meet the kittens, part three

Since several of my kitten pictures are among the top kitten images on Google, I figure that maybe some of you would like a chance to have your very own copies. If so, please visit my Cafe Press shop kittenMage and take a look at the adorable kittens. (more soon)

I have this theory that every litter of kittens has one that takes on the role of Trubble (named for this cat, perhaps you can see why she got the name originally), an honorary position that generally involves being the instigator of much mayhem. Yes, I realize that, like "adorable kittens," mayhem might be redundant to the natural state of kittens, but Trubbles approach life on a slightly different tangent from the rest of the litter.

Trubbles can often be seen swimming through the pile of kittens while the rest of them try to quietly nurse themselves to sleep; they are usually the first to break out of containment, and are often caught climbing the fence, blazing a path for the rest of the litter; if all of the kittens but one are contentedly doing something, the one will be Trubble, and what they are doing will make you laugh.

Trubble is a sort of Pan to rest of the Lost Kittens, if you will.

One Trubble of my memory used to wait until Geek, the tiny coal black runt, was hiding in a clay flower pot and then start rolling it around the deck. Pretty soon, another kitten would run up to stick a paw through the drain hole in the bottom of the pot to swat at Geek enough to get him to stick his paw out the hole and play. I'd look up from my computer to see this terra-cotta pot being rolled around by several kittens while this very happy tiny black furling batted at them from the protection of a very sturdy planting pot.

Kittens have personalities from an amazingly early age, with some seeming to find theirs just minutes after birth. Such is today's kitten...at least it has that look so far. He's She's the firstborn, also known as the twelve minute old kitten, and he she staked his claim on the position of Trubble even earlier than that! As I was going to get the camera for the very first pictures, I noticed that River had her teeth clamped around this guy's girl's neck and was dragging him her back from partway up the side of the basket where enough towels had been piled to offer him her a head start on escape. He She was maybe eight minutes old at the time! Eight! You can see why we decided he's she's the most likely to be Trubble.

Here he she is in a rare moment of repose — the kittens mostly just zone out in someoneElse's hands, it's so darned adorable!

More just as soon as I get a chance to extract them from River's protective paws. In case you've missed any of these babies, check the 'adorable kittens' category I created to collect the adorable kitten pictures.