Yes, this basement window at the downstairs saloon looks out upon my driveway. Yes, feral cats walk up and down the driveway now and again. Yes, the feral pregnant Mister Mittens used to walk up the driveway to see my son John for pets and rubbings and food before we snagged her for a house cat.

The tomcat son of Mister Mittens, Trouble, likes to scope the driveway as a house cat to see other cats go by but I still don't know how he makes the leap from the floor to get behind the blinds.

What a shot! Great picture.

How DOES HE do that? Most cats are agile, but Trouble is quite the athlete too.

He's done 7 feet off his haunches to land upon the wife's cabinets in the living room (8-foot ceilings).

What amazes me about a cat leaping or jumping to a perch or a window or anything else is that when a cat gets there it's like the cat never expended more energy than what was necessary to get there. They are so graceful. Going up a cat lands softly and seems to JUST make the leap or jump.

We've seen Trouble stare at the cabinet and do a false start and sit back down without losing sight of his mission. And then he'll spring and get there.

Watch the venetian cord...he could jump up/down and get his neck through the loop...?

No loops. Jeez, the tomcat is a nice fellow. You can grab him and rub him and rough him up and he's game. If he's laid out and you rub his back sometimes he'll stretch and your eyes bug out when his front paws go out like dinner plates and his claws are extended. You understand that one swipe across your wrist or forearm is going to have you bleeding for a long time.

Same with Mister Mittens but she just runs smooth paws across my face before dawn to catch some breakfast. I still wonder about the "spread" and the "razors" that Mother Nature has provided to cats' paws. And how cats keep their claws buried inside their paws unseen. And how they can flash them in less than a moment.

A few years ago we heard a scream and a loud clattering noise coming from the bedroom, the cat had wrapped the blinds cord loop around her body. We unwrapped it, but wondered what if we were out at the time? I would cut any loops and have the cord lie straight down to be on the safe side.