Riley the hunter

As I said before in my previous posts; my cats are definitely hunters...well lets's not get ahead of ourselves when we say hunters.

When I think of the word hunter; I think of a lion stalking a gazelle....

I have limited my cats abilities to hunt properly as I have proudly donned them with expensive cat collars that have a very essential accessory...the humble bell. I find it very important to have said bell; because not only does it limit their prey it also enables me to hear them...very useful when I am worried about their where-abouts and yell RILEY or DAISY at the top of my lungs..normally around 6am on a weekday...sorry neighbours (naaat) ...my neighbours are another point of discussion.

So Riley has a preference of prey...anything he can catch...geckos, shrews, moles, cockroaches (yes the BIG ones..so gross), leopard toads, dragonflies etc..you get the gist. Daisy has only brought me frogs, so far.

This post is about Riley, I suppose when one has 2 children; albeit mine are fur babies, it is difficult to talk about one without mentioning the other..but this is about Riley before his sister came along.

Riley likes to bring me presents; and apparently this is normal cat behaviour to present their moms and dads with their catch. My mom works at the Ornithology department at UCT and one of the students did a study on domestic cats and their hunting habits; I had to keep a diary and document what Riley caught etc. People say that domestic cats are cruel and they torture creatures for fun; this may be true but it is their instinct; they are hunters. Domestic cats are family of wild cats and they are equipped to feed themselves; that was the case with Daisy; and even though she is stunted and was poorly nourished as a kitten, she still survived.

Riley likes to bring these said gifts into my room; mostly at night when I am asleep and then he proceeds to play with them...I don't know why; I managed to rescue most of them. Geckos are easy; I just pick up the tail less animals and chuck them out of the cat flap, poor things are going to die anyway (they store their food in their tails..not sure why it is a defense mechanism to lose said pantry...) frogs and toads easy too. Shrews not so much, not only are they really fast; they actually let off a really bad smell..like a skunk sies.

The worst was; I was asleep and I heard Riley come in and come onto my bed; if I am awake, he comes for a head scratch before munching his pellets; he climbed under the duvet and then jumped off and started making love gutteral noises; me still half asleep feels something nudging my leg....my half asleep self then jumps up and turns on the light; screams blue murder when I see what was nudging me...a live mole....

Life with a cat is never boring; I must say I am glad Riley brought a gecko in last night; his first catch since Daisy arrived. It must mean he is going back to his old self...just no more moles thanks.