Deer in the lion's den

"dgk" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:52:00 -0500, jmc
wrote:



At least twice a week, when I'm reading before going to sleep, Marlo
let's out this continuous yowling while walking into the bedroom, and
there is always something in her mouth. It is sometimes a big yucky
waterbug. I figure those just come up from the pipes in the shower
when it gets dark. But she sometimes brings in a grasshopper-like
thing. I can't figure out where she gets those from. I've never seen
one in the house unless she brings it to me. I do sometimes leave the
kitchen door open so the cats go into the backyard, but I've never
even seen one of those things in the backyard.


Is it a bright green grasshopper like thing, or an oversized cricket
looking thing?


No, not bright green. More a dull greyish color - maybe even a
cricket. It's only an inch long or so. I am absolutely mystified as to
where she gets them. Maybe this is just the season or something since
she's probably had three in the last three weeks.

Camel cricket?
http://k53.pbase.com/o4/90/516390/1/...Cricket100.jpg

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:44:39 -0500, "cybercat"
wrote:


"jmc" wrote in message
...

But the instinct to play with her prey is undeniable. Only rarely is
the creature dead when I see it; and I live in fear that she will jump
onto the bed with a live waterbug and start chasing it around. Ugh.

Speaking of playing with their prey...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I shared a house with a
couple
of roomies and a Siamese named Cleo. My cat at the time was a gigantic
Maine Coon mix named Mouse.

I came out to the living room one morning to a very odd scene: Mouse
and
Cleo facing each other, perhaps 6 or 7 feet apart, with a field mouse
cowering in the middle between them. Curious, I did nothing but
watched.

Eventually, the mouse made a run for it, heading towards Mouse and
freedom. Mouse casually reached out a paw and swatted it into the
center... mousie broke the other way, and Cleo did the same, swatted it
into the center..

Yes, Boys and Girls, Mouse and Cleo were playing tennis with the poor
terrified mouse! Man, I wish video cameras existed in those days! Yes,
cats are cruel predators, but it was still one of the most interesting
things I've ever seen two cats do together (usually they despised each
other).

At any rate, I've always had a rule: If a cat has the mouse, the mouse
is
prey, and belongs to the cat. I watched them for a while, then went off
to work, leaving the cats to their entertainment. One of my roomies
took
care of the mouse when the poor thing eventually died.


I could never watch this. I think a lot less of you after reading this.


That's one reason I could never own a snake. How could I ever feed it
live mice? Or even crickets. Still, mice do really exist for one
purpose (outside of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) and that is to be
food for birds and sometimes cats. In HGTTG, mice are the three
dimentional representation of pan-galactic beings that actually run
the universe.

I could never watch an animal torture, terrify, and torment another animal
to death. I just don't have it in me. I understand it is "natural," but so
is smallpox. So are abcesses. If my cats don't need the mice for food,
forget it. Plus, they carry disease.


I've rescued a few mice and birds from my cats, plus the occasional
oPossum baby. But I draw the line at waterbugs. If Marlo wants to off
a waterbug, I will not try to rescue it. I just found a wingless
waterbug body this morning. I'm sure the wings will turn up shortly.

eeeeuuuu! I have to say, I don't feel the same sympathy for bugs, though I
might kill them rather than let the cat torture them. There are plenty of
things for cats to play with that have no pulse.

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:44:39 -0500, "cybercat"
wrote:


"jmc" wrote in message
...

But the instinct to play with her prey is undeniable. Only rarely is
the creature dead when I see it; and I live in fear that she will jump
onto the bed with a live waterbug and start chasing it around. Ugh.

Speaking of playing with their prey...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I shared a house with a
couple
of roomies and a Siamese named Cleo. My cat at the time was a gigantic
Maine Coon mix named Mouse.

I came out to the living room one morning to a very odd scene: Mouse
and
Cleo facing each other, perhaps 6 or 7 feet apart, with a field mouse
cowering in the middle between them. Curious, I did nothing but
watched.

Eventually, the mouse made a run for it, heading towards Mouse and
freedom. Mouse casually reached out a paw and swatted it into the
center... mousie broke the other way, and Cleo did the same, swatted it
into the center..

Yes, Boys and Girls, Mouse and Cleo were playing tennis with the poor
terrified mouse! Man, I wish video cameras existed in those days!
Yes,
cats are cruel predators, but it was still one of the most interesting
things I've ever seen two cats do together (usually they despised each
other).

At any rate, I've always had a rule: If a cat has the mouse, the mouse
is
prey, and belongs to the cat. I watched them for a while, then went
off
to work, leaving the cats to their entertainment. One of my roomies
took
care of the mouse when the poor thing eventually died.


I could never watch this. I think a lot less of you after reading this.


