I decided to introduce the Blankenship Buzz not with expected tales of early, dew-dusted, chilly soccer mornings, not with stories of homework, SAT's and college applications, not of work, life and love, but with this morning's account of our two fierce hunters, Oliver the Cat and his sidekick, Bob. (You'll hear more of the chilly mornings, etc. later!)
Our Oliver is
the ultimate stalker. He has brought many presents in through the doggie/kitty door over the last few years, mostly gophers in all shapes and sizes. As our back yard overlooks the Armed Force Reserve Center in Los Alamitos, which has become an incredible wildlife habitat, we have a wide variety of critters romping through and soaring over our home. It has been a great education for us over the years, with hawks perched on telephone poles devouring their prey, owls scooping up neighboring ferile kitties, and egrets and ducks gracefully gliding over our modest back yard. Our land locked critters include the aforementioned gophers, possums, squirrels, skunks and, I hesitate to say, rats and mice.
It was early this morning that I noticed Oliver with his paws up on the drawers of the secretary that houses Bob's fly tying supplies in our master bedroom. While there are many feathers, strings and balls which would attract Oliver to that piece of furniture, it didn't seem to be the reason that he was interested this morning. As I put away one of the feathers I had pulled out of a drawer, I heard something move. Then a tail dropped out from the seam at the bottom of the pull down section of the secretary and I knew we had a critter. Of course my first reaction was to get the heeby jeebey's as a chill flew up my back, the obvious second was to scream for Bobby to quickly prioritize this over the LA Times! As Oliver paced, his tail slashing, Bobby slowly removed drawer by drawer as the critter attempted to evade the awaiting human and feline. There must have been an escape route out the back, as the next thing we knew, Oliver was a flurry of fur attacking the side of the neighboring bookcase as the rodent ran up the back of the bookcase. With his body fit snugly between the wall and the bookcase, we could see the critter clearly clinging onto the top, positioning himself for the worst. I ran for the yardstick. Even though I love animals, to me, a rat is not an animal. (It used to be when I was younger, but no more) Bobby ran the yardstick up the opening at the back, forcing it to the top of the bookcase, and unfortunately scampering straight for his head! My scream sent it fleeing the other direction and back behind the case. It was now positioned with a front and back paw on the wall and a front and back paw on the back of the case. Oliver, still poised with slashing tail, waited below. Bobby, fed up with it by now, took the yardstick and viciously poked it out the other side to the awaiting predator. A bit of a scurry and out the back door Oliver proudly marched, trophy clenched, checking back with us several times to ensure that we were witness to his triumph.
Of course I took some pictures, this one is probably the least upsetting. After the pictures, we thought it best to remove the rodent, and reward the cat. As I hurried off to work, Bobby gave Oliver canned cat food, treats and plenty of attention. Thank goodness we have Oliver the Great!
re them with you!
re them with you!
