Jingle and Bell are generally two loving, gentle cats. They sleep close to me at night - Bell near my head or on my shoulder, and Jing round about my feet. Jing is a big baby - always wanting attention, always meowing for me to stroke him, scratch him, pick him up. Belly lies in every patch of sun she can find, folding her little brown paws (they are meant to be white but she loves rolling in the dust) under her chin. She turns and stretches and purrs when you talk to her. Their most demanding and active time is 6.30am when they decide that it is time for food and wake us up with pats of varying claws, depending on how late we are.
But tonight, Bell the hunter came to the fore. We have had a few cases of outdoor wildlife coming into the house. Jingle delights in snakes and lizards (usually small ones) but this is the wrong time of the year for them. This winter he has brought in two mice - one we found just the head, but the other he and Lindt had a bit of a disagreement over at the base of the stairs and he rushed up and let it go in the bathroom. Pete and Kevin and Lindt dispatched it - I'm surprised it didn't die of a heart attack, but Pete and Kevin let it go in the garden.
Tonight I had been in and out of the bathroom, packing for a trip to Cape Town, and hadn't noticed anything, till I saw Bell pounce on the heater - and the sinuous tail peeping out from behind it. And then I saw the rat. Not a little field mouse, but a fat, grey rat with quite a substantial tail. Jingle dived in to see what the fun was about, and I turned tail and fled, closing both cats in the bathroom with the rat, and Lindt outside while I yelled for Pete to stop watching CSI and come and rescue me!
Growls and hisses punctuated by squeaks came from the bathroom, and when Pete arrived with broom and bucket, Jingle slunk out of the door. Belly had obviously told him off in the most spirited way. "I am the eldest by 1/2 hour and this is MY rat and you are to leave it alone!"
It was a very fat rat, and Pete sent it off home via the very back of the back garden - but left behind two very disgruntled cats - especially Belly who had lost her toy. She's still swishing her tail in annoyance and wasn't even keen on her nightly snack of biscuits.
Bell the hunter - what next?
11 years ago
Good to see you are back at the writing. I was missing the daily updates.
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