AJSavannahs Little Hunters Miss Gabriel

We named our AJSavannahs F2B kittens Faith, Hope and Charity the "Little Hunters" when Gabriel was old enough to wean and big enough to hold his own with the girls. Since he was an only child, and we supplemented Gabatta's milk with a bottle, Gabriel thought he was a human and not a Savannah cat. Which meant that he was developing quite an attitude, and why not, he IS Gabatta's! The girls took care of his attitude right away. They were like the depictions you see of early man hunting Wooly Mammoths. Small creatures surrounding a huge beast and somehow prevailing.

Thus, our names: Little Hunters sisters Faith, Hope and Charity, and Wooly Mammoth Gabriel (from our AJSavannahs F1 Gabatta and F6A Mbau).

Now that Gabriel is home, I made my third 14-hour PLUS trip to Oregon to deliver him to his cousins our F3B Ellie and F2B Jericho, DSH Tater (and humans Teresa and Jimmy, of course), but now that Gabriel is home, the (not so) Little Hunters have turned their attention to me. With help from their cousins George and Charlie of course.

I noticed the new behaviors last week, but they don't do it to Jason, so I thought it was just a quirk. Not.

This is how it goes, cleaning litterboxes for Faith, Hope, Charity, George and Charlie:

I start scooping. Charlie jumps in the box, then he dives into the bag. In the meantime, Faith leaps into the box, too, trying to distract me. George rushes in and grabs the bag, usually at the top edge. I shoo George away. Drag Charlie out of the bag and try and hold him, and the bag, in my right hand as I continue to scoop around Faith with my left.

Then Charity launches from the cat tree in the middle of the room, to the fireplace, then to my back, then onto the stereo, then on around the room. Hope joins her in the chase.

Faith jumps out of the box.

Charlie twists out of my right hand and dives back into the bag, tearing the bottom as he goes in. George sees an opportunity and grabs the top edge again, dragging the bag, and Charlie out of my reach.

Charity makes her second circuit of the room and hits my back right on cue. I give up, stand up, open the closet door and they all dash in to play with the toys I have stashed. I close the door, get a new bag, clean up the mess, and start over again.

Jason asks me why I don't just close them in the closet to start with...

Mainly because we ALL have so much fun with the new routine. As anyone who lives with a Savannah cat knows (especially an AJSavannahs early generation Savannah cat), there's just no way you can get angry with them. They're spectacularly beautiful, hugely intelligent and inquisitive, inveterate clowns, and totally bonded to their humans.

If they choose to include me in their games, then I feel honored to be considered a part of their Herd!