Muffin the Impaler, Vampire Cat

Boooooo, Blog, I don't mean to be pushing the arrival of Halloween, but I'm here to post my response to A Creative Dreamer's September Creativity Challenge, "Spooky."  And what's more frightening, more creepy, more haunting than FELT?  Yeah, just about anything.  Nevertheless, here's my response:

It's Muffin the Impaler, Vampire Cat!

I was inspired to create Muffin when I saw (via the awesome site Super Punch) this super charming drawing by artist/cartoonist Katie Cook.

I am hoping by giving full credit to Katie for her delightful creation, she will not mind my having transferred it, with a few modifications, to the world of felt. 

I had hit the jackpot at Michaels on Friday with a 15% off your entire purchase coupon, so I bought 23 felt squares in every possible color for a grand total of $5.67.  This should keep me in creatures for a very long time.  I also had on hand in my [newly organized because I spent the weekend building a new closet storage unit and organizing my clay, sewing, and jewelry crafts] wheely sewing cart this perfect crazy yarn my friend Cherie gave me last year.  The yarn looked so spider-webby I knew it would be a perfect toy for Muffin the Impaler.

I also had a couple driftwood hunks harvested at Point Beach this year, which combined to make Muffin's spooky perch.  The completed scenario shows Muffin in a moment of contentment, having swooped down to her seat in the swamp where she can peacefully enjoy some playtime, before resuming her career of MANIACALLY FEASTING ON WHATEVER SHE CAN SINK HER FANGS INTO!

Right.  Sorry about ending with a preposition, Blog.  So that's what I did with "spooky," and I am now ready to kick off the Halloween season in a couple of weeks!

Our tiger, Kahn

Blog, we just received in the mail the papers making our adoption of Kahn official, so I can finally share with our readers about the newest member of our family, this awesome seven-year-old Siberian tiger.

No, he hasn't moved in to Magic House to live side by side with Cody, Alice and Selke.  He's going to remain in his happy home at the Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue and Educational Center in Rock Springs, Wisconsin, about 20 minutes west of the Dells.  But we will be one of the families that contribute monthly to his feeding and upkeep.

Back story:  After our Vegas trip in January, I was thinking about the animals who are protected by Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage's Secret Garden, and their other conservation efforts.  I wondered if there might be a big cats shelter closer to the Midwest where Davie and I might visit sometime.  I was amazed to discover one practically in our backyard, a mere couple of hours away.

These are all photos of Kahn, and the one below I took myself the day we visited.  It was very hot and humid, and the cats were mostly snoozing...but most slept in easy view of visitors and checked us out drowsily. The rest of the photos in this post are mine, too...the less crisp ones taken with my phone camera when ICU's battery died at the worst possible time!

Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue was begun in 2005 by Jeff Kozlowski and Jenny Meyer, two experienced cat handlers who decided to create a habitat for homeless and abused felines of unusual size.  They have USDA licensing and 501(c)3 non-profit status.  Land was donated to them, and in less than a year they had 26 cats living in sturdy, spacious enclosures, outfitted for all their needs.  These animals are tended lovingly, nursed when sick or hurt, and not exposed to the stresses and abuse so many of them experienced in their former lives.

The Rescue takes in cats from private owners, backyard breeders, animal brokers, zoos and circuses.  In all cases the animals were abused or no longer wanted.  The shelter has conducted some very large animal rescue operations.  They saved 11 cats from a backyard breeder in Flat Rock, Indiana, and recently rescued many animals from an illegal circus in Marion County, Texas.

Sometimes Jeff and Jenny find new homes for their residents, like when they placed Tom III with the University of Memphis to serve as the school's mascot (a tiger, natch).  Click here to see a slideshow of Tom III, and beware, the cuteness is extreme!

Most of the rescued animals stay on with Jeff and Jenny.  They receive no government funding and rely on sponsors, volunteers, and contributors to provide for their large furry family.  Donations come not only in cash but in machines for the compound, vet supplies, and meat.  Different levels of sponsorship are available and entitle you to free visits to the Rescue (normally adults are $9, children 6-12 are $6 and 5 and under free) and photos of your adoptee.

