Herb and Marj had just moved into their new home. They had wanted to move into an inter-species neighborhood with good schools to raise their kittens. After much searching, they thought they had found the perfect place in Whispering Pines. They moved into a nice bungalow that had been owned by a hound couple. They were starting to unpack when they heard a knock at the door. They opened it to find a squirrel standing there.

Harry: Hello folks! Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Harry, and I live right across the street.

Herb: Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Herb, and this is my wife, Marj.

Harry: The pleasure is mine. I see you bought the Bassetts’ place. Lovely couple. I’m sure you’ll find everything in great shape. They were very happy here.

Marj: It does seem very well-kept. Did they move?

Harry: It was kind of strange. They were such a beautiful couple. One day they were here, the next they were gone. No one guessed that they were running an illegal catnip operation.

Marj: Oh my. What is illegal catnip? You can buy it at any store.

Harry: I don’t really know. This was very high-grade stuff. Sometimes cats would come and you wouldn’t see them come out for hours.

Herb: This used to be a catnip den? For getting blissed out for hours.

Harry: That’s the rumor. I’m sure they cleaned it up before they sold the place to you.

Herb: What about the clients? Do they know the place has been sold?

Harry: I’m not sure. I wouldn’t worry about it. They all seemed like decent folks.

Marj: I guess we’ll see about that.

They hear another knock. They open the door to find a hedgehog.

Penelope: Hello. I’m your next-door neighbor, Penelope.

Herb: Hello. It’s very nice to meet you. Is everyone this friendly here?

Penelope: Pretty much so. A few animals were thinking that we should start limiting the number of some of the species, so we don’t end up with too many cats or dogs. But I think that whoever wants to live here should be allowed to live here.

Marj: Some of our neighbors didn’t want cats moving in?

Penelope: Well, it’s nothing personal. I’m sure it will be fine for you.

Marj: No one told us that cats might not be welcome. I thought all species were welcome her.

Harry: Don’t listen to her. She just likes to talk.

There’s a light tapping at the door.

Penelope: That must be Lisette. She’s my sister. She lives over a couple of streets.

Lisette: Hi! I’m Penelope’s sister, Lisette. I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.

Marj: Thank you. Do any of you have children? The main reason we moved here was because of the schools.

Lisette: Oh yes. Penny and I both have little ones.

Marj: Oh, that’s wonderful! Where do they play? Is there a park close by?

Penelope: Well, there is a park. But we don’t really spend much time there.

Marj: Why not?

Lisette: Some of the bigger animals like to play a game they call “Pounce”. It involves them jumping out at the little ones. We can’t get them to understand that the smaller animals don’t want to feel like prey.

Herb: There should be rules against that.

Lisette: Apparently it’s not against the rules unless they actually jump on someone. It’s rather scary for the little ones.

Herb: I can imagine. Is this a pretty quiet neighborhood?

Harry: Oh yes. No one is allowed to make loud noises from sundown to sunrise.

Penelope: Except it only really applies to machines and music.

Marj: What other type of noise would their be?

Lisette: They don’t really think of it as noise, but the canines are allowed to howl whenever they feel the need.

Marj: That sounds rather frightening.

Harry: It’s really not bad once you get used to it.

The animals talk for a while longer before leaving Herb and Marj. After they say their good-byes, Herb and Marj look at each other.

Herb: I wonder if it’s too late to change our minds.

Pictures courtesy of Google Images