That's one reason I could never own a snake. How could I ever feed it
live mice? Or even crickets. Still, mice do really exist for one
purpose (outside of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) and that is to be
food for birds and sometimes cats. In HGTTG, mice are the three
dimentional representation of pan-galactic beings that actually run
the universe.

I could never watch an animal torture, terrify, and torment another animal
to death. I just don't have it in me. I understand it is "natural," but so
is smallpox. So are abcesses. If my cats don't need the mice for food,
forget it. Plus, they carry disease.


I've rescued a few mice and birds from my cats, plus the occasional
oPossum baby. But I draw the line at waterbugs. If Marlo wants to off
a waterbug, I will not try to rescue it. I just found a wingless
waterbug body this morning. I'm sure the wings will turn up shortly.

eeeeuuuu! I have to say, I don't feel the same sympathy for bugs, though I
might kill them rather than let the cat torture them. There are plenty of
things for cats to play with that have no pulse.

Do bugs have a pulse? They seem to be filled with green or yellow goo. Do
they have a heart?

Cheryl wrote:
"cybercat" wrote in message
"dgk" wrote in message

I've rescued a few mice and birds from my cats, plus the occasional
oPossum baby. But I draw the line at waterbugs. If Marlo wants to off
a waterbug, I will not try to rescue it. I just found a wingless
waterbug body this morning. I'm sure the wings will turn up shortly.

eeeeuuuu! I have to say, I don't feel the same sympathy for bugs,
though I might kill them rather than let the cat torture them. There
are plenty of things for cats to play with that have no pulse.

Do bugs have a pulse? They seem to be filled with green or yellow goo.
Do they have a heart?

They do, kinda-sorta. It works more like our gut than our heart.
There's even some animation to show how it moves:

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent4...rculatory.html

Suddenly, without warning, cybercat exclaimed (11/12/2009 10:44 PM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, dgk exclaimed (11/12/2009 8:43 AM):
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:09:56 -0500, Dragoman
wrote:

Cheryl wrote:
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Cheryl exclaimed (11/11/2009 3:46 PM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Cheryl exclaimed (11/10/2009 9:21 PM):
"cybercat" wrote in message
...
"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
I'm sure a lot of you have already read about this
Man, I haven't and I can't watch it. I'm too much of a softie I
guess.

Here on the local news they had it on video. All of the details. I
was rooting for the lions. Environmental enrichment and all that.
Nothing really against deer (I'm on friendly terms with some where I
walk regularly), but I found it kind of sad that a couple of
mountain lions couldn't manage to catch one small deer (well caught
it once, then let it get away). Hopefully they just weren't hungry,
otherwise they're pretty sad specimens. I've seen housecats that
are better hunters than that

They were African lions in the National zoo.
Oh, sorry. Don't know why I said Mountain. I blame age

It makes it worse, doesn't it. That the king of the jungle couldn't
catch a small deer that seemed to have a death wish.
Oh, but they did. The caught the critter not once, but twice. If they
had been hungry, it would have been eaten. As it stands, they were just
play hunting, the deer an exciting new toy. Too bad it was so easily
damaged.

At least twice a week, when I'm reading before going to sleep, Marlo
let's out this continuous yowling while walking into the bedroom, and
there is always something in her mouth. It is sometimes a big yucky
waterbug. I figure those just come up from the pipes in the shower
when it gets dark. But she sometimes brings in a grasshopper-like
thing. I can't figure out where she gets those from. I've never seen
one in the house unless she brings it to me. I do sometimes leave the
kitchen door open so the cats go into the backyard, but I've never
even seen one of those things in the backyard.

Is it a bright green grasshopper like thing, or an oversized cricket
looking thing?


Anyway, of my three cats, she is far and away the best hunter. Last
night I already had the light off when she came in yowling. I could
make out something pretty big in her mouth, so turned on the light
fearing some disaster. Luckily it turned out to be a toy mouse. I
guess the grasshopper supply ran low.

Too Cute

But the instinct to play with her prey is undeniable. Only rarely is
the creature dead when I see it; and I live in fear that she will jump
onto the bed with a live waterbug and start chasing it around. Ugh.
Speaking of playing with their prey...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I shared a house with a couple
of roomies and a Siamese named Cleo. My cat at the time was a gigantic
Maine Coon mix named Mouse.

I came out to the living room one morning to a very odd scene: Mouse and
Cleo facing each other, perhaps 6 or 7 feet apart, with a field mouse
cowering in the middle between them. Curious, I did nothing but watched.

Eventually, the mouse made a run for it, heading towards Mouse and
freedom. Mouse casually reached out a paw and swatted it into the
center... mousie broke the other way, and Cleo did the same, swatted it
into the center..

