Marina wrote:
wrote:

There is something a bit horrifying about delivering a live mouse to a
cat (or pet snake) in a situation where the mouse has almost no chance
of escape. It reminds me of those "canned hunting" ranches, not that
I'm blaming the cat, of course.

They passed a law here a few years ago, banning the use of live animals
to feed pets. I've often thought about buying frozen mice for Miranda,
but she wouldn't know what to do with them. Oh, how I wish she'd have
had just one summer with Nikki on the island. Nikki would soon have
taught her what to do with prey.

She brought home a vole the other night. Didn't eat it.

Was it somewhere on this newsgroup, or on some TV program, that I
learned that although the "hunting" part is instinctive, a cat must be
TAUGHT to eat its prey? (They learn to use a litterbox a lot faster
when mama's around to teach them, too.)