Entry the forty-eighth: In which Sylvie develops a new hobby

The first time we used the speakerphone to talk to my sister, Sylvie jumped up and started chinning the receiver. I've never known another cat who recognized that the voices coming out of the phone are human, much less people she knows and likes. But boy, does she ever.

Since that first incident, Sylvie has also realized that sometimes the voices of her favorite people come out of the answering machine. At first we found this pretty cute ("Hey, look how Sylvie runs in here when I play back this message from Valerie!") but now that opinion is under review. She has discovered that if she walks around on the machine, sometimes it will talk to her. She hasn't figured out exactly which button to step on, so it happens randomly. And you know how that variable reinforcement works: it's the strongest kind there is.

Now, practically every evening she hops up on the machine (which is in a little nook about 3' from the floor) and if it doesn't talk to her, she complains about it. Loudly. For a small cat, she's got a large voice.



Exhibit A: Small Brown Cat investigates as Mr. Elinoire leaves a message.