Yes, Boys and Girls, Mouse and Cleo were playing tennis with the poor
terrified mouse! Man, I wish video cameras existed in those days! Yes,
cats are cruel predators, but it was still one of the most interesting
things I've ever seen two cats do together (usually they despised each
other).

At any rate, I've always had a rule: If a cat has the mouse, the mouse is
prey, and belongs to the cat. I watched them for a while, then went off
to work, leaving the cats to their entertainment. One of my roomies took
care of the mouse when the poor thing eventually died.


I could never watch this. I think a lot less of you after reading this.



That's Ok, I don't mind Mice are cute, but they are vermin, and the
house was full of them. It was the cat's job to keep this under
control, and I wasn't going to discourage that.

jmc

Suddenly, without warning, cybercat exclaimed (11/12/2009 10:44 PM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, dgk exclaimed (11/12/2009 8:43 AM):
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:09:56 -0500, Dragoman
wrote:

Cheryl wrote:
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Cheryl exclaimed (11/11/2009 3:46 PM):
"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, Cheryl exclaimed (11/10/2009 9:21 PM):
"cybercat" wrote in message
...
"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
I'm sure a lot of you have already read about this
Man, I haven't and I can't watch it. I'm too much of a softie I
guess.

Here on the local news they had it on video. All of the details. I
was rooting for the lions. Environmental enrichment and all that.
Nothing really against deer (I'm on friendly terms with some where I
walk regularly), but I found it kind of sad that a couple of
mountain lions couldn't manage to catch one small deer (well caught
it once, then let it get away). Hopefully they just weren't hungry,
otherwise they're pretty sad specimens. I've seen housecats that
are better hunters than that

They were African lions in the National zoo.
Oh, sorry. Don't know why I said Mountain. I blame age

It makes it worse, doesn't it. That the king of the jungle couldn't
catch a small deer that seemed to have a death wish.
Oh, but they did. The caught the critter not once, but twice. If they
had been hungry, it would have been eaten. As it stands, they were just
play hunting, the deer an exciting new toy. Too bad it was so easily
damaged.

At least twice a week, when I'm reading before going to sleep, Marlo
let's out this continuous yowling while walking into the bedroom, and
there is always something in her mouth. It is sometimes a big yucky
waterbug. I figure those just come up from the pipes in the shower
when it gets dark. But she sometimes brings in a grasshopper-like
thing. I can't figure out where she gets those from. I've never seen
one in the house unless she brings it to me. I do sometimes leave the
kitchen door open so the cats go into the backyard, but I've never
even seen one of those things in the backyard.

Is it a bright green grasshopper like thing, or an oversized cricket
looking thing?


Anyway, of my three cats, she is far and away the best hunter. Last
night I already had the light off when she came in yowling. I could
make out something pretty big in her mouth, so turned on the light
fearing some disaster. Luckily it turned out to be a toy mouse. I
guess the grasshopper supply ran low.

Too Cute

But the instinct to play with her prey is undeniable. Only rarely is
the creature dead when I see it; and I live in fear that she will jump
onto the bed with a live waterbug and start chasing it around. Ugh.
Speaking of playing with their prey...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I shared a house with a couple
of roomies and a Siamese named Cleo. My cat at the time was a gigantic
Maine Coon mix named Mouse.

I came out to the living room one morning to a very odd scene: Mouse and
Cleo facing each other, perhaps 6 or 7 feet apart, with a field mouse
cowering in the middle between them. Curious, I did nothing but watched.

Eventually, the mouse made a run for it, heading towards Mouse and
freedom. Mouse casually reached out a paw and swatted it into the
center... mousie broke the other way, and Cleo did the same, swatted it
into the center..

Yes, Boys and Girls, Mouse and Cleo were playing tennis with the poor
terrified mouse! Man, I wish video cameras existed in those days! Yes,
cats are cruel predators, but it was still one of the most interesting
things I've ever seen two cats do together (usually they despised each
other).

At any rate, I've always had a rule: If a cat has the mouse, the mouse is
prey, and belongs to the cat. I watched them for a while, then went off
to work, leaving the cats to their entertainment. One of my roomies took
care of the mouse when the poor thing eventually died.


I could never watch this. I think a lot less of you after reading this.



Oh, and I was a *lot* younger in those days. My previous post might
have been cavalier about it, but truth be told I'm not sure I would
stand by and watch if this happened again. Mice were a real problem in
that old farmhouse, and that was probably a factor.

jmc

jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, cybercat exclaimed (11/12/2009 10:44 PM):
"jmc" wrote in message

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I shared a house with a
couple of roomies and a Siamese named Cleo. My cat at the time was a
gigantic Maine Coon mix named Mouse.

