GANEIDA'S KNOT.

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Quaker by conviction, mother by default, Celticst through love, Christ follower because I once was lost but now am found...

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Never play cat & mouse games if you're a mouse. ~ Don Addis

In the general run of things, few things upset me more than my cats catching something that's alive ~ like mice.   Not that I like mice.  They creep me out but you know, they're tiny & my cats are big & they cry. 

Last night Marlow caught a mouse.  Goodness knows where it came from as we thought we had dealt with our annual spring problem.  It was probably escaping from the wet ~ because yes, it is raining again.  Huge torrential deluges that have turned our yard into a pond & Liddy, who had to go out to Beaudesert yesterday  & was coming home via Beenleigh, discovered just how quickly the creeks are rising now & overflowing the roads. Which has nothing to do with mice.

That Marlow was even awake is something of a miracle.  How that cat can sleep!  That Kirby wasn't the catcher is unusual because that cat hunts anything that moves. Anyway Marlow whisked himself & his prize down the stairs into our back room ~ which, at present, does not have a light ~ with Kirby hot on his heels.  I hardened my heart.  I do not like mice.  I do not like mice.  I do not...

Then Star arrived in high dungeon demanding that someone, anyone, deal with the mouse.  She could hear it crying all the way at the other end of the house! *sigh*  So armed with a torch & a box we began hunting cats.  Have you ever tried to convince a cat it does not want a mouse that is still squeaking?  I've tried easier things.

My Dearest thinks I'm mad.  I keep cats.  Cats hunt.  Cats catch mice.  Why am I hunting cats to put the mice outside where, if they don't die of fear, they will promptly turn round & re~enter the house?!  I know, but I can't bear it.  Star can't bear it.  We have goo for insides.

And you know the worst part?  I felt sorry for the cats.  They were such good boys & they were having so much fun & I'm a real party~pooper!

3 comments:

Finding Joy said...

My cat Charlie came home with a mouse the other day, she was so proud that she caught it that she had to share it with me, then off she went to kill it (but not to eat). Now and again she catches birds and pulls out the wings which is down right nasty!! but after I told her off and took the bird away from her, she decided to no longer show me her birds and instead take them under the house where I can't reach her. Rather clever I thought. As for Ruby, she is an indoor cat so spends hours looking at birds but never catches them. Instead she catches flies for me which is such a useful chore.

Mom said...

I used to have a sweet precious dog (rescue dog) who would catch rats, kill them, and drop them at our back door. Or if we didn't appropriately pleased with her surprise she would throw them in our pool. I was just a kid and I could never understand why my parent's weren't thrilled with her hunting skills and more worried about the rat problem behind our house. Funny--I hadn't thought about that in like 20 years. It is sort of shame that we get so upset at animals for doing what comes naturally. But at the same time--it was kind of gross.

Unknown said...

I have two cats that don't hunt, unless it is a flying insect or a reflection of light on the wall. However, growing up we had two lovely kitties that were excellent mousers, they would catch the mouse and beat it on the concrete floor until it was unconscious and then they would bat it across the floor until someone would take it and dispose of it. I am glad I never had to listen to the mice squeak or scream I don't think I could handle that.