Oh, God. This is so NOT the post I was planning to write today. I have tons to write about, but it all blew out of my head when I got out of the shower this morning and heard my cat meowing urgently. There was an unfamiliar note in his meow that worried me. I finished getting dressed and went to investigate. It sounded like he was in the basement, and sure enough there he was at the bottom of the basement stairs, heaven help us, eating a dead bird. I could hear the bones crunching.
Now, it pains me to admit this, but I have a little chink in my Strong Woman armor, and that chink is Dead Bodies. I can’t abide them. I can deal with most insects, spiders, worms, creepy-crawlies (ok, not including earwigs) so long as they’re alive, but even the cutest dead ladybug in the window sill? freaks. me. out. Particularly if it should happen to be upside down, with its motionless dead legs in the air… Ugh, puke.
Our kitties are pretty vigilant about keeping the local small rodent & bird population to acceptable levels, and they frequently leave us little gifts in the driveway. Typically I instruct the kids not to go near, and wait for hubby to get home and clean up. But IN the house? On the basement floor, between me and my computer? I’m not sure I could ignore it, but neither could I bring myself to, you know, dispose of it.
So I did the obvious thing: I went upstairs and called my mom for moral support. “Mom? Mommy? Are you there? Oh Mom, if you’re screening your calls, please please please pick up!” Luckily my mom has a whopping dose of Maternal ESP, and she did answer. And she comforted me with several dead animal clean-up anecdotes of her own (in a word: maggots) that made me feel much better. We reached the conclusion that I should go out to the garage, get our heavy-duty long-handled shovel, and use that to scoop up the bird and dump it into the trash.
And guess what? I must have been on the phone with her longer than I had realized, because when I apprehensively went back downstairs, I discovered that Peter had eaten it all! There was nothing left but a small pile of bones & feathers. And I can live with that until hubby gets home.
Don’tcha just love a happy ending?
10 Comments
Blecch! However, that is one efficient cat you have there, and considerate, too.
What I don’t get is, how did Peter–wonderful but lethargic Peter–manage a bird-snack?
He NEVER seems to want to go outside (granted, I’m mostly home/offering only the late afternoon/evening).
And he’s pretty darn lethargic.
Could it have been a birdsickle?
(…or was the attic door open?)
Remind me not to come here on my lunch break again. ;)
That little pile of feathers made me laugh out loud. We have become pretty inured to all manner of creatures in our house, both damaged and healthy. Some have taken up temporary residence, like the lizards sans tails, and a few snakes that we occasionally find heading up the hallway. But the grossest habit the cats have is of eating gophers in the house. Their favorite spot is under the boys’ bed. We have found that a cat will eat all of a gopher except its feet, its snout, and some anonymous little organ that might be–what— the gallbladder? something not tasty. And the super grossest thing is when you step on one of these unexpected little bits, barefoot, on the way to the bathroom. And I recently founf, to my surprise, a pile of feathers much like the one you describe under my daughter’s bed, only exploded over a much larger area. This is what we get, having a cat door. But I must admit to a grim satisfaction about the gopher bits, since we have a plague of gophers of almost biblical proportions. Try sitting a chair down in our yard. I dare you. One or more legs just WILL sink down into the ground, leaving you sitting askew in a precarious and uncomfortable position.
But I think when in doubt, it is always wise to call your mother.
Shit that’s gross.
Ewwww. But, yeah, yay for the One-Kitty Cleaning Crew!
Oh, ugh. And I thought it was bad when I came home yesterday and stepped right into cat vomit. But my kitty never goes outside and has never eaten anything larger than a spider. I think if I found a dead bird (or gopher!) in the house I would have to move everyone out and don gas mask and hazardous waste gear to do a major toxic clean-up. (Dead things outside do not bother me at all, however. Unless someone touches them with their bare hands.)
What a great description! I laughed out loud. Aren’t we glad your mom was home! She’s the best.
Golly, what a story. What kind of bird was that anyway? Lucky your cat was so tidy with the remains. My cat used to bring me presents sometimes. I’m told it’s an act of devotion.
Wow, I think that was a record at this blog for the most comments in the shortest amount of time. What I don’t understand, though [pouting] is why several of you praised the kitty for being such a good cleaner-upper, when it was the kitty who created the mess in the first place. :)
Crit, it was a plump juicy pigeon. The color looks a little off in the photo. It was grayish black, not purple.
And oh, Martha! Gophers! And funny what you said about leaving the snout & gall bladder. When our kitties are outside they eat all but the hind legs and tail. We are always finding the back ends of small mammals in the driveway. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one of them reduce a bird so completely. A detail I forgot to mention but which might explain: the cat food bowl was completely empty.