5/3/24
Newsletter #594
The Crack of Dawn
I’ve just had a slightly otherworldly experience. My cat Ike, a moderate predator at best, just brought in a bird by the scruff of the neck, completely alive and unbloodied. It’s head and beak were black, with vivid orange under feathers, covered with black and white feathers. I don’t know my birds, so I have no idea what kind it was. I reached for it, thinking it would try to fly away, crashing all over the living room as many birds had before it, caught by my many cats over the years. This bird instead hopped right onto my hand. The bird just stood there on my hand for a long minute, appearing slightly dazed. I stood up, went to the front door, opened it and went outside into the lovely warm sunshine.
The bird with the fiery orange feathers stayed on my hand for at least ten minutes, maybe more. I petted it with my finger. I advised it to keep an eye out for cats, because if a fat, overfed cat like Ike could jump it, it’s not paying attention. Finally, it got it’s shit back together and flew straight from my hand to the nearest tree and perched on a branch.
Anyway, good work, Ike. And he didn’t hurt the bird. He brought in a chipmunk yesterday and didn’t hurt it, either. I was able to quickly get it out of the house. But he did hunt them both down, pounce on them unawares, catch them, then secure them both safely by the scruffs of their necks.
It’s still spring and Ike has also brought in, entirely unharmed, though certainly battle weary, an 18-inch garter snake, the width of a cigarette. I gathered it in a towel and took it outside. I dumped it on the lawn and advised it to keep an eye out for cats, too. The snake just sat there in the grass not going anywhere. Alive, unharmed, but seemingly confused – where did that giant cat come from? One minute I’m slithering along minding my own business, the next I’m being shaken and flopped around like some kind of child’s toy. Thank the snake God for that friendly human.
Last year, Ike brought in every member of the family of the ancestors of this garter snake. He brought in the baby, that wasn’t quite a foot long, and was almost a worm; it’s sibling, very much like this recent snake; the mother that was probably two feet long; and the father that was about three feet long and the circumference of a Monte Christo cigar. I had to remove them all from my house. I happened to have been on the phone with my sister Pam when Ike brought in the father snake – I’m telling you, I thought I was going to have a stroke.
In all cases the snakes were perfectly unharmed, but so shaken that they were all utterly compliant. Ike didn’t hurt them, but he certainly instilled the fear of God in them.
Ike is not a great predator like some of my previous cats, but he certainly seems beneficent, and I admire him for that. He catches animals for the sake of catching them, not hurting them.
And that’s the whole story.
Love this little slice of your life!
That was hilarious ! Ike really is an animal lover. He has instincts, yes, but he's respectful. How cute this is. And he's so adorable :) Have a good day both of you !