My fear stems from an old movie I watched as a kid. Most children weren't allowed to watch movies like Friday the 13th and Jaws because they'd get nightmares. Well, the movie that should have been banned from my house was Honey I Shrunk the Kids, starring Rick Moranis. I probably don't even have to mention this, but remember the scene when the micro-tiny kids were walking in the backyard and they come across the monstrous scorpion that eventually kills their ant friend? (Sorry if I just ruined it for you...) Apparently that left quite an impression on me. The only other times I have ever seen a scorpion: (1) in a jar of alcohol for a bug collection, and (2) in Texas Hill Country at a diabetes camp, dead behind the trash can in the ladies restroom (still screamed at this one). Here's a picture of the scorp from that movie to refresh your memory...
After insisting that we call the exterminator that the Murray's use in Talala, he comes out to spray. Turns out, spraying for scorpions does in fact kill the creatures, but when they die they come out from wherever they were hiding to die in the middle of the room. This is lots of fun, especially because I don't know what a scorpion bite does to a cat, especially a wussy domesticated cat like Herbie. Let's just say I ALWAYS wear house shoes and/or socks at minimum.To date, we've had approximately 35 scorpions cross our threshold. (Lovely, I know... please still come visit me...) I thought this was the worst of my worries until recently...
About 2 nights ago, Carl and I were doing the dishes and Herbie would not move from underneath the dishwasher. There is a gap in the masonry that opens up to a really nice hole under our cabinets/trash can/sink/dishwasher. (We didn't build the house.) I knew he had to have seen something, so I get a flashlight (thanks, Mike and Susan for our stocking stuffers) and get down to see what he can't keep his eyes off. I see nothing but a great hide-out for mice. Carl takes the flashlight and I go back to cleaning up dinner. All of a sudden, he jumps and gets all jittery and creeped out and informs me the mouse just stuck his head out of the hole and looked straight at him! Herbie goes nuts, of course, trying to fit into the little hole himself. We know now that we have to take action, but can't until tomorrow. There's nothing we can do now, so we go back to our evening routine.
Before bed, Carl tells me that I must go look at my cat. He has not moved from the kitchen since the sighting. Carl was so proud of him... he had made himself his own little kitty tree stand or mouse blind under a shelf I have! He perched himself there and remained to my knowledge the entire night.
After a less-than-restful night of sleep, I woke up to Carl saying Herbie has now chased the mouse under the tv stand in our bedroom! That's not a pleasant thing to wake up to, I'll tell you that. Once I'm up and out of bed, the mouse DARTS across the bedroom floor, Herbie hot on his tail. I didn't know this about myself, but apparently I scream at mice. Maybe it's the unpredictability that scares me. So I screamed, and Herbie cowers because he thinks I'm yelling at him! Very counterproductive for the cat and mouse game. Herbie chases him around the room, catching him a few times, but without claws, he really has no way to catch him! All he's chased in his days are crickets, scorpions, and toy mice! Never has he had the opportunity of chasing the real thing... he just thought it was a play mouse I bet! Carl was now very disappointed at his hunting abilities. I was surprised too, because Herbie Cat was originally a barn cat! He is officially not anymore. Wuss.
So moral of the story is, despite where your cat may have been born, not all of them are born with the instinct to catch and kill mice. Too bad for me, because now we have traps all over our house and I am scared to death to open a door or cabinet to find one still...
What is the silver lining, you may be wondering? Carl now insists that we get another outside cat with claws. :) If you know of any litters, please let me know!
I've added a cute pic of Herbie Cat being very scared of Carl's bear rug paw.
3 comments:
oh yes, everyone with land should have a cat, but if it's an outside cat then you need two so that it will have a friend, or you could get a dog that likes cats and they can be friends. Better yet my parents have an outside dog (rocky) and cat(stella) that are both very good at killing small creatures, and they are best friends (really, they cuddle). My mom would definitely let you take the dog off her hands, and I think the cat should not be separated from the dog, so there you go. problem solved.
Your dad would no longer like me if I took Rocky away from him though! My solution is to get a Westie dog. They're BORN to kill rodents, so I'm thinking that'd work out pretty well. Thanks for helping me brainstorm though! :)
We have a cat that's been hanging around outside the past few days. We call him White Socks. Hopefully he's there helping us control the mouse population. Carl thinks that if he feeds him, he'll hang out more often.
I think a Westie would be great. Plus, Mabel told me she's ready to have a cousin. And not only are Westies good at rodent hunting, but they're also really great at barking at trees, bushes and leaves. FIERCE!
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