Ms. Nycto, the new cat, was definitely someone's house cat at some point. How she came to be roaming about the marshes is anybody's guess. When we found her she was infested with fleas and ticks and emaciated. The poor baby needed help and needed help fast! So, long story made short, she became one of the family. I did not need another cat, nor want another cat but here she is. One thing we immediately noticed and thought was strange, Ms. Nycto cannot hunt. It is a fact that Ms. Put, the Bayou Cat, would not starve to death if she ever found herself in such a predicament. She has no problem catching food and finding water. Ms. Nycto cannot catch a thing save the one lizard that she de-tailed and then had no idea that it was food.
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| Ms. Nycto being her usual diva self.
All of this is not for a lack of trying. She chases leaves quite well! Today, Son was out putting rafters up on the greenhouse when he saw Ms. Nycto chasing something behind the shed. He thought this was great and thought perhaps she was actually about to learn a skill other than her perfected one of sleeping. After a few minutes, she proudly came around the shed and meowed at him. She had her prey! Being up on the rooftop, he could not see exactly what that prey was, though, so down he climbed. She kept meowing for him to come see. She was extremely proud and wanted him to know that she had done a good deed! He squatted down next to her and reached to take the unfortunate critter from her. She gladly plopped the....leaf...in his hand! Yep, Ms. Nycto had caught another leaf! Her pride in presenting it to Michael was quite evident as she wound around him waiting for his praise. He petted her nicely and carried the prize in to me. "Nycto caught something, Mom!" Oh, geez! Would this cat ever learn to be a Bayou Cat or will she remain the spoiled diva of her early life?
I have heard so much controversy over allowing cats to roam that it is not funny. It amazes me that folks think that cats do indeed love being held captive inside the house. They were born to roam, hunt and be free. I agree that if there is a danger of them being in traffic or some such thing, then protect them but if there is room for them to gad about a bit, let them have a bit of fun! Sure, if these two cats wish to come inside, they have the option but that option works both ways. Their whims of being free to roam about the Bayou is granted whenever they desire. And, yes, I have heard all of the whiny bits about how cats kill other critters but without that, think of the overrun of mice, rats, squirrels and even birds that would occur. It is all about survival of the fittest. Critters that can survive, do survive. Critters that have not learned survival skills will fall prey to any larger animal...cats included. Here on the Bayou, that thinning of critters is direly needed. Food sources are far too many so rodents, themselves, are far too many. If there were no check of procreation, the place would be overrun to the point that all would perish due to overcrowding and disease. This happened to the raccoon population just a couple of years ago. When the coyotes were "run" out of the area, the raccoon population exploded. Many soon were ill with distemper that spread like wildfire throughout the entire area. Not a day went by that we did not find several ill or already dead coons. While cats cannot help in that situation, they can help keep the smaller rodents in check. As for Ms. Put and Ms. Nycto? They will have free run as long as they like! Now if Ms. Nycto can only learn to hunt something besides leaves! Well, maybe that won't be so bad come this fall. Perhaps her diligent training can help me so I will not have to rake all the leaves! Ms. Nycto, Leaf Huntress....at least it has a nice ring to it!
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