Ringo defends himself

I'm posting these images for a good friend, Kirk Jones. They definitely fall in the "cute" category rather than art.

Ringo was one of four one week old kittens found abandoned in a warehouse and is the only one that survived bottle feeding. Ringo is part Siamese and in typical oriental fashion is firmly bonded with Kirk and follows him everywhere.

I showed Kirk the story about the heron swooping in and grabbing the rabbit. Since we have herons around here, Kirk got alarmed and being a true (ex) Marine and Viet Nam veteran decided to train Ringo in the art of self defense (scroll down to second image).

Ringo in his lair.


Ringo - When Herons Attack


- DL

Don, I couldn't be more delighted!

I do believe there is room for playfulness in Pet's Corner.

Ringo immediately leaped into my heart. I'm being careful not to trigger him into self-defense mode!

Mary

Is that what Kirk's training taught him - shoot with your eyes shut? ;-)

A very handsome cat. Beautiful markings...

TIm

Car (whatever number) Nikolai Sklobovsky, Where Are You?

We need to get Nikolai Sklobovsky in on this thread, doncha think, guys?

e.g. "New Bond Girl Part I" in the Portrait forum.

or, his Sin City version of my Dawn Rabbit
http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9136#poststop

Anyway, he could perhaps help Kirk coach Ringo?

Mary

Don Lashier said:

I'm posting these images for a good friend, Kirk Jones. They definitely fall in the "cute" category rather than art.

Ringo was one of four one week old kittens found abandoned in a warehouse and is the only one that survived bottle feeding.

Click to expand...

As long as the whole of OPF is slow right now, and since the light is not good for shooting outside here at present, I've been thinking about bottle-fed kittens.

Wanted to share this 1998 snapshot/portrait of me with M&M, rescued at age 2 weeks and bottle-fed, also. Here she's more like 6-8 weeks old and still not weaned.

I imagine her observing Ringo in self-defense mode with alarm.

JPEG shot with my Kodak DC210 camera and downsized to fit Village Photo free account requirements.



Mary

Tim Armes said:

A very handsome cat. Beautiful markings...

TIm

Click to expand...

As with humans, inter-breeding often leads to the most beautiful creatures. Ringo is obviously a cross between Siamese and Tabby - Kirk claims there's some Ocelot in there also but I'm not sure how he knows this, except Ringo is already 12 lbs now at only 9 months (these photos were taken a few months ago).

- DL

Mary Bull said:

I imagine her observing Ringo in self-defense mode with alarm.

Click to expand...

Nice shot Mary - reminds me of Chrissie "the rat" at that age. I imagine Ringo would be her defender. My Balinese "Flipper" who as a kitten loved to perch on a chair awaiting my older cats, and when they passed would jump on their back and ride them like a bucking bronco - later became their fierce protector, and they forgave him for his youthful shenanigans. Flipper's brother "Bonzo" was a clown (obviously) and never grew up - even as an adult his greatest pleasure was charging the older cats, head down, out of the blue, hitting them broadside at full speed and bowling them over. He'd then roll over laughing. BTW Flipper gained his name because as a kitten I would tease him by tossing wads of paper in the air and catching them, then throw them across the room. Remarkably he began grabbing the paper and tossing it in the air himself, and catching it. He also learned to jump into my arms when (standing) I clapped my chest. Remarkable cats those Balinese.

- DL

Don, I love swapping kitten and cat stories.

This is delightful, both about how Ringo would have defended Chrissie or M&M, if they had they been his contemporaries, and about Flipper.

I wish M&M would forgive Thistle. She still regards him--peering at him under the door crack--as a near and present danger.

I'm still going back to practice making better portraits of them, using the advice from you and from Asher, at some point. Having my charger go belly-up was a setback. But, I'm up and running now, and trying to learn to use the G2s settings. A lot of flipping back and forth between owner's manual and camera screen, presently.

Plus my *real* life with the cats. Both got great check-ups at the vet on Wednesday.

Mary

Ringo is indeed beautiful.

But, wow, 12 lbs at 9 months!

My little 8-year-old domestic black shorthair (read alley cat, I reckon), M&M, weighed 13 1/2 lbs on the veterinary scale Wednesday. But she hasn't been so active since her illness last December. I have her on Purina One Advanced Healthy Weight formula. She's begun to play and chase more, the last few weeks, so I'm hoping over the next year to get that belly down a bit.

Thistle is probably a blue Burmese--vet's opinion, since he was a rescue (lost cat) at 4 months. In October, 2005, he weighed 13 lbs. Vet said, don't let him gain any more. That's when he went on Purina One Advanced Healthy Weight. And Wednesday he weighed in at a pleasing 11 lbs.

If Ringo is a well-muscled 12 pounds, he could very well have an Ocelot strain in him, I think, Don.

Mary