I came out to the living room one morning to a very odd scene: Mouse
and Cleo facing each other, perhaps 6 or 7 feet apart, with a field
mouse cowering in the middle between them. Curious, I did nothing
but watched.

Eventually, the mouse made a run for it, heading towards Mouse and
freedom. Mouse casually reached out a paw and swatted it into the
center... mousie broke the other way, and Cleo did the same, swatted
it into the center..

Yes, Boys and Girls, Mouse and Cleo were playing tennis with the poor
terrified mouse! Man, I wish video cameras existed in those days!
Yes, cats are cruel predators, but it was still one of the most
interesting things I've ever seen two cats do together (usually they
despised each other).

At any rate, I've always had a rule: If a cat has the mouse, the
mouse is prey, and belongs to the cat. I watched them for a while,
then went off to work, leaving the cats to their entertainment. One
of my roomies took care of the mouse when the poor thing eventually
died.


I could never watch this. I think a lot less of you after reading this.


That's Ok, I don't mind Mice are cute, but they are vermin, and the
house was full of them. It was the cat's job to keep this under
control, and I wasn't going to discourage that.

But you wrote "field mouse"! They are most certainly not vermin.
They are shy, gentle critters; when such stray indoors, I usually catch
them (throw a towel on them first) and take them outside. They are not
house-smart, and don't destroy stuff. House mice, that's another story -
that's why you need cats, and I wouldn't interfere in cats' play with them.

Suddenly, without warning, Dragoman exclaimed (11/13/2009 11:51 PM):
jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, cybercat exclaimed (11/12/2009 10:44 PM):
"jmc" wrote in message

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I shared a house with a
couple of roomies and a Siamese named Cleo. My cat at the time was
a gigantic Maine Coon mix named Mouse.

I came out to the living room one morning to a very odd scene:
Mouse and Cleo facing each other, perhaps 6 or 7 feet apart, with a
field mouse cowering in the middle between them. Curious, I did
nothing but watched.

Eventually, the mouse made a run for it, heading towards Mouse and
freedom. Mouse casually reached out a paw and swatted it into the
center... mousie broke the other way, and Cleo did the same, swatted
it into the center..

Yes, Boys and Girls, Mouse and Cleo were playing tennis with the
poor terrified mouse! Man, I wish video cameras existed in those
days! Yes, cats are cruel predators, but it was still one of the
most interesting things I've ever seen two cats do together (usually
they despised each other).

At any rate, I've always had a rule: If a cat has the mouse, the
mouse is prey, and belongs to the cat. I watched them for a while,
then went off to work, leaving the cats to their entertainment. One
of my roomies took care of the mouse when the poor thing eventually
died.


I could never watch this. I think a lot less of you after reading this.


That's Ok, I don't mind Mice are cute, but they are vermin, and the
house was full of them. It was the cat's job to keep this under
control, and I wasn't going to discourage that.

But you wrote "field mouse"! They are most certainly not vermin.
They are shy, gentle critters; when such stray indoors, I usually catch
them (throw a towel on them first) and take them outside. They are not
house-smart, and don't destroy stuff. House mice, that's another story -
that's why you need cats, and I wouldn't interfere in cats' play with them.

'fraid I'm not mouse smart, and don't really know the difference. It
was a tiny little mouse like we'd see in the barn at the stable, and
those most certainly are destructive little critters.

jmc

"jmc" wrote:

'fraid I'm not mouse smart, and don't really know the difference. It was
a tiny little mouse like we'd see in the barn at the stable, and those
most certainly are destructive little critters.


However you get your jollies. You might want to think again before bragging
about how much fun it is to watch any animal tortured and terrified to
death. Buh byee.

On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:36:55 -0500, "Cheryl"
wrote:


"dgk" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:52:00 -0500, jmc
wrote:



At least twice a week, when I'm reading before going to sleep, Marlo
let's out this continuous yowling while walking into the bedroom, and
there is always something in her mouth. It is sometimes a big yucky
waterbug. I figure those just come up from the pipes in the shower
when it gets dark. But she sometimes brings in a grasshopper-like
thing. I can't figure out where she gets those from. I've never seen
one in the house unless she brings it to me. I do sometimes leave the
kitchen door open so the cats go into the backyard, but I've never
even seen one of those things in the backyard.


Is it a bright green grasshopper like thing, or an oversized cricket
looking thing?


No, not bright green. More a dull greyish color - maybe even a
cricket. It's only an inch long or so. I am absolutely mystified as to
where she gets them. Maybe this is just the season or something since
she's probably had three in the last three weeks.

Camel cricket?
http://k53.pbase.com/o4/90/516390/1/...Cricket100.jpg


That does sort of look like it. I really didn't look too closely at
them. And they were likely missing a few legs. Now would someone
please explain how she keeps finding them?