Bat, the cat, is coming into his own now. He is still technically a kitten as he is not even a year old but he thinks he has the power of a mountain lion. He thinks that...until one particular feral cat puts him in his place. That cat is a bit larger and a bit more "street wise". He has been around the block and can take care of himself. Bat, being the young whippersnapper he is, torments the older cats until they finally smack him. I have no problem with that as they have to all live around here and should have a pecking order. Bat, being the youngest and the newcomer, is on the lowest rung of that order. Still, he is doing well adjusting to life as it is. I actually did not have much confidence in his ability to do much more than be a nuisance until today. Today changed that opinion. I hope there are many more todays for that cat.
I was moving sacks of concrete from the front of the house to the shed when I noticed Bat stalking something by the canebrake. I thought the silly cat was chasing another butterfly or perhaps another bee. The butterfly flitted away but the bee was caught and immediately released. Bat had a swollen lip for a day, afterwards. Suddenly, Bat started flipping something up in the air. THAT was not bug! Time to investigate!
To my surprise, Bat finally made a true catch! Although not a rat, it was close enough to be promising. The cat had caught a shrew. Normally, I do not look as shrews as pests but if this catch can entice Bat to catch some of the rice rats that have moved into the shed and greenhouse, I was willing to let him have the critter. I watched as he played with it for a bit. Then, he plopped to the ground and simply batted his prey. One paw would slowly pat the shrew a bit before Bat appeared to be going to take a nap. Oh, geez! Most animals would be fired up after catching their prey. Not Bat. He is the world's laziest hunter! Nap time!
No comments:
Post a Comment