(no subject)

[dreamer_easy]

I seem to have developed catdar. I'm so used to the noises frankxcat and timbus make about the house that I've got an instinctive understanding of where they are and what they're up to. This morning at around 6 am I heard odd, staccatio thumping in the loungeroom, and I knew at once something unusual was going on. This was confirmed when I staggered into the loo and only Frank came to harass me for his breakfast.

I discovered Tim playing with a mouse under the table. He was picking it up in his mouth, moving it to a new spot, then pawing it a bit before moving it again. Now, I know the whole playing with your food thing is a solo predator's safety procedure: an injury can be fatal if it leaves you unable to feed yourself. Cats will even go through the routine with their toys, pretending to ignore them to see if they're still mobile. But the shifting the prey around from spot to spot was new to me. Maybe Tim was claiming it, shifting it away from my or Franks' attention? (Surprisingly, Frank didn't seem to have noticed the mouse's presence at all.)

I picked Tim up and shoved him into the startled arms of my naked and half-conscious husband, then got a container and caught the mouse. It wasn't hard - the poor thing was torpid with terror. Freezing to become invisible is a bad strategy on carpet or in tupperware. As far as I could see, it was completely uninjured; Tim must have moved it about as gently as a mother cat moving her kittens. I popped it out the front door and when I looked again it had vanished.

This makes up a bit for a poor mouse I once accidentally caught in a sticky cockroach trap and couldn't free.

Comments

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Ah! I wish I'd known then what I know now. Thanks Ace.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

I can't quite get over how perfect this morning's mouse was - so tiny and neat. It was dark grey. Its little eyes were half-closed, I guess with fright.