I’m curious as to Mr. Fuzzybuns’ history: This is clearly not his first victory over humanity, even for his young age. I don’t imagine his previous victories relied on allergies, either, at least not all of them. I doubt we’ll ever visit his history because his future has much more potential.
I have at times portrayed the two animals in this strip (the lobster and Mr. Fuzzybuns, the kitten) as spiteful, malicious beings. I find it humorous when someone says that humans are the only animals who are malicious, or kill for fun. One merely needs to watch a housecat stalk its prey, or jilt a devoted dog and come home late to find a remote corner of the house sprayed to see otherwise. Perhaps it’s less prevalent in non-humans, but if that’s true I believe that’s more due to the fact that so much energy has to be put into surviving that so little is left over to hold grudges.
I once watched a hummingbird feed from a feeder outside a store. There were easily a dozen feeders, all of different shapes and sizes, all full of food. When another hummingbird came along, the first hummingbird left his perch and chased off the newcomer. This dance went on for a good five minutes before the second hummingbird gave up and left for good. I also remember, growing up, when some fledglings fell from a blue jay’s nest outside our house. My cat, being cuirous as her kind are, went to inspect the ground dwellers. I have no doubt in my mind that she was going to determine their tastiness in as thorough a fashion as possible, and the mother blue jay apparently had no doubt as well. She not only chased my cat away, she dive-bombed anyone who came out of that house for two months. My cat was a hunter who ate what she came across, and the blue jay was of course defending her children as any mother would do. Classifying her two-month reign of terror over the whole household, however, can only be seen as spiteful. I can’t say I blame her for being spitfeul, of course; rather, I see it as only natural that animals are just as capable of being jerks as humans are in their own ways.
I also wish to point out that the animals represented in this strip also have their redeeming traits and moments. They’re not always jerks.
