Wildlife Delivery...

Yesterday, I noticed that both cats were staring intently at the bottom of my bookcase. I guess that a mouse must have escaped their clutches. Both Miaowrini and Furretti have lost interest in it now, so either the mouse has died or it has escaped somewhere else.

This afternoon I was chatting on the phone to a friend of mine when an awful racket was heard in my kitchen. Both of us knew exactly what the cry was: Miaowrini was dragging a bird in through the catflap.

The bird succeeded in getting away, but the cat managed to catch it again. I approached, towel in hand, in order to effect a rescue, and Miaowrini, unwilling to relinquish her prize, promptly left through the catflap, the bird still firmly clamped between her jaws.

Two minutes later, she was back - the bird still in her mouth. It was raining outside, and Miaowrini doesn't like to get wet. The bird got away again, but got caught up in the net curtains in the kitchen, and I was able to use a towel to calm it down. I carried the bird to my bedroom window and let it fly out. It flew off quite strongly, and I saw it alight at the top of a tree across the street.

I didn't have time to take a picture, and the bird didn't have a yellow beak, but, having looked at a few pictures I suspect that this latest capture was a young blackbird.

My mother advised me to shout at the cats to discourage them from bringing wildlife home, but that would be mean - they're only doing what is natural... added to which, there is a part of me which is actually rather proud of their hunting skills...

Now, if only I could train them to bring me a steak...