My cat decides to bring my guests... gifts.

[Ben551]

Allow me to tell you a story...

Firstly, the thing to understand about Bundle (the cat) is that he is an active rodent hunter.  He is doing his part to save and protect the local New Zealand ecosystem by knocking off rats and mice on a grand scale.

Rats and mice are not native to the country and were introduced accidentally by early settlers in the late 1800's, so the eco system is not designed to cope with them.  These little pests are one of the primary reasons that several species of bird, only found in New Zealand, are close to extinction (some are already extinct).  So we all get behind pest control in a big way, with traps... bait... the works.  It's part of the job of being an environmentally responsible resident. 

It was in the news last year (and I'm quoting the headline) that the rats and mice of New Zealand had a better than normal season in the bedroom.  Since then, we've noticed our Bundle bagging himself quite a number of pests, sometimes up to 15 per month.  Our house backs on to about 10 acres of forest, so it's not unusual.  I'd say the mix is mostly mice.

Now, Bundle is a good clean boy, so he likes to wash them in water first (places a dead one in a water bowl, bats them with his paw, then sniffs to decide if clean enough to present to his people).  Then he, much to our delight and pleasure, places them on our outside doormat as a neatly washed little wet parcel of ratty (or mousey) goodness.  Sometimes we get a "meow" to let us know it's there, and he expects a knob of butter or some fish as a reward.

Of course we thank him for these little treats, as he's doing a good job.  Plus, apparently it's psychologically damaging for a cat to be told off after working to feed his family (our vet says it's one of the reasons cats run away).

I'm sure you've worked out where this is going.... 

Yes.  Bundle has decided that guests are also part of the family and they need parcels of ratty goodness too!  Whilst I'm sure he's now working twice as hard to feed both us and the guest cottage, I'm fairly sure (if discovered... hasn't been yet) that guests will take a pretty dim view of Bundle's idea of a dietary supplement.... any day now we're going to have to explain this... to someone. And it's going to be awkward.

~ Ben

[Robin4]

@Ben551 

Yeah rodents, Ben, there is a saying here in Oz, 'The British introduced rabbits, foxes, and themselves'!!!

Apart from rodents, is 'Bundle' any good at getting rid of possums? We might be able to do a deal here!

I am having such a devil of a time trying to keep my property free of possums.

Possums are such a big deal here that there were these three priest at an eccumenical gathering and in an endeavour to make conversation the first priest who was  Methodist said....

"I caught a possum in my back yard, I know that they are territorial so I took it 5 Kms away and, would you believe 3 night later, there it was back in my yard again!!"

The second priest was Anglican and he said....

"You are right you know, I caught a possum and to be on the same side I took it 15 Kms away and blow me down, within a week it was back again"!!

The third priest was Roman Catholic, he just hung his head for a minute and as he got his thoughts together he gave a big sigh and said....

"Well, I caught a possum, I baptised it and I confirmed it and I haven't seen it since!!!!!"

Cheers......Rob

[Mark116]

@Robin4  Possums eat bugs and rodents, I think, so maybe they are really a helpful presence that has been unfairly discriminated against because they're kind of weird looking.  Just a thought.

[Robin4]

@Mark116

 Hi Mark, possums have been known to eat small animals but, in practice they are herbivores and co-exits with rodents on a nonchalant basis. I wish they would cultivate a taste for rodents. 

Their main diet is leaves, fruit and flowers which makes them a particularly poor fit for this property. Having said that there is enough flora here to sustain a few without too many problems but, the smell created by their presence can be a bit overpowering....particularly after a light rain. They defecate and urinate like Rhodes scholars, and anyone who has been active here on the CC for any time will tell you I have an ongoing battle trying to keep them under control in my environment.They are not satisfied living in the area, they want to move in with us! They far rather a roofspace, a wall cavity or a cupboard to live in to the great outdoors where they are supposed to live.  The problem with moving from the city and living in the country, (like the possum) you have to find a crevice to install yourself that fits in with the massive diversity of animals that comes with it!

For years I have been on a re-location program....

But as fast as I move one out, another says.....'Thankyou very much'  and moves in!

I wish living with them was as simplistic as you make it sound Mark!

C heers.....Rob

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  They also eat your clothes, will rip up any food they find and strew it all over. I had to deal with one where I used to live. My neighbor found one that that had taken up residence in the back of her shed. There were literally mountains of possum poop on everything. She had to take 80% of her stuff that was stored there to the dump. While I'm sure they have an important role to play in the natural order of things, you really don't want one deciding to move in.

[Gordon0]

I've just looked at your listing and it's briliant - well done. But it would have been mice to have seen a pic of Bundle!

[Ben551]

@Gordon0 Har har , nice one. Oh and thanks so much, it’s taken a year (and my sanity at times) to create it out of... actually there isn’t a polite word for what it used to be.

[Lyn3]

@Ben551 You could publish a fabulous children's book of this story 🙂

cheers

Lyn 🙂

[Ben551]

Not a bad idea. I’m an artist (and writer in my spare time)... hrmmmm

[Ann72]

The other thing I've read about cats bringing gifts like this is that they're trying to teach you how to get food.  So Bundle is not only a SuperHost, adopting your guests and treating them exactly like family, he's a top educator!  Even if the humans in his charge are not the best students.  🙂

[Ben551]

@Ann72  you know, that actually makes a lot of sense about him trying to teach us. He gets very, very happy when we decide to do jobs outside, especially down in the forest. Maybe he thinks we are finally taking his lessons seriously and about to have a go! Oh he’s definitely a superhost. It’s also his house, we just live here 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Ben551    Bundles likely thinks you guys are mentally challenged when he sees you going out and coming back with food which you then eat. Like, why in the world are they going to so much trouble when there's a whole forest full of food out there. 

[Marian65]

Your cat is a super host

[Sandra126]

Could Bundle be a co-host, officially? With a picture, a little writeup and his own log-in?

[Ben551]

@Sandra126Hahahaha, that's a hilarious idea.  I love it!

[Susan1028]

What a fun thread!  Thank you!

I've got a skilled hunter too.  His name is Prince Charming Earl Grey of Furrington, and having been a stray, he's quite cautious around our guests and is an excellent judge of character.  He does take a liking to some, but he mostly wants to kiss them on the hand  (hence the name). 

So far, he's not brought our guests any presents, but we get them daily...sometimes up to four, depending on the season, and instead of leaving them at the sde door, he's he's now leaving them in front, within sight of our guests, so I have to come up with a good story if I don't see them before they do and get them out of sight. 

He really does get insulted if I ignore them and has such a look of pride and he's so loving, I usually scratch him behind the ears and tell him thank you...then properly dispose of the gift...and I'm running out of places to bury the poor things ...