Cat Mouse Circus

willie Our oldest cat, Willie, is a thinker. He is slow and fat and does not like to exert himself. He uses his brains. He knows that since we fed the birds all winter that there has been a jump in the mouse population living off of the bird seed. He knows that the mice find a way into the cellar from time to time. He knows that there is a way that mice can get from the cellar into the kitchen from under the sink. He knows that the mice want to scarf his kibble.

What Willie does is sit to one side of the kitchen sink and watch carefully for mice. Once a month he catches one.

Last night Willie caught a mouse. The mouse was quite surprised and let out a squeak that sent all the cats rushing in. Willie ran into the dining room with Ollie and Furry on his tail. Blue and Gracie woke up and ran down to the dining room wondering what the commotion was, and even Max showed up.

Willie dropped the mouse and fled. Ollie picked up and started running around with the poor mouse in his mouth. He promptly let it go. I was there trying to rescue the mouse by this time and the mouse, unseen by me, ran beneath my legs and under the Grandfather Clock. (Think Hickory Dickory Dock). I went back to the TV and decided to let the cats solve the situation.

For the next hour, Ollie and Gracie searched for the mouse, finding him briefly, but then losing him as the mouse found a new place to hide. Willie went back to the sink to wait. I felt sorry for the mouse, but if the cats couldn’t catch him, how could I be expected to do better?

As Erica went up to take her bath, Gracie ran up to the bathroom ahead of her and dropped the mouse in the bathtub. Gracie has learned that her pets can’t escape from the bathtub. Many times I have come into the bathroom in the morning and found a cat toy in the bathtub and occasionally a dead rodent.

Gracie likes to play knock hockey with the prisoner, sending him spinning around the tub. The mouse looked dead and was wet from cat drool. I quickly went to grab it in a paper towel and as soon as I tried, the mouse woke up and started running around the tub, trying to escape. Gracie went nuts so I grabbed her and made Erica hold her while I caught the mouse.

The last time I saw the little fellow he was running under some bushes at the side of the house. I expect he’ll be back. When he returns, Willie will be waiting.

One Comment

  1. Anonymous wrote:

    This is hilarious, like something from an old Tom and Jerry cartoon!

    Monday, June 29, 2009 at 5:28 pm | Permalink