Ernie and his funnel

Over the years, we have spent a ridiculous amount of money on animal toys. The dogs have had balls, ropes, squeaky toys (Lady's favorite!) , rubber bones and multiple kongs. The cats have had enough fake mice that, had they been real, could overrun a city the size of Chicago. The mice are in addition to puffy balls, plastic balls, and bamboo balls; feathers, socks, and scratch posts. One toy was a wood square covered in carpet with a spring sticking up from the middle with a little puff ball at the top. Another was a motion sensitive mouse hanging from a string that was to be attached to the top of a door; as the cat batted at the mouse, the mouse let out a fake, bizarre noise that was supposed to be a squeak, but caused us to put it away after about 5 minutes. The rabbits, not to be left out, have had a variety of items to chew up and plastic baby toys to fling around.

Like children who receive an expensive toy but prefer to play with the box or a kitchen spoon, so it is with the animals. The dogs played mostly with sticks from the yard. In fairness, Nell loved the little mice that came 5 to a package, but the collies ate them as fast as they found them. And the rabbits are just as happy chewing a free cardboard box. Ernie, being nothing more than a 4 year old boy with red hair disguised as a cat, has spent hours- literally- playing with a mini funnel.

The little funnel came into our home with jewelry designed to hold a small amount of cremains. The funnel was needed to direct the ashes into a tiny opening in the heart, as it was in this case. Thinking the funnel might come in handy down the road, I cleaned it and put it in our "junk drawer" in the kitchen. I don't recall why the thing was taken out of the drawer, but somehow Ernie discovered it. He has been obsessed ever since. It's hard to tell what exactly is so appealing about it: the weight or the shape or maybe the sound it makes as it slides over the floor. Regardless, he loves batting it and chasing it endlessly. He picks it up in his mouth by the pointed tip and carries it to some new place where he drops it and commences the chase. No matter what else he is doing, he can be redirected if I find his funnel. If he is upstairs and I drop it downstairs on the floor, he knows the sound and comes flying down the steps to claim it.

His funnel has had extensive use, and I noticed last week that the tip had started to separate from the bowl. Being at his beck and call, I googled "mini funnels" and found multiple sites that have them. The shipping cost almost twice the cost of 6 funnels, but it was worth knowing that my little red haired boy disguised as a cat will have funnels to chase for many months to come.