I’ve got another little tale about what happens when cats and basses collide. Most bass players seem to love cats, and many have similar tales of feline mischief.

One of my colleagues was over at my place playing some bass quartets a few years ago. His extremely large bass had a beautiful lion’s head scroll, and he had laid it down on its side as we were taking a short break.

All of a sudden, we noticed that my big orange cat Dan was frozen in his tracks, staring wide-eyed with grave concern at the big wooden lion’s head in his path. He inched toward it, tension radiating from every inch of his body. Nearing it, he reached out a little furry paw and tentatively touched it, jerking his paw suddenly back as if it were scalding hot.

This little dance continued for a few minutes, with Dan the cat approaching and recoiling over and over as we watched with amusement. It was amazing to me that he actually recognized the lion’s head. How cool!