Report to the Agency: The importance of disguise

Spot the Hidden agent!

Agents have to be skilled at many things. One of the most important skills we can develop is the ability to hide well. Some agents wait in bushes until a car goes by and then run barking after the car. This is a very bad idea and is usually only done by agents who don’t have enough work to do. Others hide behind furniture until the family's wickedcat goes strolling by, and the agent leaps up barking, barking, barking, sending the cat up to the top of the book case, and causing human members of the family to spill their spaghetti and meat sauce all over their laps. This is also a bad idea, although some agents will admit that all the “baddogs!” and “geddows!” and threats of “No treats for you, you... you... fleabag!” are worth it to see the wickedcat stuck on the top shelf of the book case until a human helps it own and puts it outside.

The difficulty is knowing when you are completely hidden. Agents usually have long noses and long tails, and these can be very difficult indeed to get tucked out of the way. I am unhappy to have to report that I got my very sensitive agent tail caught in the car door one day when I was trying to hide under the back seat blanket, which resulted in much un-agently howling for a little, but also resulted in many yummy treats from my humans, and much cuddling. My tail was just fine in a few minutes, Still, one has to be careful.

There are many wickedcats in the neighbourhood who are remarkably good at hiding right out in the open, and I don’t know how they pull it off. They just sit very, very still on a porch step or railing when agent C1 and I go by, noses pressed to the ground in search of messages, while our humans chat away about the nice gardens.

Then, suddenly the wickedcats hiss or giggle or make some noise and, frankly, scare the kibble right out of us!

I grudgingly have to admit that they have hiding right out I the open down to a fine art.

While I am still learning the ins and outs of proper hiding, agent C1 is also having some trouble, as you can see from the accompanying photo.

Agent C1 hiding in a pot of dirt behind a shrub

My hope is that by the time spring comes we will have completed our training, and be ready to welcome the squirrels, raccoons and skunks back to the yard. By then I’m sure I’ll be able to hide completely behind the bird feeder.
Yours, as ever, safely hidden away.
Agent M3