Trail Cats

“How do people feel about cats on the trail? Anybody ever have problems?”

“Screw CATS!!!! I grew up with 7 and dont want anything to do with them on the trail! My opinion!”

“Prowler screws cats? That sounds like a totally different issue to me.”

“I read an account of a Thru-hiker that took his cat Ziggy with him in '97. Ziggy made short work of the shelter mice and he buries his poop.”

“BTW-Ziggy rode on top of the guys pack. My cats would be hell on my packweight if I had to carry them.”

“Only scullcup would think of that !”

“Socks better watch her back because she is next!!!!”

“yall got to be crazy!

Some times Skinny Kenny and Cokey wold walk byside the rode on walks byside the rode with me and my daddy. But walkin in the woods and sleepin in the woods? Plane CRAZY!

They wold prolly get ate by wolf bares or bob kittys or mountin kittys in the woods.”

“what about CatDogs?”

“I find catdogs very disturbing. My six year old doesn't understand why. Spongebob causes the same visceral response.”

“My cats sometimes follow me on walks in the nearby woods.. hehe. They kinda start meowing real loud if they fall too far behind. Then they gallop full speed ahead to catch up to me. OH and to clarify, no one ever complained about non-use of leashes...lol.

They don''t like crossing the creek either. And a nearby waterfall made them damn near go beserk.

LOL..... gotta love cats. :-)”

“SPONGEBOB!! he kicks ass! Tarpie has that starfish-shaped dude...a stuffed one.

they're so cool because they're disturbing! :-D”

“Isn't it funny how an animal that is so indifferent toward us can bring out such strong emotions in humans?

Cats: You either love them or hate them.”

“I've never seen or even heard of Spongebob before and it gives me the willies.

I did hear about a girl who took her two cats into the 100 Mile Wilderness a few years ago and they got away from her.

Wild Ghost Kitties with big teeth and bad attitudes, sneaking around the campsites in the middle of the night -- like little midget Woof-Bares. Don't tell Sarabelle.”

“How'd you like to hike with this cat riding on your pack? 'Snowball' reportedly weighs 87 pounds and measures 69 inches, snout to tail!”

“Oh surely that has to be some kind of trick of perspective.”

“Snowball will have to carry my pack.

Cold feet anyone? Kitty can handle that one.”

“My wife has a cat (Yoyo) that I would love to take halfway in the woods.

Puma bait anyone?”

“As long as I don't meet any winged cats on the trail, I'll be OK.”

“Does Snowball have a saddle?”

“catdogs is like sheman”

“when I was a kid. Many many went feral. I would sometimes encounter them in the woods - they were truly wild.

Skinny Kenny and Cokey really would follow me and Belle on some of our walks. They acted just as Liz described...”

“Given a choice, I prefer Nashville Cats.”

“Only a SISSY BOY would own cats.

Probably even takes them to shop class.

LMAO”

“I think a trail cat would be totally cool. Certainly one like Snowball. Big enough to scare away the bobkittys and the woof bares.”

“I had an encounter with a cat on a trail once in the evening. It was sitting on a huge boulder looking out over the valley. We got to within 30' of it before it noticed us. Before my girlfriend could panic I started walking towards while banging my hiking poles together. I watched it leap about 10' from the rock, over the trail to about 5' up the slope of the hill.
Then there was the cat the walked through my campsite in the middle of the night purring.”

“They don't go well in the woods.Ya know what I mean...:)

Crazy Mike”

“Once you skin them, a cat looks a lot like a rabbit.”

“Remember that commercial about the cat herders? I think it played during the last Superbowl. They're playing it again. Its one of my favorite commercials.”

“gojo, you walked right into that one, man!”

“oh my god, look what the cat dragged in.”

“OPIE and I just got 2 new kittens today! They are so adorable! I'm going to train them to be trail cats. I'm already reading up on how to walk them on a leash. Is this possible? Has anyone had any success? I don't need any cat bashers comments either!”

“I've seen cats on a leash before in some park somewhere.

There was a guy at Trail Days who had his dog on a leash. The cat didn't need one cause it was trained to ride on the dogs back. The mouse didn't need a leash either... it rode on the cats back.”

“does OPIE know yet?

lol”

“oops i knew i forgot to tell him something today!”

“we don't have a dog and i definately don't want a mouse so the dog, cat, mouse thing will not work for us!”

“Maybe you could train them to roam the campsite keeping raccoons and possums and bears away. As long as the bears are really really small.”

“I just want them to keep mice out of the shelters! I'm already teaching them how to kill mice. I bought them these little mice and they are carrying them around in their mouth! They are soo precious! I'll post pics soon!”

“heh...i heard one guy took his cat with him on the AT..and he kicked ass at the shelter...till the mice learned
....traps are funnier...air pistols even better”

“Miss Opie it is possible to train them on a leash but you must start early!!! I t also depends on the personality of the cat...some cats just will never take to it, and others take to it beautifully. I had a cat who refused to go outside with out her leash...when she wanted to go out shed meow up at her leash telling me she wanted to go for a walk. It is even harder (but possible with a lot of paitince and rewards) to get them to follow where you want them to go. Some cats prefer eddible treats, others praise. Depends on the cat. I had one who would jump through a hoop just to be petted and praised. But start the training young. That is the most important part. Take them eveerywhere with you...driving in the car, to the pet store, walks, fishing...whatever. One of my well trained cats actually liked to go swimming at lakes and to play in the waves at the ocean. They need to be well socialized so that going out isn't tramatic for them.”

“Cute kitties Miss Opie.

I looked at your WebShot photos and couldn't help but to notice y'all sure do go to a lot of weddings. When is y'alls? ;-)”

“Doh!!”

“are these the same kittens you were told to get rid of about a month ago?

or different ones?

very sweet kittens.”

“What'd you guys name them? They sooo cute. :-)”

“Stovestomper: I think all I ever do is go to weddings! The wedding season is over for me though, no more this year as of now! Ask OPIE when ours is.. he's the one that has to propose!

Mapleleaf: No, they are not the ones I found at my apartment complex. We got these kittens from a couple Randy works with.

Yam: Thanks! The yellow one is Hobbs and the black/gray one is either going to be Smoltz or Calvin, we haven't decided yet.”

“what free said.

clicker training works very well with cats.

you can't just "manhandle" them like you can with a dog.

cats were also not bred to do our bidding for a thousand years.

clicker training works well with cats because it's kinda like tricking them to do a behavior without them even knowing it.”

“i bought a clicker at the pet store cause it reminded me of the d-day clickers in the movies...how do you use them as training devices..i thought they were a toy..lol..guess i'll have to read up on it...
and it's hobbes”

“tech. speaking, a clicker is a secondary reinforcer - like money is to people.

anyways, here's a decent website about clicker training. it's about dogs but the princepal is exactly the same.

http://www.clickerlessons.com/lessons.html”

“I took a cat backpacking back in 1983. He rode on my pack sometimes and walked along too. He'd run off into the rhododendron and show up later. In the morning, he went out and came back with a mouse. A good trail cat is hard to find.”