The Fur Child makes a good country cat. She hasn’t been catching many birds lately, but has been very good at catching mice and rats. Good girl! One day when I was cleaning the chickens’ water bell, she walked into the garage and came out less than a minute later with a mouse. I did a double-take because it was so quick! And then there was the day I heard a crash in the garage and she ran out with another mouse. This one she proceeded to keep alive for playing purposes, transporting it to and fro between the lawn and The Maple Garden, where she likes to deposit the mouse beside one of my native grasses and play with it around the grass. Apparently that notches it up to a high-octane activity.
Then there was the rat Nala brought to the back door mat, with a big announcement. She doesn’t usually eat rats, not that I’ve seen anyway, but later I was horrified to find nothing left on the mat but a small pile of rat innards. Actually, it was The Mother who discovered this wee present. Welcome to the homestead! One morning Nala was sleeping on our bed when a noisy rat started scuffling around in the roof. It was loud enough to wake her up and make her jump on the window sill, trying to figure out how to reach it. She then wanted to go outside and returned later with a rat, which was dutifully left on the door mat. Whether it was the one from the roof or not, I have no idea, but she’s a smart one nonetheless.
One of the latest hunting escapades occurred when I went to feed the chickens. Hearing a slight noise as I walked past the garage, I looked up to see a big rate face staring at me from the top of the spouting. I don’t know how big its body was but its face sure was big. Seeing as Nala was nearby, I picked her up and held her up to the garage roof. Immediately, she spied or heard the rat in the guttering, as there was a big kerfuffle, with pine needles flying off the roof onto my head. The Fur Child had disappeared to the other side of the garage and was slinking around the rainwater tank looking for the rat. Unfortunately, it got away, but maybe next time. Yup, she sure has an interesting life out here.
Wild Hope Homestead 