My dog, Gabe, always knows when our indoor-outdoor cat Blue is on the front porch, and he lets me know so I can invite Blue to come inside. The dog likes having Blue around to pester when he gets bored.
Yesterday evening Gabe let me know the cat was out there, so I opened the door. Blue was just laying there, but he didn't get up when I held the door open for him. After five minutes or so, I got to thinking perhaps he wasn't feeling well and decided to check on him. Imagine my surprise when I saw a dead rat laying on the porch beside him. I hate rats! I'm even a little leery of them. Cliff was sitting on the couch surfing the Internet, but I told him to get up and come to see what was on the porch with the cat. First he said, "What now... did he puke?" Once my husband sits down for the evening, he isn't too worried about what the dog and cat do. Actually he never does get as excited as I do over their silly antics.
I insisted he get up and come and look. Yes, he was surprised too. I've seen Blue catch mice before; all he does is play with them for awhile, and when he gets tired of that, he lets them go free. I still don't know if the grandson's dogs killed the rat and left it laying, or if Blue did the killing. It was the size of a gray squirrel. Just in case he was the hunter that took it down, I petted him and told him what a good boy he was to bring us a take-out meal. He can kill all the rats he wants!
Years ago when my children were babies Cliff and I saw our old barn cat catch a rat; believe me, the rat put up a terrible fight, but the cat won. It was really impressive, what with her being a smallish cat and the rat being extra large.
After telling Blue what a hero he was, I shut the door and let him enjoy his prey. I peeked out later and he was eating it, starting with the head. Eww. This morning Blue was on the porch wanting to come in, and I saw all that was left of the rat was the back legs and tail. Blue was finally ready to come in the house. Knowing Gabe would be messing around with what was left of the rat when I let him outside, I put it in a sack and threw it in the burn barrel.
Blue wanted out later and was very disappointed that his snack was gone, but now he's lying on his back in his own personal chair relaxing, no doubt plotting his next free meal.
Rebecca H here; Good for Blue! He's certainly a keeper!
ReplyDeleteMartha, the boy cat was an excellent hunter and often got squirrels and rabbits. He never offered them to me, but would bring them to his canine siblings. Triggered my gag reflex every time! He oncce killed a crow! Crows are big.
ReplyDeleteA facebook friend said she was sure Blue caught it. She said a cat will only eat prey that they kill themselves.
DeleteWe had a number of farm cats that would catch mice and on a rare occasion a rat. I never understood why they always ate the things head first. But it did make me a bit leery about future licking or rubbing of their whiskers near my face until images of the rat eating faded with time.
ReplyDeleteWe had a golden retriever/yellow lab mix that was one of the best rat killers I have ever seen. We cleaned out an old grainery one day and I saw him kill dozens of rats one after another. He never ate them though and so the cat herd moved in and ate their fill, heads first of course.
That sounds like a very large rat and the thought of Blue eating it turns my stomach. But it's normal for them. Mari used to hunt a lot when she was indoor/outdoor (and not my cat) but now she's strictly an inside princess.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat cat. Dog and cat are friends, also nice.
ReplyDeleteEwww. Hope Blue doesn't barf with that big meal. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI am not certain why I can't comment on blogs anymore, but when we move to the new house I want 3 chickens. Tim remembers the rats from his mother's chickens.
ReplyDeletePs: congratulations! Your team is going to the Super Bowl!!!
There's a drop-down menu. Click on the place where you are going to put your comment and you'll see the little arrow pointing down and it will give you the option to use your Google name, anonymous, or name/URL. If this is happening on your own blog too, you may need to sign in there.
DeleteI'm happy about our team, but I know everybody else is thinking Why can't another team get the super bowl? They are likely tired of that happening. I was actually hoping the Lions could have been the ones to get there. I would have still wanted my own team to win, but I wouldn't have cared so much if the Lions won because they've never had a chance to go.
DeleteI used to have a cat when I lived in Coffeyville. She never bothered mice or rats though! T was so glad! This is Margie from Margie's Musings..not Anonymous!
ReplyDelete