Can't keep the cats out of the tree

I remember the silver Christmas tree that mom used to put up every year in front of the living room window that had the rotating multi-light lamp that you shown on it. One year after she had finished putting it up, she left the light on while we went to the grocery. On the way home, she told dad to drive past so she could see how it looked, but the only thing you seen was the lights.

Now this room was off limits to all animals & the door was always shut. However, we had one cat who knew how to open the door using his paws on the door knob & every once in a while let himself in. So when we went inside, we found the cat sitting next to the tree looking proud of himself.
 
That's a good idea. I was worried they'd chew on the wiring, but seems they haven't even thought about it.

I took @RadishRose 's advice and got out my squirt gun bottle. Used it 3 times, and they haven't messed with the tree since.

We have 3 cats. Penny and Charlie are only around 5 or 6 months old. Pixel's been with me for 8 years or so. He couldn't care less about the tree, but the other two got all excited about it, especially little Charlie. In fact, he stayed right at my feet the whole time I put the tree together, and then hung the lights and the ornaments, going back and forth with me from the ornament boxes to the tree, watching the whole process intently.
cat tree 0.jpg
 
Actually - no interest here. Every year Izzi checks the tree out and then uses the ladder as her thing. I may find pictures of her coming down on the back of the treads.
What a well behaved cat! 😺 Being Muslim, we don't celebrate Christmas, so that's never something I have to worry about. Our Deja would probably down a tree in 5 seconds. She is the epitome of nosy (err...I mean curious).
 
Twice now my son and I have gone into the living room after dinner to sit and enjoy the decorations. We usually use another room for hanging out, watching TV. Both times, my dog has thought it must be Christmas and ran to the pile of presents under the tree and started scratching the paper off. She's 15, she's set in her ways.
 
My granddaughter's huge cat used to guard the presents as he assumed they were all his.


Of course afterwards, all empty boxes and bags needed to be tried on for size. We always referred to the process as "The 20-pound cat in the 10-pound box".
Some consolation, at least. Otherwise Christmas mornings would be sort of an annual trauma for him/her. 🙀
 
Cucumbers smell like copperhead snakes.
Interesting.

Per reptilestime.com copperheads can smell like spoiled cucumbers when they are scared or cornered.

But according to the Georgia Dept of Wildlife's expert and reptile blogger Mike Van Halen, this is a myth. Per Halen,“There is no scientific evidence backing up this claim. Plenty of people who study wild copperheads and work with them daily have never smelled cucumbers associated with these snakes, even in areas where large numbers of them gather for the winter."
(are they studying them in the wild, though, or in sanctuaries and reptile zoos, where the snakes know their handlers and don't encounter predators?)
 
Cucumbers smell like copperhead snakes.
My son sent me a video highlighting a fight between a cat and snake (don't think it was a copperhead though). The narrator said in fights against cats and snakes, the cat will always win because it is faster and of course, their natural hunting instinct can make them ferocious.
 


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