Act Locally, Think National Geographically

[talktooloose]

Day of the Hunter! Day of the Hunger!



I watched my dear cat torture the brave little mouse for about an hour, quelling my urge to intercede and put the wee timourous beastie out of its misery, shedding a few tears of mammalian sympathy. I was fascinated by the joy the cat got out of making it all a game. He would deliberately let the mouse run almost under the gate and to freedom before he would pounce again and drag it back. He challenged himself to the edge of his abilities rather than going for the easy kill.

Then he totally amazed me by eating the mouse, something many domestic cats don't do and something I've never seen him do. It somehow comforted me that after all that struggle, the mouse ended up as nourishment for the tabby's hunger rather then being abandoned in the grass, just so much feline roadkill.

All in all, quite the pas-de-deux for a Sunday afternoon.

Comments

[epanastatis.livejournal.com]

I think domestic cats usually present their kills as tribute to their host humans. Growing up in Florida, we didn't have any mice, but there were a lot of small, fast lizards. When my childhood kitty would kill one, he'd swat it around a couple of times, slit its throat with one slash, take it in his mouth and present it proudly to my mother, who would invariably shriek.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

No, he's never presented a kill. For him, food is a one-way street from the universe to him. Nonetheless, I always extravagantly praise him when he hunts well.

[epanastatis.livejournal.com]

Perhaps we were misinterpreting my cat's actions then: his presentation was actually meant to say, "Hey, why the hell is there only reptilian meat on these hunting grounds? Can't we move somewhere with some tasty, warm-blooded mammals?"