Warning, this post contains photos of a dead mouse (but you can just pretend it's sleeping! Really. It looked, er, quite peaceful.)
So, God help me, I went down to the basement to do a spot of laundry the other day. And there was Emily, with a freshly-caught (and well dead!) mouse. If you look below, you can just see the poor thing's tail poking out from Emily's right paw.
So then she started tossing the dead mouse in the air! And somehow, it landed in the inset handle of my dryer drawer. Which I didn't realize until I pulled open the drawer (and screamed):
Let me just say that this photo inspired me to clean and vacuum the basement to within an inch of its life.
Emily thoughtfully fished out the mouse for me.
Then she took it over near the woodpile for a little more fun.
Sigh. Poor little mouse.
30 seconds later, she ate it. Whole. I mean, she barely chewed!
I have to say, I have not seen a mouse or mouse droppings in our kitchen in an exceedingly long time. I think the three girl cats are feline killing machines! It's gotten so I'm afraid of what mayhem I'll walk in on when I go down to the (now much cleaner!) basement.
But really, I am grateful to them for keeping the rodent population under control. If only I could send them out to the barn for a few hours!
Maybe she swallowed it whole as a courtesy to you. The sound of little bones crunching would have only added to your discomfort.
ReplyDeleteJulius woke us up from a dead sleep one night, crunching away on a mouse!! I prefer the "swallow whole" technique!
DeleteGood Kitty! she's doing her job!
ReplyDeleteI really can't complain too much! :)
DeleteOur indoor cat caught a baby mouse one night, in the kitchen, and wore himself out containing it all night, as he never learned the coup de grace.
ReplyDeleteHooo boy, poor little mouse! THose cats are persistent!
DeleteHeathcliff insists on dissecting mice, eating the yummy bits, then leaving me with a laid out, vivisected corpse.
ReplyDeleteJane x
EEEEYYYYUUUUUWWWW! The closest we come to that is with Julius, who always leaves behind something that looks suspiciously like a liver. A tiny mouse liver. :P
DeleteThat mouse-slayer sure is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteShe turned out okay, didn't she?
DeleteThat's what they're paid for! My tabby, Fred, features today too.
ReplyDeleteGoing over to have a look! :)
DeleteI'm having flashbacks to Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. O.O
ReplyDeleteI remember that!
DeleteHey Nat, I let my chooks out into the garden once and one of my chookies found a mouse the cat had killed and it was a little on the flat side. Anyway, she grabbed it and ran off with it to stop the other chooks getting it and ................she ate it!! Bleurgh!! She probably thought it was a wonderful little tit bit!!
ReplyDeleteClaire :)
Oh dear, I wonder what her eggs tasted like afterwards?! ;)
DeleteGood little Kitty. Thank god we do not have any problems with mice here. But somehow Dutchie got the fleas. And he is never outside. SURPRISE. We suspect the neigbours dog, which we always pet when we see him. So we are probably to blame!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh no, fleas are a drag!! We've been lucky not to have that problem for many many years.
DeleteIt's always the dog's fault!
Living by a creek and a flood plain some of our neighbors complain about mice and rats, but the feral cats in our yard keep it pretty much rat free. Now our inside cats wouldn't know what to do with a mouse... but they do keep the house bug free. Congrats to Emily on her capture!
ReplyDeleteShe was quite proud of herself!!
DeleteI forget that these soft, cuddly little felines are, in fact, killing machines.
ReplyDeleteGood kitty....
Mind, my kitty brats tend to be moth exterminators!
It's hilarious when cats go after moths. Complete madness, lamps shade being batted over, the works! :)
DeleteI'd say you definitely have a mouser on your hands! I prefer they swallow whole...
ReplyDeleteNote: Please plan for regular deworming of your kitties ;)
Yes, twice a year! Dogs too, since they eat all manner of revolting things out there. :P
DeleteMost definitely, I second Terri on the deworming. 'tis the "raw" side of nature taking her course. Good kitty!
ReplyDeleteDeworming is a high priority around here! :)
DeleteShe definitely earns her room and board. And she's beautiful too.
ReplyDeleteShe deigns to look down from her kitty throne and thank you! ;)
Deletehave you considered getting some barn cats? There are some programs that adopt feral or semi-feral neutered and spayed cats out to farmers for pest control.
ReplyDeleteyes, I do think about that! Especially since we have occasional rat problems in the barn that we need to deal with!
DeleteUgh! I would be grateful to Emily and her pals for keeping the house pest-free. But, oh, I would have such a hard time looking her in the eye for a bit.
ReplyDeleteMe too!!! But she does good work.
DeleteWomen have kept cats for this very reason for thousands of years. It also cuts down on diseases. Be thankful for our mouser friends.
ReplyDeleteI think mice are an inevitable part of rural living, regardless of how many cats you have. Ours catch them from time to time. Emily has a gorgeous pattern. I like the way your response to the mouse was to go get your camera...
ReplyDelete