The mighty huntress, how she shakes the earth.: seanan

The mighty huntress, how she shakes the earth.

Lilly caught her first mouse tonight. (This despite being almost four years old. My home-grown mighty huntress really isn't very good at her job.) I went into my room during a commercial break and found her half-under the dresser, chittering gleefully and shifting my portfolio all over the place. I got down on the floor to peer, and hey-presto, field mouse!

The poor thing was terrified, and quite tidily penned in by the collusion of 'closet door' and 'inexplicable old window screen' that lean up against the corner of my dresser. Lilly had herself a field day smacking at it and chittering before I was able to scoop it into a plastic container and dispatch my roommate to put it outdoors.

(I didn't spare the mouse because I have a soft heart. I understand that the whole 'circle of life' gig very much applies to mice stupid enough to enter cat-infested households. That said, Lilly is an indoor-only cat, and I'd really like to restrict her consumption of California's native wildlife to, I don't know, bugs and arachnids. Things that don't have warm blood and are thus less likely to give her interesting diseases. I know, I know, I'm a lousy excuse for a cat owner. I like my cats alive.)

Because Lilly is one of the most good-natured cats I've ever met, she's already completely over the fact that I took her mouse away, and is now devoting the bulk of her attention to loafing atop my open suitcase and giving me suspicious looks. Methinks the young miss has managed to figure out that I've packed a bit more heavily than is entirely essential for an overnight stay at Kate's.

Ah, cats. They remind us of the important things in life. And, when they're cats like Lilly, they remind me why I don't have children.

...go 1 level up... Expand

seanan_mcguire

October 29 2008, 15:24:23 UTC 8 years ago

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So cat didn't really want the mouse; cat just didn't want to share her food.

black13

October 29 2008, 16:00:27 UTC 8 years ago

Precisely. When cat was outside, she and the mice had a non-aggression pact: she wouldn't hunt them, and they wouldn't disturb her naps.

The birds, on the other hand, loved to chase the cat.

October 31 2008, 01:45:34 UTC 8 years ago

...what kind of birds are we talking here? Rocs?

October 31 2008, 07:29:46 UTC 8 years ago

Blackbirds, actually.

October 31 2008, 15:23:02 UTC 8 years ago

Okay, that's just awesome.

October 31 2008, 15:27:05 UTC 8 years ago

The cats I had were never good hunters. One of the pair I had after the one mentioned above once chased a bird high up into an apple tree. Stalking a sparrow as far out to the thin branch as she could. "Kekkering" all the way, from excitement. (You know, making a kek-kek-kek-sound. The cat, not the bird.) The bird watched the cat's approach calmly. When it figured the cat was in enough trouble, the bird took off. With the cat sitting on the branch, and only then realizing that it was bending under her weight.

No, I didn't help the cat out of the tree. She'd gotten herself into the trouble, so I figured she had to get herself out. I did stand underneath, however, to catch her if she should fall. (A three meter height.)

November 6 2008, 15:39:14 UTC 8 years ago

This pleases me more than it probably ought to. Just saying.

November 6 2008, 16:10:00 UTC 8 years ago

It was hilarious. I was watching the entire time, and had trouble containing the laughter. I didn't want to distract either animal.

Sad ending to the story, though: we had about a dozen of different kinds of birds breeding in our garden. All of which were used to old and/or ineffectual cats.

Then some neighbors got a cat who was a good and enthusiastic hunter. The bird population in our garden dwindled to zero within a year. :(

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The mighty huntress, how she shakes the earth.

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