We are in the habit of leaving our cat, Murray, outside for a while after dinner/supper (your choice, depending on where you are from) until we go to bed at night. Our back yard is fenced in, and he hasn't shown interest in venturing beyond. He loves being out there alone in the dark.
We let him out if he wants to, of course. He's in charge of us. I wish I could say he is a benevolent master, but he's not. He's self-centered and quite demanding. You know the type!
He killed a rat the other evening. It was his first big "kill" and he was very excited, absolutely beside himself. It was the first time I've seen a rat in our yard, so I was both pleased and horrified over the "kill." It's complicated. In all sincerity, I apologize to all the soft-hearted rodent lovers out there. I'm afraid I would make a terrible Buddhist.
We had noticed he's recently been obsessed after dark, sitting at the bottom of our palm trees in the back yard, looking up and stalking "something."
It was a roof rat. Apparently, they are especially fond of living in palm trees. Notice my wishful thinking in pretending it was just one roof rat? We'll see.
"Call them what you want–roof rats, fruit rats, black rats–but they’re all the same thing. These are the same rats that spread bubonic plague and fleas. They’ve been with humans for centuries, and throughout that time, they’ve been less than ideal house guests. Rats spread far more diseases than the frightening Black Death, though. Others include murine typhus, salmonella, rat-bite fever, and leptospirosis, to name only a few." https://www.myheronhome.com/pest/rodent-exterminators/prevention/
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| Murray "Murder Mouth" the Cat - my hero |
I had a neighbor in Florida who used to talk about the "fruit rats" that ate the fallen citrus in his yard, as if they were an exotic species. I said, "You ARE aware that those are just plain ol' rats, right?"
ReplyDeleteFor some reason it seems less threatening to call this this or that kind of rat.
DeleteYay for the cat. He deserves a special treat.
ReplyDeleteHe got them!
DeleteThere are definitely critters that we draw the line about. Rodents are not welcome past that certain line. That's the way it has to be. I'm glad you have a kitty cat on patrol.
ReplyDeleteThat kitty, that kitty! I love him so much.
DeleteYou're in good hands with Murray on duty!
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteMy neighbor did not like cats, including mine, right next door. He and I came in from work simultaneously one day. Their little toy poodle was being baited by a rat its size, and the poodle was berserk. He was keeping the rat from its throat by jumping and twisting. And then my big cat, BoomBoom (nearly a twin to Murray) finished slithering over the fence, down the other side, and had the rat by the back of its neck. Maurice, my nieghbor, reappeared from his garage with a spade and dispatched the rat in one blow. The rat probably exceeded BoomBoom's capabilities; almost the cat's size, for starters.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Maurice became a card carrying cat lover. He even dug his grave and buried BoomBoom when he finally departed, years later.
That's my cat and rat story. BoomBoom was a fine cat.
A true hero!
DeleteOur cat, Casper, long gone to feline heaven, was an indoor cat. We didn't want the local owls carrying him off to feed their young. To entertain him I hung a bird feeder outside our bathroom window where he would sit for hours, mesmerized by the bird activity outside. All was well until I realised he was getting more worked up than usual. Why? Rats had discovered the fallen birdseed. That was the end of that "TV for Casper"! It's inevitable that they're going to be around, with all the palm trees and wild vegetation, but that was too close for comfort!
ReplyDeleteThat is EXACTLY why we have rats. My husband is a bird lover and has a couple of birdfeeders. I doubt I can get him to stop. But I'll try.
DeleteI would worry that the cat caught germs from the rat. But he looks pretty healthy and happy so all is well.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't eat it, and he has no wounds. Something to think about, though.
DeleteMy cats have long since gone to the place were old cats go frolicking after busy work on earth but we still get gifts of dead rodents on our door steps from their friends and colleagues. Rats included, tiny rats, I should add. I usually bury them.
ReplyDeleteThose cats must like you to bring you a gift!
DeleteWait, rats live up in palm trees ??? Me thinks I will carry an umbrella on any future Florida visits.
ReplyDeleteHa! That made me laugh.
DeleteI have Buddhist inclinations, but I wouldn't think twice about killing a rat. As your quote says, they spread all sorts of diseases and the sooner they're got rid of the better. Good for Murray killing the rat. Hopefully he'll kill a few more.
ReplyDeleteWell, I kind of hope there aren't any more. Purely wishful thinking, I know.
DeleteMy daughter, Occasional Speeder, has a cat called Reggae who - in all senses - is a serial killer. He would kill rats if they came his way but most are too fly to do do. So he makes do with mice, sometimes bringing their heads into the house, sometimes their eviscerated bodies. Expecting praise. My daughter is sickened by the activities of our ex-Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and is obviously a sensitive being. Mammalian body parts are not in her script.
ReplyDeleteBut wait, there's more. Reggae regularly savages little baby bunny rabbots who have previously never harmed anyone. And when these are not available all types of birds, including songbirds who would normally delight us.
So what's your view about, say, songbirds? And the part Reggae plays in their short lives?
I would like to go on record as being against killing songbirds. Cats would make terrible human beings.
DeleteWe've started letting our cat out as well. She's too old to get over our backyard fence with her arthritis and she loves it. No dead animals yet though. My old cat, Harry, was a huge cat, 18 lbs, and quite the hunter.
ReplyDelete