|
Cat Story Contest Second and Third Place Winners
Second Place: The Kill!
By Sarah Plahitko
Miss Jolie is a fierce, all-black domestic shorthair with real
attitude. Ever
since I made the choice to have her spayed, she has become less of a
cuddle-bug
and more defiant. I honestly think she is mad at me for making her go
through
the procedure! It's hard to interact with her, especially when she's
in one of
her funks, HOWEVER ...
I recently discovered that Miss Jolie has a taste for flying bugs! She
will do
almost ANYTHING to get ahold of one ... even allow me to pick her up so
she can
catch them mid-air! She sits firmly in my hands as I support her
chubby belly,
and I bounce her softly above my head while saying, "One, Two, THREE!"
I push
her up on THREE, she reaches her paws high up in the air, claws exposed
like
little daggers, and snatches her prey! Immediately she transfers it to
her
teeth, and I set her down. Jogging away with delight, I don't see her
for
quite a bit of time as she enjoys her tasty snack away from nosey
feline
comrades. Afterward she curls up on her decadent velour blanket and
slumbers
for hours with contentment ... exhausted from the kill!
It has become such a fun game that a flying bug anywhere in the house
automatically sends Miss Jolie into a chatty frenzy, "MEOW! MEOW! Let
me at
him! Pick me up!" She's such a predator! The other kitties are quite
jealous
of our game, flipping their fluffy tails and whining at my feet for
their own
chance to catch one! But Miss Jolie is my only little hunter on the
prowl!
This story was chosen as the second place winner of the Cat
Story Contest held in the summer of 2004.
Third Place Winner: Terry the Hunter
By Lyla Malyk
This little story is about Terry, who came to live with our family as a kitten.
My children used to play a game with Terry, they had a small toy mouse which they would throw into the air, he would jump high and catch it After Terry grew up he was allowed to go outside and became a proficient mouse catcher. The children thought it was because of all the practice with them, I knew it was second nature to a cat to catch a mouse, however I let them think they were the teachers.
Terry would on average bring home 3 dead mice per week, proudly leaving them for me on the veranda, how many others he would catch and eat I have no idea.
When Terry was 3 years old, we adopted a second cat from the Animal Shelter. His name is Ginger, we were told he was 5 years old, and was an indoor cat.
Terry and Ginger became good friends after a few short weeks.
Terry continued to bring home the mice and leave them on the veranda, Ginger would watch him through the front window and (maybe thought that he also should be allowed outside to hunt for himself.)
One afternoon Terry cat decided to bring a live mouse home for his buddy Ginger. He dropped the mouse in front of Ginger and ran back outside. I guess he thought, well Ginger watches me out the window every day and I think it is time he had a live mouse of his own. Well Ginger was delighted, he started to play with the mouse and such fun he had for about 5 mins. until Mr. Mouse had enough. The mouse quickly departed and scurried to the upstairs floor. The mouse was smart and by the time Ginger and I got up the stairs, we could not find the mouse.
Ginger and I searched everywhere but no luck. So here we were with a live mouse somewhere in the house. The only course of action was to bring Terry in and hope that his hunting skills indoors would find the little guy.
We brought Terry in the house and took him upstairs. He immediately sniffed around and within minutes started pawing and meowing at the door to the linen closet. I opened the closet door and could see or hear nothing. But Terry the hunter that he was pawed through the towels and leaped upon the mouse, he put him in his mouth and scurried down the stairs and back outside.
Never again did Terry bring a live mouse home for Ginger, I bet he thought "this guy just doesn't have the skills that I do." That was six years ago, Terry is still-hunting and he and Ginger are the best of friends.
My family and I often laugh about the night a live mouse came into our house via a cat and left still alive in the mouth of a cat
This story was chosen as the third place winner of the Cat
Story Contest held in the summer of 2004.
|
