Who knows what goes on inside her pretty little head?

I've spoken before about our cat, Tess. She can be a strange creature sometimes - one minute very affectionate, the next fairly ferocious.
When I am working at my desk she has a habit of jumping up onto the desk and walking all over the computer keyboard (which makes for some interesting new words) before settling down usually on the pile of papers that I am working on, or else she will try to curl up on my knee which is equally distracting.
This morning she did her usual and, as often happens, her attention was drawn to the movement of the cursor on the screen. Since I wasn't going to be working with the computer at the time I decided to do something to keep her 'out of my hair' or at least off my knee. I put a DVD into the pc drive. Now, I've noticed already that Tess likes watching wildlife programmes on the telly, especially if it involves elephants, or members of the cat family. Well, this was a documentary on Mountain Lions.
It worked!
She was transfixed! She sat on the desk totally absorbed by the pictures on the screen. I'm not sure how much of the commentary she understood but I think she fancied herself prowling among the mountain regions of South America. She was definitely star-struck!
I think she could turn into a real desk potato if I let her...

[remember to click on the photo to see it full size]

Screen play

I have never really approved of the practice adopted by some parents of sitting their small children down in front of a TV screen and putting on a video/DVD to keep them quiet.
Recent scientific research has suggested it may be a possible factor in the rising prevalence of autism and other disorders. I think it may be a bit early to reach fully definitive conclusions on this, but I'm sure there's something in it.
However, I may have to temper my disapproval of the TV Babysitter after recent experiences.
Not with my children, I hasten to add - as they are all fully-grown and well-rounded adults.... but with our cat, Tess!
I should explain.
We rescued Tess from the local pet rescue service. She was still a kitten, maybe six months old, but it was clear even then that she had been badly treated and at times could become quite frightened.
Nevertheless, with a lot of tender loving care, good feeding, and a great wild garden to play and hunt in, she has become more or less a happy and playful cat.
Most of the time.
But every so often she takes a strange turn. Her eyes suddenly change colour and she goes in for the kill. Being a very athletic, agile and fearless hunter- with delusions of grandeur (she is convinced she is a lioness) she can pounce on you from anywhere and you don't know what's hit you till the teeth and claws sink in.
Maybe it's related to the phases of the moon, or her hormones, or something in her diet, but she has these little bouts of bad-tempered madness every so often.
Recently she was having a particularly manic day. It wasn't safe to move around the house. It was even less safe to sit still.
Something needed to be done.
And it was.
It is our policy of last resort for specially bad 'psycho-Tess days'.

One of my daughters fetched a DVD from the study. It was a Discovery Channel documentary about Mountain Lions. It was duly placed in the DVD Player and Tess was sat down in front of the screen. And, would you believe it, she remained there, watching the screen, absolutely still, absorbed, engrossed, calmed.... for nearly 30 minutes.

The only worrying thing is that she actually likes elephants on the TV even more than she likes big cats. Explain that one to me...

*This is Tess, pretending to be a Mountain Lion. Incidentally, the picture of the lioness above was taken in the Masai Mara in Kenya in 2005.