They say anticipation is half the pleasure.
By 6pm, my cat Roscoe is already prowling the kitchen, waiting to hear that happy sound: his daily can of cat food being opened.
I typically heighten the anticipation by standing there, with the open can sitting on the counter, and asking him if he wants his dinner now, or later.
He answers without hesitation. “Now… now…. now…”
That’s the same speech he gives me when he’s waiting at the back door, eager to be let outside. “Now… now… now…”
Roscoe has a limited vocabulary, but he knows how to say, “Now.”
Many people believe their cats are saying, “Meow”. But they are not listening closely.
I was researching cat communications over the weekend, because I had come across an article about a mountain lion living in Griffith Park, a 4,310-acre nature reserve tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains, just north of Hollywood and just south of Burbank. This particular mountain lion — who prefers the label “cougar” since he’s not actually a “lion” — has been living in Griffith Park for about ten years. After he was captured and fitted with a GPS collar in 2012, he posed for an iconic photograph with the “Hollywood” sign lit up behind him — and became something of a local celebrity. Not an easy thing to become, in a city chock full of celebrities.
Research biologists, who consider him a “puma”, named him P-22. He apparently had to cross two LA freeways to get to Griffith Park. Another reason for his celebrity status.
A recent article in the LA Times quoted a local nature photographer, Michael McMahan, who has managed to photograph P-22 at least 75 times, and who has the puma’s face tattooed on his left shoulder.
“P-22 and I, we’re at similar stages in our lives. We’re just two older bachelors roaming the Hollywood Hills…”
This quote struck a chord with me, because Roscoe and I are older bachelors roaming the Pagosa Hills. Although to be honest, Roscoe does considerably more roaming than I do.
Not that Roscoe and I are celebrities, of course. P-22 has the clear advantage, in that department. He’s even the subject of an exhibit arranged by LA’s Natural History Museum… and a special web page about cougar communications:
What comes to mind when you imagine the call of P-22, L.A.’s famous urban mountain lion? Do you imagine a roar or violent hiss? If so, you are not alone because that is what people most often see and hear in the movies…
Apparently, lions and tigers are able to roar and hiss, to communicate the fact that they are about to eat you.
But smaller felines, like cougars and cheetahs, do not roar, or hiss. In fact, they rarely make any sound at all, other than a purring sound. And when they do vocalize, the sound comes out as a high-pitched squeak.
If you listen to the video below, you might understand this female puma — as I do — to be saying “Wow… wow… wow…”
Why she is saying, “Wow”, is not immediately clear. She seems very relaxed. My first suspicion is that Dad took the kids to the swimming pool, leaving her home with nothing to do but put her feet up and perform some personal hygiene. Enough to make any woman say, “Wow… wow… wow…”
In fact, the sound reminds me of my ex-wife Darlene.
When Darlene would say, in a sarcastic tone, something like, “Wow… wow… wow… You spilled beer on the coffee table and didn’t even try to wipe it up. Wow.”
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.