It's a bird! No it's a plane! No! It's a ... kitten?
That confirms it. I have the dumbest kitten in the history of EVER. After months of living in this apartment and seeing how far the drop from the balcony is, today Nibbler decided to see if the distance from the bedroom window to the ground was any less. It's about a metre more. And no, she can't fly.
Sitting at my computer reading some psych papers I suddenly noticed that Nibbler hadn't run past for more than 30 minutes. That seems to be her nap limit, 30 minutes for a full recharge. So I checked her usual sleeping places. No kitten. Checked every other nook which she manages to squeeze into (i.e., everywhere). No kitten. Checked the balcony and the neighbour's (which she also managed to get to on the weekend, then couldn't get back). No kitten.
Fearing the worst I looked down. No kitten. I called out but didn't see her, or hear a response. Figuring the only way she could have gone was down I kept calling out. Eventually she slinked out from under someone's BBQ, then looked up and meowed plaintively. Since she was in someone's courtyard on the second floor I didn't think I could get to her so I wrote a note for the people in the apartment two floors below and slipped it under their door when they didn't answer to my knocking.
It was only when I got back to my apartment that I remembered seeing some steps leading up to the side of the long strip of courtyards. And yes, from my balcony I could see those same steps, leading up to an area which all the courtyards were connected to.
I ran down and around the block, up the stairs, then over to the neighbour's courtyard. No kitten. After calling out a few times she poked her head out from under the BBQ, mewing sheepishly.
Bugger it. Jumping the short barrier I crept over to her and coaxed her out. I wasn't surprised to find her shaking as I picked her up, but I was surprised (and thankful) to notice that she wasn't nursing any of her limbs and didn't complain as I picked her up. Unfortunately it was a long walk back to my apartment and she doesn't usually like being held for long. This time was no exception. You would think that she would express gratitude towards her rescuer, but no, after about a minute (which was around the time it took to get to the lift) she'd completely calmed down and wanted to go explore this new environment. Which meant letting me know in no uncertain terms that she wanted me to let her go.
So in the end it looks as if I'm more scratched up from her ordeal than she is...
Sitting at my computer reading some psych papers I suddenly noticed that Nibbler hadn't run past for more than 30 minutes. That seems to be her nap limit, 30 minutes for a full recharge. So I checked her usual sleeping places. No kitten. Checked every other nook which she manages to squeeze into (i.e., everywhere). No kitten. Checked the balcony and the neighbour's (which she also managed to get to on the weekend, then couldn't get back). No kitten.
Fearing the worst I looked down. No kitten. I called out but didn't see her, or hear a response. Figuring the only way she could have gone was down I kept calling out. Eventually she slinked out from under someone's BBQ, then looked up and meowed plaintively. Since she was in someone's courtyard on the second floor I didn't think I could get to her so I wrote a note for the people in the apartment two floors below and slipped it under their door when they didn't answer to my knocking.
It was only when I got back to my apartment that I remembered seeing some steps leading up to the side of the long strip of courtyards. And yes, from my balcony I could see those same steps, leading up to an area which all the courtyards were connected to.
I ran down and around the block, up the stairs, then over to the neighbour's courtyard. No kitten. After calling out a few times she poked her head out from under the BBQ, mewing sheepishly.
Bugger it. Jumping the short barrier I crept over to her and coaxed her out. I wasn't surprised to find her shaking as I picked her up, but I was surprised (and thankful) to notice that she wasn't nursing any of her limbs and didn't complain as I picked her up. Unfortunately it was a long walk back to my apartment and she doesn't usually like being held for long. This time was no exception. You would think that she would express gratitude towards her rescuer, but no, after about a minute (which was around the time it took to get to the lift) she'd completely calmed down and wanted to go explore this new environment. Which meant letting me know in no uncertain terms that she wanted me to let her go.
So in the end it looks as if I'm more scratched up from her ordeal than she is...