And The Raven Never Flitting…
A rubber raven, that now stands as a silent witness on my office closet shelf, became a target of intrigue for our rascally cats. It used to sit on my desk; however, the cats spotted it while passing by the doorway during the shift change. This is when the cats get free rein of the rest of the house at night while the dog sleeps in the bedroom with us. They're not allowed in my office. Once it grabbed their attention, stalking it turned into a serious obsession, demanding a hasty intervention. I had to shoo them away before they ended up breaking something, like keyboards, modems, or monitors.
But here's where it gets curious. A baby possum, resembling a cross between a kitten and a guinea pig with a rat's tail, somehow found its way into our bathroom and perched on high—right on top of the bathroom door. It was cute, especially since I hadn't seen one with this coloration before. Sporting brown and gray patches on its mostly white fur, it became a unique sight. Instead of the expected ferocious feline attack, the cats sauntered in one by one, glanced up, and then nonchalantly walked away, paying no attention to it. So, we had to entice it with some food, coaxing it into a black laundry bag. The next morning, we released it into our wooded backyard, where it swiftly scurried under a white picket fence and down a steep hill.
And then there was the day a black garden snake slithered under the back laundry room door, causing a scene reminiscent of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." The cats, living up to their predator roles, swiftly dispatched the snake, parading triumphantly through the house with their conquest. Admittedly, there may have been a scream or two. Okay! Yeah I screamed.
What remains a perplexing mystery is the cats' predatory selectiveness. Rubber ravens and garden snakes fall prey to their predatory instincts, yet a baby possum earns a pass. Perhaps there's a feline council convening in secret, debating the nuances of their hunting code. In the curious world of our cats, the unpredictable choices of predator playtime keep us forever entertained and slightly bewildered. Or simply stated, a cat’s prerogative is to change its mind.
