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THE COUCH — When I was a kid we had an orange tabby named Otis. Otis was a jerk.
That cat terrorized me to no end. He'd corner me in the hallway and just stare at me waiting for me to make a move. No matter how I tried to pass that angry cat I would get attacked. My ankles constantly had scratches and teeth marks all over them.
One day when I was about 15, Otis climbed onto the couch and snuggled up to me for the first time ever. This was a tense moment, to say the least. The cat got near me without attacking me, so that was a good sign, but now what? Could I pet him? Should I leave him be? Will he bite me if I tried to move? Somehow the answer to all of these questions was, "yes."
He wanted me to pet him, but I quickly learned if I pet anything but his head, he'd bite. He wanted me to stay put because if I tried to get up, he'd bite.
This was a tough relationship and made growing up in the Clyde home rough at times for me. I lived with this fear in the back of my head at all times knowing that cat was somewhere waiting to play mind games on me and eventually attack me.
I might be wrong, but I feel like that's how this guy feels with his pet crocodile.
In this short video, a man is lounging on his couch when a croc starts climbing up his body to get closer to him. The guy reaches out and starts scratching the croc's head like he's a dog. I mean, I think this guy knows, but maybe someone should tell him that's a crocodile and not a dog suffering from eczema.
Regardless, it's pretty nuts for me to see this relationship between human and crocodile — but it's also pretty cool, even if it did bring up some traumatic memories for me.
Rest in peace, Otis. I do not miss you.
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