The rise of Limecat, that mid-’00s meme of a cat with a lime on its head, must’ve sent shockwaves through the feline world. The humiliation of cats had gone digital. A cat with a piece of fruit placed over its noggin like a helmet could now be spread around the globe almost instantaneously. For many years following the meme, the cats could only hope that they wouldn’t be next in line to be turned into internet jokes. For many years, they lived in fear.
Now, into this darkness, steps Pearl, a cat dead set on protecting his species from further fruit-related shaming by guarding a watermelon farm in Thailand.
Look at Pearl’s expression and understand that he means business. Though happy to cooperate with the humans who tend to him—likely because they, as far as we can tell, have never put a melon on his head like a little hat—he appears to brook no shit from anyone else.