It’s Zaturday – Natural-Born Hunters

Posted on November 21, 2020November 15, 2020 by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Zorro here. Cats are natural-born hunters. Even if our humans feed us really well, we can’t resist trying to catch little animals when we have the chance.

Ziggy and I don’t get much opportunity to hunt since we’re indoor kitties, but we still have that instinct. There are lots of lizards in Florida, and they’re always hanging out on the windows or right outside the sliding glass doors. The first time Ziggy saw a lizard on the window, he almost gave himself a concussion. I think the lizard was smarter than Ziggy, because he at least knew we couldn’t go through the glass.

In North Carolina, sometimes little mice get into the house. That’s when we really go crazy. They’re round and fluffy and run really fast, which makes them so much fun to play with. But they’re a little bit too fast. I’ve only been able to catch one, and Ziggy hasn’t caught any. I’ve caught several moths, though. They don’t have much taste, but I eat them anyway. I’ll even climb the walls of the catio to catch anything that flies in.

When cats bring home their prey, humans think that we’re bringing them presents. But that’s not true. We’re trying to teach them how to hunt so they can fend for themselves. We sometimes catch lizards and mice for Mommy, but she hasn’t gotten the hang of how to hunt yet. Any time we do catch something, like when I caught that mouse, Mommy takes it away from us so she can “rescue” it and put it back outside.

We have a bird feeder outside our catio in North Carolina. Last month, we were in the catio and a bird flew in. Ziggy caught it and it started making a bunch of noise. The next thing we knew, Mommy came flying out there screaming like the house was on fire. I didn’t know what was wrong with her. Ziggy ran back into the house through the cat door, and Mommy chased him, still screaming. (She’s too big to fit through the cat door, so she had to go the long way around.)

Mommy finally tackled Ziggy in Grandma’s living room and got the bird away from him. Then Mommy and Aunt Kim put the bird in a little box and took it outside. A little while later, Aunt Kim said the bird had flown away, and Mommy was really happy. That’s totally not the way it’s supposed to be done. We’re trying hard to teach Mommy how to hunt, but she just doesn’t seem to be getting it.

I guess we’ll just have to keep working at it.

It’s Zaturday – Mighty Hunters!

Posted on March 28, 2020March 25, 2020 by Carol J. Post

cat hunting It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Zorro here. Ziggy and I love to hunt. It’s what kitties do. But being indoor kitties, we don’t get to do it very often. We have to content ourselves with watching the lizards on the other side of the windows and sliding glass doors.

We have a toy one that we like to bat around. It slides across the floor really nice, so it’s a lot of fun. But it doesn’t move unless we slap at it, so it’s not nearly as much fun as the ones we see outside.

Sometimes we have some excitement, though, when we’re in North Carolina. Every so often, a little field mouse will get into the house. When that happens, Ziggy and I go nuts! Although we’re pretty fast, the mice are usually faster, and they can get into little tiny spaces that we can’t. Once in a while, though, we’ll catch one. A lot of cats kill mice and eat them, but Ziggy and I aren’t interested in that. Mommy feeds us too good. But mice make really great toys, because they move on their own! The only way they would be better is if someone rolled them in catnip.

One time a snake got in. I was the one who found it. He was a pretty good opponent. He kept striking at me, but I didn’t let him get away. I had him trapped in the corner. When Mommy checked to see what I was doing, she got all freaked out. She was afraid the snake bit me. But I’m too fast for that.

Mommy grabbed me and locked me in another room until she and Aunt Kim caught the snake. Aunt Kim got out her snake book and found that it was an Eastern rat snake, which isn’t poisonous, so they took it outside and let it go in the woods.

When Mommy came in, she scolded me and said I should never play with snakes. I always try hard to obey, but I can’t make any promises if one gets inside again. If it moves, it’s way too tempting.

It’s Zaturday – Lizard Patrol!

Posted on January 25, 2020January 3, 2020 by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

green lizard — Image by GeorgeB2 from Pixabay

cat hunting Ziggy here. Zorro and I are on lizard patrol. (I know, I’m standing in the litter box. But at least it’s clean litter. And it gets me closer to the lizard.)

The lizards around here are evil. They torment us. They sit on the windows and sliding glass doors, inches away, knowing we can see them but can’t get to them. And they watch us. They sometimes do push-ups and puff out those things on their throats. And they stick out their tongues and go, “Ha, ha, ha.” Well, they don’t say it, but I know that’s what they’re thinking.

The first time I saw a lizard on the window, I went right into attack mode. I totally forgot about the glass. Almost knocked myself out. Zorro says I’m not too bright. But it wasn’t my fault. I see a lizard and…boom! Instinct takes over. I’m a natural-born hunter. It’s what my cat ancestors have done all through the ages.

Cats at sliding glass door Oh, no! Here’s another one! Zorro and I are keeping an eye on him, making sure he doesn’t get inside. We’re determined. And we’re focused. We’re not leaving our post until the lizard does.