Gardening, Face Rubbing, and Writing

[citrakayah]

Gardening goes well. We're having a truly terrible weed problem this year, but it is slowly being resolved. Some beds are being deconstructed... which is sad, but ultimately necessary. The plants are being consolidated in other gardens, though. So things will be more filled in, which reduces the amount of gardening we have to do. This can only be a good thing.

A lot of plants being planted this year are native shrubs, which will also be good for filling in. Most have good wildlife value. And speaking of wildlife, we finally managed to get frogs spawning in the pond. There were at least two spawning events, and probably three--I saw bullfrog tadpoles (some of which have metamorphized by now), a newly metamorphized gray treefrog, and fresh frog spawn.

I've been trying to head out to the woods more. I normally don't go, because I hate driving (and cycling there seems risky, given I'd be traveling along city highways), but... it's not that much farther than the grocery store. This most recent time I went, I got to see a bunch of six spotted tiger beetles--little emerald jewels, running along the forest floor hunting for prey. They're right up there with butterflies and fireflies for "Citrakayah's favorite Midwestern insect."

Recently I have been considering how likely I am to rub my face all over various sleeping areas and seeing if I can figure out a pattern. I really can't. I do it a lot for hotel beds, which would suggest large size or it not smelling like me being a determining factor. But I haven't done it when I was renting rooms in someone's house, despite there being a large bed there and it not smelling like me. I do it on my own bed, which is small and smells like me, though less so.

I can't really find any pattern. I'm kind of curious to know if other cat therians (or, hell, other therians period) do the same thing, and if they've noticed any patterns.

I've been getting back into writing for the Wanderer's Library/SCP Foundation, which I have been doing at various points and not actually ended up completing anything of note. This time, though, I have a better feeling about things... mostly because several things (a story about a woman who is actually part of a predatory shadow entity, an SCP involving sapient orcas and the geopolitical fallout of them, and a rewrite of an older entry for the Library) are basically done and ready to post. So we'll see how that goes.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

Cheek scent marking in cats is primarily a stress response.. it's tied to how safe they feel in that space [inversely that is] but also to a desire to mark a place as yours [directly]. Those two drivers can be antagonistic. So if you face rub it might be more to do with your emotional state than anything. Home is where you scent mark, basically, but also the other way around, you scent mark to make it home... which of course means that if you have no interest in the place, then cheek rubbing is unlikely.

In other words,it's complicated... but then again, what isn't with cats.

[citrakayah]

Well, if that's why I do it, it would explain why I do it a lot while traveling--stress from traveling. And it would explain why I don't do it in places I rent--I have every intention of leaving in a few months. Of course, I'm also highly stressed in such environments, because I'm trying to live around whoever I'm renting from.

[elinox]

I haven't noticed face rubbing on anything other than on my furbabies. And in that case, it's usually like a mutual grooming thing: they do it on me, so I do it in turn. But where I feel safest, at home, already smells like me so likely I don't feel that need there.

Also, sapient orcas? Yes please! Where are you posting your writings?

[citrakayah]

Here is where I post my Wanderer's Library stuff. Most of the stuff there is really old, though.