I was watching my DVDs again and I just had a question. In season one, we saw Mitch attacking Tina Sparkle (Sophie). Now I was curious as to whether that was really Mitch or if it was Zarathustra. I was also curious as to why he did this? Was he just playfighting and MM described it as vicious? Or was it really him just showing his higher rank in the family?

jkat, i watched that the day before yesterday and even though i've seen it a dozen times before it still upsets me.

i can't say for sure if it's mitch because i'm bad at using the dye marks to tell them apart. maybe someone else can tell us?

as for why he did it, i would love to know that too. but i'm inclinded to think it was an attaack and not playfighting. i don't recall ever having seen two kats with that degree of size difference playfighting before; i think they tend to playfight with their peers so they're more evenly matched. and to me the interaction resembled the kind of postures we also see when flower evicted subordinates. in any case, tina sparkle did look shaken by it, and i wish it hadn't happened.

Oh well I just checked my TCB book. (After just getting it back from a friend.) Zara and Mitch aren't litter mates so I guess it couldn't be him. So it couldv'e been one of his littermates.

OH my, I am trying to watch Season 1 as I stopped watching after seeing poor Mozart go through her eviction (I started to watch again in Season 3), but I didn't get to this part yet!! Oh no, Mitch attacks Sophie, I can't get past the episode where Mozart is covered in ticks watching the Whiskers after being evicted, I don't think I see this attack now! I love Mitch too, I don't think I want this vision of him. I think Season 1 is going on the shelf for now.

I watched Season 1 after enduring all the tragedies of Season 3. Although there are many great times, especially when the focus is on the pups, there are also some very sad moments. The evictions of Mozart and Tosca are difficult to watch. Overall, there are more ups than downs.

I was shocked by Mitch's actions toward Sophie. Seem to recall that he also used to steal food from the other meerkats until he suffered from a bad reaction to something he ate that nearly killed him.

Yes, Mozart's eviction was sad but that's how the meerkats are. Although I am a little shocked that she would continue to breed. I loved that little meerkat. She was so strong and such a loving mother. But I loved Flower more and I felt bad that she had to deal with the stress of her two daughters. Still though, Mozart just wanted love and exceptance. And with all that she had to push through, I think she more than deserved dominance over the Starsky. Unfortunately, the meerkat world is hard.

Mitch was cruel to Sophie but I still wonder if he really was just asserting his rank in the family. Ah yes. I remember his food stealing habbits like it was yesterday. I think that his attack towards Sophie and bad food stealing habbits were connected and that he always knew his rank and knew that he could get away with it. Basically, I think he was just haughty as a pup. Although that was odd behavior of him.

Lets remember when Mitch did food stealing he was just a baby. When he beat Sophie up, I don't think he was more than a teenager, could be wrong though. I don't think Mitch is a mean kat and so, for the beating up of Sophie, I guess he had some wierd, strange teenage reason that made sense to him - wrong as it was.

I love Mitch, and believe he's one of the great meerkats. Wasn't he the one that went out to look for Flower's pups when they were lost during the battle with the Commando's? I don't recieve my book about Flower until April, but is the book more accurate and factual compared to the show?

I can answer your last question, Phil. It's a definite YES, the book is more accurate than the series. It is based on facts in the KMP scientific database, though we have found a few errors. TCB needed the FKMP team to double-check it before release. The book is great, packed with information about the meerkats and KMP itself, with many entertaining stories and nice big pictures (though most don't include the meerkats' names .) I hope you get yours soon.

I was just watching some of the episodes yesterday and caught this particular one. Oh my, I felt terrible for poor Sophie! She looked so shaken up by what Mitch did to her. And Youssie, not doing a thing to comfort her, good old Yous (I love Youssie but he was a little unconventional). I was glad to see Tosca take her and embrace her for some comfort. Nevertheless, that was disturbing to see Mitch act like that. I guess he was a teen then but it seems that Mitch was a bit of a bully as a teenager, stealing food and beating up poor Sophie.

Mitch is one of my faves, but he did once do that to Sophie. I will explain best I can.

It was Mitch playfighting. But, because he was a pup, he didn't realize Sophie was too small to playfight him.

Once, when my son was about 9 or 10, I was on the floor play fighting with him when he "headbutted" me with all his might - believe me, I saw stars! This must be the same thing - a kid who doesn't know when to stop or how hard he hits.