I got up Monday morning. There was a small, recently deceased rodent at the top of the stairs, it seemed; the lighting was terrible there. The two cats were both hovering about a foot away from the creature. It was slim, no longer than my cellphone.
First, what was it? It wasn’t a mouse because the tail was way too short. My wife said it was a mole. Or a vole. What is the difference anyway? It was definitely a mole.
The rest of the narrative is less clear. Which, if either of the cats found the animal? Was it alive when they found it? How did it get into the house? It was mighty cold outside, and it’s a century-old building. Our felines are indoor cats. The cats are 10 and 11 years old. This behavior has never occurred before.
Occasionally, one acts as though something behind our kitchen stove fascinates them, but I’ve never seen anything. I assumed it was an insect or arachnid of some sort.
The Instinct to Hunt
From here: “Cats are born to hunt. Even if domesticated cats know they don’t need to catch their own food to survive, they cannot resist the urge and often enjoy the hunt and chase. Some cats that catch prey will bring their owners the dead animals—or, perhaps even more unpleasantly, sometimes ones that are still alive—to show off their prized catch for later consumption, as a teaching aid, or as a gift.”
I’ve read about cats and dogs bringing their owners animals, some of them alive. Google “dog brings owner live rat,” or better yet, don’t.
The faux hunters
I had a rescued ginger cat once who liked to bring me caught prey but was too lazy to hunt for himself. And living in Florida meant grass has to be cut all year.
So, somewhere DanielStripedTiger The Cat learned to follow behind mowers to find creatures to bring us. He brought us half critters for years. Mostly the poor little ones were deceased and dreaming of the fjords…But, I never quite knew how to handle the front 1/2 of harmless yard snakes who did not know they were just Not Dead Yet…..Where was Monty Python when we needed them, eh? Where was John Cleese and his Dead Parrot for consultation?….