Now, we’ve all heard of guard dogs, they are usually a Doberman, or a German Shepard, or some other large-ish dog with a ferocious bark and a suspicion of strangers. Around these parts we have another kind of security animal, neighborhood watch cats. These are cats with the time and inclination to spend hours and hours every day looking at the window and the initiative to alert someone to unusual occurrences.
Anabel and Sally are proud (albeit unofficial) members of our (unofficial) neighborhood watch. Although they don’t let their responsibilities as neighborhood watch cats interfere with their napping schedule, they do spend a substantial amount of their daily awake time monitoring the neighborhood from various locations throughout the house.
When school was in session, mornings and afternoons were key watch times. Anabel and Sally liked to do their part to make sure that all of the little children get dropped-off and picked-up from school safely.
Recently, I have caught Anabel yelling at the local blue jays to get off our lawn. She also likes to watch out to make sure that our neighbor gets home safely from walking her dog in the evenings. Sally’s post tends to be the front or back door. He is very concerned about my sun exposure and does his best to make sure that I don’t spend too much time outside if he can help it.