Ficathon, and cat and mouse games

[vilakins]

My AU/AR ficathon assignment is definitely doable, but it's not what I'd call an AU. I consider it possible canon, but it will be fun.

And there was some last night. Vic, who has been catching field mice lately, brought one in through the cat door. We usually rescue mice in much the same way as lizards: offer a nice dark tube closed at the far end, then clap a hand over it once the mouse has run up it like the proverbial rat up a drain-pipe, take it outside, and release it into the wild while the other person tells the cat what a clever cat it is--why berate them for being cats? This time Vic dropped his catch which promptly fled to the laundry followed by cat and humans. The laundry is where the tube is but before we could grab it, the mouse thought Greg's shoes by the back door were more inviting and took refuge in one. Greg picked it up and took it outside, but the mouse liked the shoe. Greg shook it, trying to dislodge it, and when the mouse finally leaped out in the dark, it went up his arm towards his face which gave him a hell of a start, then jumped off, landed on the deck and took off into the bushes.

I might add that the older two don't catch anything but the occasional lizard--only to play with--and none of them catch birds. People go on about cats killing huge numbers of birds but the trees around us are full of them, including tuis and at least one morepork.

Comments

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Mouse in the shoe - eek!
I remember finding a mouse nest in my airing cupboard at my old flat. My cat took one look at them, and sauntered off. They weren't bothered by him either and only moved out when I made them

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

A rat once died in what we call the harness room--the little room off the carport where the previous owners kept their riding gear. Ewww. All the things we find in here, the cats brought in.

In an old flat a few years ago, I was watching TV with the cats beside me on the couch. A mouse strolled out of the kitchen and looked at us. "Go get him!" I said to the cats who weren't in the slightest bit interested. The mouse got bored and wandered off.

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Tee hee. I bet Noki couldn't kill *anything*, she's so lazy.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

She might have a go at catching it if it was a fast and tempting morsel. :-) Our cats spend a lot of time in the garden. Once Tessa caught an insect and ate it; it was so bitter her mouth foamed up--at least that was the explanation the vet gave when I frantically rang him. It's amazing how much foam you can get out of a small cat. :-P

[tiamatschild.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Oh, heavens! Sounds like some of my kitties. They're never quite sure how to kill the mice once they've caught them, so they bring them to us. Poor Leon I had to rescue once, because he'd caught a mouse and knew there was something he was supposed to do with it once he had it in his mouth, but couldn't remember what it was, so he brought it to me and cried at me until I took it away from him and put it back outside. Goose.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The girls don't eat what they catch--I've even rescued a monarch butterfly from little Tessa's delicate bite and it flew away--but I suspect Vic does. A couple of weeks ago I found a half-eaten field mouse on the deck just after rescuing another one from him.

I wonder why they bring them to us though. As gifts? To show how clever they are? Extra protein in our diets?

[tiamatschild.livejournal.com]

Emma always killed what she caught, and a lot of the time she ate it. Not the other three, though.

I think it's probably a little bit of all three. I read a good article on the habit, once, but I can't remember most of it now.

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

My sister lives in Brisbane, where they have a law stating that cats must be brought inside at sunset, in order to protect the birds. Obviously whoever wrote the law and passed it, has never tried to catch a cat at sunset...

My own has grown old and tired now, and catches less, but we used to have to do 'dead thing sweep' of the house, before we left for work every morning. All manner of things are now buried under the lemon tree, which was thriving when we moved out.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The two girls were always locked in at night to keep them out of cat fights, but Vic's an ex-stray. Since he's been here, they can all come and go but the girls spend all night on our bed. Vic just arrives in the morning and butts us awake. None of them catch birds, and Vic's just started catching field mice for some reason.

The trouble with locking cats in is having to have litter trays but if Vic gets in as many fights as he's been in lately (he has a badly-scratched ear) we'll have to resort to that again. And winter's coming which means lots of muddy paws, so it makes sense. Sigh.