There is no such thing as “Just a cat.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
Author: Mr. Breeze
I do be a kitteh. I haz a blog.
Quote: Joanna Lumley on Cats
My mother early on taught us to respect all animals, and I mean all animals – not just cats and dogs but rats and snakes and spiders and fish and wildlife, so I really grew up believing they are just like us and just as deserving of consideration.
— Joanna Lumley
The Cat Who Ate the Sun
by @kittehboi & Nightcafe Studio.
“The Cat Who Ate the Sun” is a mythical story explaining the origin of tortoiseshell cats. According to the legend, the sun became a black cat to visit the Earth. When the sun left, it left behind its fire in the patches of red and orange in the torties’s coat.
This is why Tortoiseshell cats are so popular, because they seem to carry a spark of the sun itself.
Quote: Rebecca West on Cats
Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats.
— Rebecca West
Dogs Can Fly!
Did you know that rescue dogs in the UK were trained to fly a real airplane?
In 2016 Sky 1 aired a TV series called Dogs Might Fly. Twelve dogs underwent acting challenges, made music videos, and even acted in a live play.
Three of the dogs made it to flight school. With special equipment and training, the dogs learned to steer the plane, keep it level, and follow simple flying instructions. Two dogs were able to fly a Cessna 172 in a figure 8.
Good dogs!
The dogs didn’t handle takeoff or landing, but they did control the plane in the air. I think they earned their wings!
#HedgewatchXmas 2025
Hedgewatch Christmas
Quote: Bob Mortimer on Cats
I can’t remember ever cooking food to impress a woman. The idea’s quite cheesy and sort of makes my skin crawl. But I sometimes make a special effort to impress my cats, with chicken liver or something. It’s tricky to know if a cat’s impressed. They might give me a little look, a glimpse at least. That’s cat ownership for you.
— Bob Mortimer
The Jersey Devil
Imagine if you will…
You are camping with your friends in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. It’s an early fall evening. There’s a chill in the air and the moon is full.
As you sit around the campfire telling ghost stories, there is a sudden thrashing in the blueberry bushes. Something moves quickly toward your campsite. Wait, were those antlers? Is it a deer this late at night?
No, it is not a deer. It is South Jersey’s oldest cryptid, the Jersey Devil himself!
In 1735, decades before the Revolutionary War, Mrs. Leeds had her 13th child. As the boy was born, Mrs. Leeds cursed him. For a time, he seemed like a normal baby. Then one evening Mrs. Leeds entered the nursery to find her baby had grown hooves, wings, and vicious fangs. With a blood-curdling shriek he flew up the chimney and disappeared into the night!
The Jersey Devil has been sighted many times over the centuries, and he is responsible for many strange goings-on. Campers see glowing eyes in the brush. Children go missing, livestock is killed, and banshee-like wails are heard through the pines. He has even been seen on Long Beach Island cavorting with mermaids.
Today there is a little tavern on Leeds Point. The lights of Atlantic City are visible across the bay. And on stormy nights you may hear the Jersey Devil clip-clopping across the tavern roof.
Quote: William S. Burroughs on Cats as Familiars
Cats didn’t start as mousers. Weasels and snakes and dogs are more efficient as rodent-control agents. I postulate that cats started as psychic companions, as Familiars, and have never deviated from this function.
—William S. Burroughs, “The Cat Inside“
Where To Find Free! Ebooks
To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.
— W. Somerset Maugham
If you love to read ebooks, but your wallet is thin, there are many sites online for free ebooks. Here are just a few.
- Your local library!
Your local library’s web page probably includes eBooks and audiobooks to borrow. If you don’t have a library card, do get one! It’s free. - Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an online library of over 70,000 free eBooks to download or read online. Much of the world’s great public domain literature is available. Many titles are also available as audiobooks. - The Internet Archive
The Internet Archive offers over 20,000,000 freely downloadable ebooks. There is also a collection of 2.3 million modern eBooks that may be borrowed by anyone with a free Internet Archive account. - Open Library
Open Library’s catalog provides links to discover, borrow, and read from the Internet Archive’s collections. Your Internet Archive account can be used to sign-in to Open Library. - Standard Ebooks
Standard Ebooks provides beautifully-formatted editions of ebooks found in Project Gutenberg. - Ebooks.com
400 of their most popular classics to read, free of charge. - For the Amazon Kindle:
- You can, of course, borrow hardcopy from your local library.
- Use InterLibrary Loan (ILL) to borrow books from other libraries. Ask the librarian.
- OverDrive and WorldCat are both online catalogs to help you locate library books for ILL, including rare or unique hardcopy.
Do you have a favorite site for free ebooks or audiobooks not listed here? Please leave a comment.
The Anipal Times 