Cat Stuff...

This morning was rather unpleasant, weather-wise. Through the mists of sleep, I was vaguely aware of rain pelting down, and then had it confirmed beyond all doubt by the enthusiastic snuggling-up of a rather damp cat against my arm. Trying not to become too wide-awake, I rubbed Miaowrini’s head and back vigorously in an attempt to dry her off a bit and warm her (and my now cold, damp arm) up. Both of us then went back to sleep. Furretti, more sensible than her companion, hadn’t gone out at all, and was still snoozing contentedly by my feet.

I awoke later to the sound of the catflap banging. Normally it just squeaks a bit, so the increased noise was a sign that one of the cats had brought in some of the local wildlife. With a sigh, I moved Furretti off my feet and went to investigate.

Sure enough, I found that Miaowrini had succeeded in catching a pigeon. A large pigeon. So large that Miaowrini was practically riding the pigeon, and I had visions of the bird taking off with the cat on its back… fortunately, the pigeon couldn’t stretch its wings! The pigeon did, however, succeed in getting behind the sofa. Miaowrini still doesn’t seem to have figured out how to finish off her prey, and she was giving the pigeon a good lick… though I did see teeth-marks on the pigeon’s neck, so I guess that the cat is learning on the job!

I’m getting good at pigeon rescue. It’s a matter of simple logistics: if the cat lets go of the bird, the bird will fly away, but there’s no escape. The bird will fly around the flat, closely followed by two cats (Furretti having by this time woken up, quite keen to get a piece of the action), all my statues will be reduced to 3D jigsaw pieces, and I’ll be cleaning bird poop out of my hair. So I have to leave the cat in situ until I can get hold of the bird. I can’t just grab the bird because I don’t want to get scratched by the cat or pecked by the bird…

So, I grabbed a towel and threw it over the pigeon and the cat together. Unfortunately, Miaowrini took the opportunity to try and bite the bird, which squawked a bit, but I was able to wrap the towel around the bird with one hand while grabbing the disgruntled cat and pulling it out from under the towel with the other. I then took the wrapped bird to my bedroom, opened the window, and held the bird out until it gathered its wits together and flew off.

To be honest, this one nearly dropped like a stone. Fortunately it didn’t actually hit the ground, but it was a very low-flying pigeon…

Miaowrini managed to pluck quite a few feathers, and I decided to photograph the spoils of war…

Furretti loves playing with feathers, even though she doesn’t appear to be such a good hunter.

And, just to give you an idea of how small Miaowrini was compared to the pigeon…