Hunting Trophies

                Sigh…there’s a dead mouse by the backdoor—another innocent victim of our mighty hunters.  It rests next to a pile of feathers—just feathers, no bird.  The mouse was probably not Frank’s victim since it appears to be “full.”  Frank likes to suck out the insides and leave the furry skin sack.  The rest of the cats keep their trophies intact. 

All feathers, no bird

                As an animal-loving vegetarian, carcasses on my patio are more than a little disturbing.

There have been times when I step outside just in time to see a baby bunny or robin fledgling breathe its last (at which point I march right back in and stay until my husband removes the evidence).  I rescue as many screaming rabbits and squawking birds as I can, but I can’t save them all--the cats’ hunt instinct overrides everything once they are focused on prey.  Even the gentlest Jersey proudly bats around the birds and butterflies she captures and tunes out all my protests.

                There is one unlikely exception to the hunting rule—Biff, our huge, shy tom cat.  Big and muscular and capable of taking out a whole gang of alley cats, Biff’s strongest instinct is to mother baby animals.  The few little bunnies he’s brought home were unharmed, albeit traumatized.  He attempted to calm them by holding them to the ground and giving them a tongue-bath (this didn’t work, by the way).  He also dropped them in the water dish so they could have a drink and asked me if he could bring them in the house for further care.  With each escape he would patiently pick them back up by the scruff, just as a mother cat would carry her kittens.  Eventually I rescued his babies who screamed through the whole process.

                Biff I can relate to.  The instinct to care for others is one that shapes the quality of life of every person on the planet.  Those who are lovingly nurtured receive a gift that will hopefully be shared and multiplied through the lives they live.  We are called to nurture beyond our families—like Biff reaching out to the little rabbits, we may not always be happily received, but it still better than stalking and killing the spirit of those around us.