmecos. Too topical gets bland; too personal is self-indulgent.

Mingus is strictly an indoor cat, for the reasons James gives above.

Bah, humbug @ Warren. Mingus is a lovely cat.

Bloggers are *gasp* mylti-dimensional people (I hope) and gosh darn it many of us like a kitty post every now and then...my own felines are sorely neglected in my blog in favour of the flashier canids, who get cameos from time to time. My cats are jealous of Mingus' free-range ceiling. It's wicked-awesome.

Lovely cat. Looks just like one of mine, as do all slender black cats of course! My Zekie would never be so daring, though, as to try that leap onto the rafter. Heck, I'd have a heart attack out of worry he'd not make it.

If it's not entirely out of line, who is the other beautiful non-ant in the pics?

Mingus had a close call the other night and overshot a bit- saved by his sharp claws. This leaves us with a conundrum. Do we stop trimming his claws in the interest of his health and safety? Or do we keep trimming them in the interest of OUR health and safety?

Anyway, that's one of our friends in town here.

What he (mingus) got 8 1/2 lives left alex.

Awwww. He's beautiful (and wonderfully photographs, of course!). My wife now wants to steal your house.

What is it about black cats? I met one in my old block of flats, and fell in love. I would have taken it home, but The Beast would not have been amused.