Why did we choose Kahn?  I just love tigers and he is a remarkably beautiful animal.  When we told Jenny of our choice, she smiled and said Kahn is her favorite of all the cats.  He was their first rescue, saved from an Illinois zoo that no longer had room for him.  Jenny told us how she and Jeff were a bit misinformed about Kahn's size when they went to pick him up.  Since he couldn't fit in the cat carrier they had brought, Jenny sat in the back seat of the pickup truck next to Kahn for the long ride home.  She played with him a bit during his early days at the Rescue, but quickly he proved simply too large for that--one time he sat on her and all she could do was wait till he decided to get up!

Kahn, being a Siberian tiger, loves the snow, so he's happy as a clam living in Wisconsin.  In fact, all the cats enjoy the snow.  Their coats get thicker, and Jeff and Jenny provide them with extra straw for nesting, so they are comfortable even during the Midwest winter.

Blog, I hope our cat loving friends donating to Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue.  You can see photos on the website of all of Kahn's pals, like Beemer the Atlas Lion, Dozer the Black Leopard, Sierra the Spotted Leopard, and Raja the White Bengal Tiger.  And by the way, they have a new program that for anyone who provides full sponsorship for a cat for a year ($5,000) they will install a camera so you can watch your sponsoree over the Web anytime!  (Don't worry, Blog, there are levels of sponsorship for any budget, and one-time donations of any size make a difference for these sweet felines.)

And Wisconsin readers, next time you're up at the Dells during the non-winter months, pay the Rescue a visit.  They're open whenever it's not above 90 degrees or raining, and it's absolutely wonderful seeing these magnificent cats all in one place.  And say hi to Kahn for us!

Bonus!  I actually found a really adorable video taken by a visitor to the Rescue.  It's just like being there!

And for my next trick

Dear Blog, I guess it's no secret that I've aspired all my life to be a cartoonist. Yes, yes, I know...I should be satisfied with the fact that I have a friend and fan who loves to do comic books, and actually collaborated with me on one. (Hi CC!)  Believe you me, it was a huge thrill to write a comic.  But in a perfect world I would be able to draw, too.  You know, Blog--like, say, Alex Ross:

But the Justice League is WAY out of my league.  Heck, Family Circus is way out of my league.  But since when has a fact like that stopped me?  Since when has lack of talent stood in my way?  You are looking at the woman who composed a theme and variations for pipe organ when she had no idea how to play the foot pedals, Blog!!!  Untrained? So what! Unskilled? Pah!  So I decided, TO HECK WITH ALL THIS TALK OF TALENT!

And I created this comic strip!  Yay!  It's called "Living in Catmandu," and is about a house cat (Gregg) and a white tiger (Dan) who have pooled their limited resources to buy a condo together.  The condo, located in some medium-sized Midwestern city, is called Catmandu, and is geared for young, single cats of all sizes.  Gregg and Dan's place is a 2 BR 2 LB.  You know, two bedroom, two litter boxes.

So here is the first installment.  (Which, knowing my attention span, is probably also the last installment.)

Hey, after that build up, you were expecting maybe a new Charles Schultz?  Good grief.

Whew, Blog.  Feels great to have that out of my system.

In other updates from the weekend:

I made a new switchplate cover from polymer clay, an experience that once again demonstrated to me that a person can get lucky, sit down with virtually no plan, and have something accidentally come out cool.  That's the nature of polyclay.  You should try it, Blog!  It's awesome stuff!

Our good pals Andy and Cherie came over and we watched the Cinematic Titanic version (with riffing by Joel Hodgson et al.) of a horrendous movie called "The Doomsday Machine."  It was made half in 1967 and half in 1972.  Since the original cast was unavailable, the last 15 minutes of the movie consisted mostly of two people in spacesuits (helmets and all) staring out the window of their spacecraft.  And not moving.  Or even talking.  They made less motion and noise than YOU, Blog.  Horrors.

And congrats to the Canadian Men's Hockey Team.  Great game, sad ending for us U.S. hockey fans.  Okay, here's my question, Blog.  The percentage of hockey fans in Canada is probably like 99.9%, whereas in the States, not so much.  However, figuring in that the population of the U.S. is like 3582095878 times that of Canada, aren't there more of us down here?  Do the math!  Aw, I don't want to be a sore loser.  I raise an imaginary Timbit of tribute to you, Canada!

Now enough Glowing Hearts, bring back our regularly scheduled programming!  I think I've forgotten what Ted Mosby looks like!